systemdlogger

• Lightweight, python only, logstash alternative
• Exports systemd journald logs to an external service, eg cloudwatch, elasticsearch
• Use with a cron job
• Python 3.4+

Installation

Install Dependencies

python-systemd

# Fedora/RHEL/CentOS
$ dnf install python-systemd python3-systemd

OR

# Debian/Ubuntu/Mint
$ apt-get install python-systemd python3-systemd

Install from pip

$ pip install systemdlogger

Usage

$ systemdlogger -h
usage: systemdlogger [-h] config

Exports systemd logs to different storage backends, eg
cloudwatch/elasticsearch.

positional arguments:
  config      path to config file

optional arguments:
  -h, --help  show this help message and exit

Example usage

See example config files below.

$ systemdlogger config.json

Recommended Usage - Cron Job Runing Every Minute

*/1 * * * * . /etc/webserver.env; export ENV=$NODE_ENV; /usr/local/bin/systemdlogger /path/to/config.json >/etc/logs/systemdlogger.log 2>&1

Config

Full example config that includes extra optional properties.

Example Cloudwatch Config - just required properties

{
    "systemd": {
        "unit": "webserver"
    },
    "backends": {
        "cloudwatch": {
            "log_group_name": "log_group_name",
            "log_stream_name": "log_stream_name"
        }
    }
}

Example Elasticsearch Config - just required properties

If the elasticsearch endpoint does not use port 9200 you need to explicitly state it as shown below:

{
    "systemd": {
        "unit": "webserver"
    },
    "backends": {
        "elasticsearch": {
            "doctype": "webserver",
            "hosts": ["search-applogs-blahiy7jyhmqwerfnrfg9trdz4.eu-west-1.es.amazonaws.com:80"]
        }
    }
}

Environment Variable Interpolation

Environment variables will be interpolated when the config is loaded.

$ ENV=uat FOO=bar systemdlogger config.json

// config.json
{
    "systemd": {
        "unit": "webserver"
    },
    "backends": {
        "cloudwatch": {
            "log_group_name": "$ENV-myapp",
            "log_stream_name": "$FOO-myservice"
        }
    }
}

Is loaded as:

        ...
        "cloudwatch": {
            "log_group_name": "uat-myapp",
            "log_stream_name": "bar-myservice"
        }

Cloudwatch Backend

Appends EC2 instance id to logstream name, eg:

Log Groups > webapp-uat > webapp-i-06e2a5d847e0d532f

Elasticseach Backend

Creates daily indexes for logs in logs-YYYY-MM-DD format, eg:

logs-16-08-25
logs-16-08-26

Kibana Setup

Configure Kibana index pattern:

• Go to Kibana index settings URL eg, http://<your_elasticsearch_domain>/_plugin/kibana/#/settings/indices/?_g=()
• Select both checkboxes.
• Set Index pattern interval to Daily
• Enter [logs-]YYYY-MM-DD for the index name
• Select timestamp for the timestamp field
• Click on Create

Development Setup

$ make setup
$ source env/bin/activate
$ make deps

Unit Tests

Install dependencies

$ pip install -r requirements.txt

Run Tests

$ make test

Integration Tests

Run against elasticsearch docker container.

$ docker-compose up -d
$ make test-integration