[fedora-list] How to add a new section in logwatch report

[Rich Mahn]

Donald Russell <russell.don at gmail.com> wrote:

>    I have an application that uses the logger -t <tag> command to add
>    specific messages in /var/log/messages. I'd like to add those in a
>    section of it's own in the logwatch report but am having trouble
>    following the information in /usr/share/doc/logwatch-7.3 in the HOWTO
>    doc.
>    I added my new script/filter
>    /etc/logwatch/scripts/services/myfilter
>    myfilter is one simple awk comand:
>    awk '{ if ("mytag:" == $5) { print; }}'
>    I added the config file for it...A  /etc/logwatch/conf/myfilter.conf
>    Title = "My App Messages"
>    LogFile = messages
>    I also tried a more explicit, LogFile = /var/log/messages
>    What else do I need to do? when I add a test message to the log with
>    logger -t mytag this is a test
>    then run logwatch, I'm not seeing the test message in the report
>    What did I miss?
>    Thank you.
> 

It's complicated--there are many many options and, since it's perl scripts,
there's many ways to do it.

The myfilter.conf file gives options for pre-processing your log file.
Look at /usr/share/logwatch/default.conf/services/*.conf for examples.
Look at arpwatch.conf for a simple example.  Note the "OnlyService" and
the "RemoveHeaders" lines.  They are probably similar to what you want
if you are pulling lines from /var/log/messsages.

Then look at some files in /usr/share/log/watch/scripts/service.
I like the 'afpd' as an example of how to grab data from the lines
you are looking at.

In your /etc/logwatch/scripts/services directory, make sure the
permissions are 644 -- they are not executable.

This should be enough to get you started.  Report back with more specific
problems for more specific help.

Good luck


Rich