"Default message log level" & "Log only messages more urgent than" in Asuswrt-Merlin 378.56

[joegreat]

Hi,

I wonder what is the full meaning of the new settings in Administration / System:
"Default message log level" & "Log only messages more urgent than" can be both set to values like debug, info, notice, warning, error, critical, alert, emergency - plus all for "Log only messages more urgent than".

Now the question is what messages are into which category? There is no indication in the log entries related to the categories...

And: What is the meaning of the "Log only messages more urgent than" if it's set "higher" then "Default message log level"?

I fiddled a bit around with the "Default message log level", but then I lost instantly all(!) messages beside the kernel once during reboot...

With kind regards
Joe

 

[RMerlin]

I recommend searching Google for more information on how syslog works under Linux/UNIX, it will help clarify things as to what syslog levels mean.

Default message log level is the level used by the router's own logging. Unfortunately, Asuswrt uses the same level for all of the log entries it generates itself, rather than distinguishing between notices, and critical errors when logging. This can be problematic for people using a centralized syslog daemon, as by default everything carried a priority of emergency, making it impossible to filter things. This setting allows you to assign a more sane default level so not everything from the firmware comes in as being an emergency.

The various daemons and services (dnsmasq, miniupnpd, etc...) will typically use an appropriate level when generating log entries.

Log only messages more urgent than is the default filter level for the router's own syslog (what is shown on the System Log page). If set to "All", then everything sent to the router's syslog gets shown. If set to a different level, then you can ensure that, for example, only errors get shown (once again, see the limitation in the previous paragraph regarding the firmware's own log entries).

 

[joegreat]

Hi Merlin,

Thank you for the detailed answer on the specifics of the Asus router topics related to the syslog.
Given the lack of support in the Asus code for the categories, it's not really useful for me to fiddle around with it.

With kind regards
Joe