Frank1940

How do I use the Syslog Server? Beginning with release 6.7.0, there has been a syslog server functionality added to Unraid. This can be a very powerful diagnostic tool when you are confronted with a situation where the regular tools can not or do not capture information about about a problem because the server has become non-responsive, has rebooted, or spontaneously powered down. However, getting it set up to use has been confusing to many. Let's see if we clarify setting it up for use. begin by going to Settings >>> Syslog Server This is the basic Syslog Server page: You can click on the 'Help' icon on the Toolbar and get more information for all of these three options. The first one to be considered for use is the Mirror syslog to flash: This one is the simplest to set up. You select 'Yes' from the dropdown box and click on the 'Apply' button and the syslog will be mirrored to logs folder/directory of the flash drive. There is one principal disadvantage to this method. It can do a lot of writes to the flash drive, if the condition that you are trying to troubleshoot, takes days to weeks to occur. Some folks are hesitant to use the flash drive in this manner as it may shorten the life of the flash drive. This is how the setup screen looks when the Syslog Server is set up to mirror to the flash drive. The second option is use an external Syslog Server. This can be another Unraid server. You can also use virtually any other computer. You find the necessary software by googling for the syslog server <Operating system> After you have set up the computer/server, you you fill in the computer/server name or the IP address. (I prefer to use the IP address as there is never any confusion about what it is.) The Click on the 'Apply' button and your syslog will be mirrored to the other computer. The principal disadvantage to this system is that the other computer has be left on continuously until the problem occurs. The third option uses a bit of trickery in that we use the Unraid server with the problem as the Local syslog server. Let's begin by setting up the Local syslog server. After changing the Local syslog server: dropdown to 'Enabled', the screen will look like this. Note that we have a new menu option-- Local syslog folder: This will be a share on the your server but chose it with care. Ideally, it will be a 'cache only' or a 'cache preferred' share. This will minimize the spinning up of disks due to the continuous writing of new lines to the syslog. A cache SSD drive would be the ideal choice here. (The folder that you see above is a 'cache preferred' share. The syslog will be in the root of that folder/share.) Now, we added the ip address of your server as the Remote syslog server (Remember the mention of trickery. So basically, you send data out-of-the-server and it comes-right-back-in.) This is what it looks now: As soon as you click on apply, the logging of your syslog will start to a file named (in this case) syslog-192.168.1.242.log in the root of the selected folder (in this case-- Folder_Tree). One very neat feature is that all entries are appended onto this file every time a write is required. This should mean if you have a reboot of the server after a week of collecting the syslog, you will have everything from before the reboot and after the reboot in one file! Thanks @bonienl for both writing this utility and the guidance in putting this together.

Double razzfracks and a whole bunch of other words not suitable for a public forum! Moved the post to the correct forum. Thanks, Johnnie.

How can I calibrate my UPS, silence alarms, change battery dates using apcupsd? Unraid has apcupsd built in to have any UPS's and questions have arisen about calibrations, alarm silencing, battery replacement date changes. @hpka did some extensive research to find that there is a utility included which will allow the root user the ability to adjust many parameters. Exactly which ones can be adjusted will depend on the manufacturer and the model of UPS that you are using. Here is a link to @hpka's post: By the way, the sudo command is not required when using the Unraid terminal session as is shown below: root@Rose:~# apctest 2019-10-16 11:52:33 apctest 3.14.14 (31 May 2016) slackware Checking configuration ... sharenet.type = Network & ShareUPS Disabled cable.type = USB Cable mode.type = USB UPS Driver Setting up the port ... Doing prep_device() ...

It looks like this Utility has a lot of uses besides just silencing the alarms. I have added your discoveries to the FAQ here so that they are easier to find. https://forums.unraid.net/topic/46802-faq-for-unraid-v6/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-781520

😲 OK, I just ran another test check and it appears that you are correct and any new information is appended onto the existing file. So it appears that all of the info that is logged from before and after a system disruption (a reboot in my test case) is present in the syslog. (I now recall that Linux/Unix does have the built-in capability of appending data onto an existing file. Exactly how, I can't recall but, as I remember, it was easy from even from the command line. )

@bonienl Playing around, I have found a 'bug' (I hope not a 'Program Feature'!). I set up my server to log its own syslog. That part works fine. However, If I reboot the system, the old existing log file is erased and overwritten with the new log file for the current reboot since they both have the same name. I think you need to add the date and time parameters to the syslog file name so that this does not happen. (I have no reason to think that this would not happen even if I were logging to another Unraid server.) This becomes a problem if the troubleshooting issue is one involving spontaneous reboots, lockups or shutdowns. (The last two being when logging to the same server.) This might also be an issue when mirroring to the flash drive. Do you want a bug report?

How is this set up with enough details and explanation of where to put the files and the advantages of each location? Explain how to set it up on a single server or to a second server. (From your reply, it appears that a server can serve as its own remote syslog server...) Again, I would recommend posting it up the FAQ thread. PS-- I realize that this thread has moved well beyond the OP's original issue but the topic should be discussed and clarified so that this tool can be used effectively by anyone. During the troubleshooting of an issue/problem is not the time to trying to figure out how to use a tool!

It could be useful if you were to post up about setting it up as I have a feeling that others would be interested in using a remote syslog server. Perhaps, this would be a good thread to post it in: https://forums.unraid.net/topic/46803-faq-feedback-for-faq-for-unraid-v6/

Google remote syslog-server and look at the search choices and results. From what I can deduce from looking at the results, you have to install some software on another computer to have it serve as a remote syslog-server. Apparently, there are a fair number of 'free' options.

Did parity check start on restart? If not, that means that it was a normal shutdown. I suspect that the flash drive was selected for a reason (see @Squid response for an excellent one). The warning is there to alert folks that setting it permanently to 'Yes' is not really that great an idea. If I had a problem, the potential reduction in the life of the drive would not concern me. I would make a backup of the flash drivein case sometime should happen. (You should have one anyway!!!) The folks at LimeTech have made it very easy to automatically get a replacement license and even if you need one that does not meet the standard replacement criteria, they have always done so after an e-mail with a statement of facts and request for replacement.

Look here (screen capture from Settings >> Syslog Server): Set this to 'Yes' and it will write your syslog to the flash drive. Turn on the 'Help' feature ( << ? >> icon on the toolbar) for more information. I would suggest that you pull the Flash Drive and get the file off before you reboot as I am not certain if this setting survives a reboot.

Yes, if you set up notifications AND have the network set up on a UPS also. Here is the link to the US version: https://www.amazon.com/APC-Back-UPS-Battery-Protector-BR1000G/dp/B0038ZTZ3W/ref=sr_1_13?keywords=APC+BX1000G&qid=1571077628&sr=8-13

I can tell you that both of the UPS's listed on my server spec's do work. And both are still available. (However I suspect that the APC one is nearing at at end-of-life.) They are both stepped-sine-wave but I only run the servers for 30 seconds after the power fails. (From experience, I know that if is out longer than that, it will be out for a couple of hours. Plus, it only happens a very few times each year (< five times) when a total shutdown of the servers are required.)

Try upgrading to 6.8.0-rc1. See here for possible reason: https://forums.unraid.net/bug-reports/stable-releases/67x-very-slow-array-concurrent-performance-r605/page/11/#comments

I think @trurl meant to say 2-3TB per hour...