I am familiar with using the flash drive to back up the log file in order to survive a shutdown. I am also familiar with syslog server in order to save the log file off the system.
 

But I do not have another system that is on 24/7 to back the log file up to, and I don’t want to mess with the UNRAID flash saving to it constantly.  

 

What I would like to see is an option to use a unassigned drive to store log files on. I have plenty of small hard drives laying around that would be ideal for a back up.  I currently use two unassigned drives in order to back up my app data and other important data. One is formatted as a NTFS and the other as a FAT32 (no real reason for the difference). If I need that data, I take the unassigned hard drive out of the system and I plug it into my desktop via a sata to USB adapter and pull the data off of it.  
 

I would love to hear from the experts, I am sure I am missing something, or over thinking it.  Thanks for everything you guys do.  

Edited August 3, 20214 yr by DeepSee

You can already do this using the syslog functionality as described here in the online documentation that can be accessed via the Manual link at the bottom of the Unraid GUI.

1 hour ago, itimpi said:

You can already do this using the syslog functionality as described here in the online documentation that can be accessed via the Manual link at the bottom of the Unraid GUI.

Yes the problem with this method is that your are using your array, either preferably your cache drive or your main drives. If I am having problems with my system that could render my log files useless (let’s say my cache drive is failing).  I don’t want to have to use Unraid to retrieve those log files. Same reason I do not use the main array to back up a copy of my app data or my flash drive.  

I already log off the array but I had to manually edit the config/rsyslog.cfg file on the flash drive as the web GUI does not allow entering the path manually.  Probably the GUI should allow this to avoid the manual edit.

 

I have a small ‘spare’ SSD in the system that is set up so I can boot Windows on the Unraid server if needed.   I mount this drive on system startup via an entry added to config/go on the flash drive and unmount it on system shutdown by an entry in the config/stop file.   I write the syslog to this drive via the syslog server.   It could just as easily be an unassigned device plugged in via USB that can then be read on another system if needed.

 

I appreciate the work around and you giving me some options. I’ll admit I’ve only been Unraid since the beginning of the year. There does seem to be a lot of work around for features people want/need, guess that is part of the fun when it comes Linux.  I’ll have to get smart and start looking at an editing that config file. Thanks for the help, however, if there is a chance for feature like this to be added into the UI I would use it for sure. 

On 8/3/2021 at 1:27 PM, itimpi said:

Probably the GUI should allow this to avoid the manual edit.

Manually entering a name is purposely not in the GUI to avoid issues when the user makes a mistake, which may cause syslog (and the system) to halt.

It is assumed that people editing the file "know" what they are doing!

 

The use of UA is not mandatory. I have a dedicated SSD pool and created a syslog share on this pool, which holds the syslog messages

 

Edited August 4, 20214 yr by bonienl

13 minutes ago, bonienl said:

I have a dedicated SSD pool and created a syslog share on this pool, which holds the syslog messages

I use a SSD that is not part of any pool so it remains mounted even when the array is stopped.   Mounting/unmounting of that drive is handled via the go/stop files.

 

On the basis that the GUI is not going to change do you think it would be wrong to add the information to the online documentation on how to manually set up a path to a disk that UnRaid is not controlling for syslog purposes (with a warning on getting it wrong might have dire consequences)?

The manual edit was introduced so people with "special" cases could make use of it, but obviously they must know what they are doing.

Another use case is a sub-folder of a share to be used as syslog destination.

 

There is nothing wrong to explain this in the online documentation, after all it is a "feature" (albeit hidden).

 

7 minutes ago, bonienl said:

The manual edit was introduced so people with "special" cases could make use of it, but obviously they must know what they are doing.

Another use case is a sub-folder of a share to be used as syslog destination.

What Manual edit?    Is this something available in the GUI that I am missing?

4 minutes ago, itimpi said:

What Manual edit?

Sorry for the confusion, I mean editing the rsyslog.cfg file on the USB stick.

 

Just now, bonienl said:

Sorry for the confusion, I mean editing the rsyslog.cfg file on the USB stick.

 

Ok - just thought I should make sure  

Of course, Config File Editor plugin will let you edit this in the GUI.

While I myself would also love the option to have logging to an unassigned thumb drive or something similar to add more flexibility, I make due with my pfSense box accepting Unraids syslog.

 

Just throwing it out here, because I used to run a laptop 24/7 to accept the logs before the eureka moment of doing it on the router. Anything moderately advanced should probably have a syslog option. And a router is also a device that runs 24/7.