Files
finit/doc/config/logging.md
T
Joachim Wiberg 00794d41bc doc: convert the remaining legacy syntax
The block conversion changed the bodies of the reference sections but
left every "**Syntax:**" header spelling the line-based format, so each
page opened by teaching the format it then stopped using.  Six files
were missed entirely: runparts, files, capabilities, requirements,
runlevels, and switchroot.

runparts had no block spelling written down anywhere, though the parser
has read `runparts`, `runparts-progress`, and `runparts-sysv` all along.

tty gains a table per variant.  Its three syntax lines carried nine
positional fields between them, which no longer describes anything the
parser accepts.

Fixes #148

Signed-off-by: Joachim Wiberg <troglobit@gmail.com>
2026-07-30 15:23:13 +02:00

75 lines
2.3 KiB
Markdown

General Logging
===============
**Syntax:** `log { size = 200k count = 5 }`
Log rotation for run/task/services using the `log` sub-option with
redirection to a log file. Global setting, applies to all services.
The size can be given as bytes, without a specifier, or in `k`, `M`,
or `G`, e.g. `size = 10M`, or `size = 3G`. A value of `size = 0` disables
log rotation. The default is `200k`.
The count value is recommended to be between 1-5, with a default 5.
Setting count to 0 means the logfile will be truncated when the MAX
size limit is reached.
Redirecting Output
------------------
The `run`, `task`, and `service` stanzas also allow the keyword `log` to
redirect `stderr` and `stdout` of the application to a file or syslog
using the native `logit` tool. This is useful for programs that do not
support syslog on their own, which is sometimes the case when running
in the foreground.
The full syntax is:
log:/path/to/file
log:prio:facility.level,tag:ident
log:console
log:null
log
Default `prio` is `daemon.info` and default `tag` is the basename of the
service or run/task command.
Log rotation is controlled using the global `log` setting.
**Example:**
service ntpd {
description = "NTP daemon"
log {
priority = "user.warn"
identity = "ntpd"
}
command = "/sbin/ntpd pool.ntp.org"
}
Output Buffering
----------------
When using the `log` block, Finit redirects the service's stdout and
stderr to a pipe connected to a logger process. Programs detect this as
non-interactive output (i.e., `isatty()` returns false) and typically
switch from line-buffered to fully-buffered mode.
Most well-behaved daemons explicitly flush their output or use syslog
directly, so this is rarely an issue. However, if a service's log
messages appear delayed or batched, you can force line-buffered output
by wrapping the command with `stdbuf`:
service myservice {
description = "My service"
log { }
command = "/usr/bin/stdbuf -oL /path/to/command"
}
The `-oL` option forces line-buffered output, and `-o0` forces unbuffered
output. See `stdbuf(1)` for details.
> [!NOTE]
> Using `stdbuf` is rarely necessary. Only use it if you observe actual
> buffering issues with a specific service.