ossec.conf: Syslog Output options

Overview

Supported types

Syslog Output options are available in the the following installation types:

  • server
  • local

Location

All syslog_output options must be configured in the /var/ossec/etc/ossec.conf and used within the <ossec_config> tag.

XML excerpt to show location:

<ossec_config>
    <syslog_output>
        <!--
        Syslog Output options here
        -->
    </syslog_output>
</ossec_config>

Options

  • syslog_output

    • server

      • IP Address of the syslog server.
      • Allowed: any valid IP address
    • port

      • Port to forward alerts to.
      • Default 514
      • Allowed: Any valid port
    • level

      • Minimum alert level of the alerts to be forwarded.
      • Allowed: 1 - 16
    • group

      • Alerts belonging to this group will be forwarded.
      • Allowed: Any valid group. Separate multiple groups with the pipe (|) character.
      • Examples:
      <group>syscheck</group>
      <group>authentication_failure|authentication_success</group>
      
    • rule_id

      • Alerts matching this rule_id will be forwarded.
      • Allowed: Any valid rule_id
    • location

      • Alerts from this location will be forwarded.
      • Allowed: Any valid logfile location
    • use_fqdn

      New in version 2.9.0.

      • By default, ossec truncates the hostname at the first period (‘.’) when generating syslog messages. Setting this option to ‘yes’ will cause it to use the full hostname configured on the server.
      • Default no
      • Allowed yes, no
    • format

      • Format of alert output. The default format is “default”, or full syslog output.
      • CEF is the ArcSight Common Event Format.
      • json can be used with a variety of tools.
      • The splunk option is for sending data to a Splunk server.
      • Allowed default, cef, splunk, json
      • Example:
      <syslog_output>
                <server>10.0.0.1</server>
                <port>514</port>
                <format>cef</format>
      </syslog_output>