This week’s syslog-ng blog does not demonstrate any new syslog-ng features or integrations. Instead of those, it is a request for testing syslog-ng 4.0 and points you at a few related blogs and resources.
What is under development?
The two most visible changes are:
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Support for typing
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Improved lists (array) handling in syslog-ng
You can find more about these in a preliminary syslog-ng 4.0 NEWS file at: https://github.com/syslog-ng/syslog-ng/blob/master/NEWS-4.0.md
You can learn even more about syslog-ng 4.0 development in the “syslog-ng future” blog by syslog-ng project founder Balázs Scheidler, at: https://syslog-ng-future.blog/
A different perspective is the syslog-ng 4.0 discussion on GitHub, which lists all planned features and their current statuses: https://github.com/syslog-ng/syslog-ng/discussions/3883
Where to get it from?
You might ask where you can find syslog-ng 4.0 if is not yet released. Most of the syslog-ng 4.0 features are already available for testing. Version 3.37 of syslog-ng already contains some 4.0 features and the majority of them are available in version 3.38 and a bit more if you test a recent git snapshot build. If all goes well, instead of a syslog-ng 3.39 release, we will have version 4.0.
If your Linux distribution contains an earlier version of syslog-ng, check our 3rd-party packages page to see where can you find up-to-date packages for your Linux distribution: https://www.syslog-ng.com/products/open-source-log-management/3rd-party-binaries.aspx
For Debian, Ubuntu, there are now also nightly git snapshot packages available: https://www.syslog-ng.com/community/b/blog/posts/nightly-syslog-ng-builds-for-debian-and-ubuntu
If you prefer to run syslog-ng in a container, instead of directly on the operating system, the syslog-ng team publishes container images both for regular releases and nightly builds: https://www.syslog-ng.com/community/b/blog/posts/nightly-syslog-ng-container-images
How to test syslog-ng 4.0
Once you installed a recent enough syslog-ng version, it is time for testing. The syslog-ng 4.0 features are already available in the latest syslog-ng releases and git snapshot packages; however, they are hidden from the users. You can enable 4.0 features by rewriting the version string in syslog-ng.conf from the real version number to 4.0 and by reloading syslog-ng.
You can find more information about testing in two recent blogs:
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Testing typing: https://www.syslog-ng.com/community/b/blog/posts/type-support-getting-started-with-syslog-ng-4-0
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Type-aware comparisons: https://syslog-ng-future.blog/syslog-ng-4-progress-3-38-1-release/
Feedback
We need feedback. Of course, feedback is still welcome after the release, but early feedback can make 4.0 already good at the time of the release. Version 4.0 is still under development and not recommended for production use. However, testing your production syslog-ng configuration with the version string set to 4.0 helps to make sure that there is less surprise when the real update is made. Just as feeding production amount of log messages to syslog-ng running on 4.0 helps to make sure that there are no performance issues later on.
You can provide us feedback in many ways:
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GitHub: https://github.com/syslog-ng/syslog-ng/discussions/4120
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Gitter (chat): https://gitter.im/syslog-ng/syslog-ng
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Mailing list: https://lists.balabit.hu/mailman/listinfo/syslog-ng
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If you have questions or comments related to syslog-ng, do not hesitate to contact us. You can reach us by email or even chat with us. For a list of possibilities, check our GitHub page under the “Community” section at https://github.com/syslog-ng/syslog-ng. On Twitter, I am available as @PCzanik.