loggen(1) The loggen manual page loggen(1) # [NAME](#NAME) loggen --- Generate syslog messages at a specified rate # [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS) loggen \[options] target \[port] # [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION) **NOTE:** The loggen application is distributed with the syslog-ng OSE system logging application, and is usually part of the syslog-ng OSE package. The latest version of the syslog-ng OSE application is available at the syslog-ng OSE page. This manual page is only an abstract. The loggen application is a tool to test and stress-test your syslog server and the connection to the server. It can send syslog messages to the server at a specified rate using a number of connection types and protocols, including TCP, UDP, and unix domain sockets. The messages can be generated automatically (repeating the PADDstring over and over), or read from a file or the standard input. When loggen finishes sending the messages, it displays the following statistics: - average rate: The average rate of the sent messages in messages/second. - count: The total number of messages sent. - time: The time required to send the messages in seconds. - average message size: The average size of the sent messages in bytes. - bandwidth: The average bandwidth used for sending the messages in kilobytes/second. # [OPTIONS](#OPTIONS) **--active-connections <number-of-connections>** Number of connections loggen will use to send messages to the destination. This option is usable only when using TCP or TLS connections to the destination. Default value: 1 The loggen utility waits until every connection is established before starting to send messages. See also the **--idle-connections** option. **--csv** or **-C** Send the statistics of the sent messages to stdout as CSV. This can be used for plotting the message rate. **--dgram** or **-D** Use datagram socket (UDP or unix-dgram) to send the messages to the target. Requires the --inet option as well. **--dont-parse** or **-d** Do not parse the lines read from the input files, send them as received. **--help** or **-h** Display a brief help message. **--idle-connection <number-of-connections>** Number of idle connections loggen will establish to the destination. Note that loggen will not send any messages on idle connections, but the connection is kept open using keep-alive messages. This option is usable only when using TCP or TLS connections to the destination. See also the --active-connections option. Default value: 0 **--inet** or **-i** Use the TCP (by default) or UDP (when used together with the \--dgram option) protocol to send the messages to the target. **--interval <seconds>** or **-I <seconds>** The number of seconds loggen will run. Default value: 10 ``` NOTE: When `--interval` and `--number` are used together, loggen will send messages until the period set in `--interval` expires or the amount of messages set in `--number` is reached, whichever happens first. ``` **--ipv6** or **-6** Specify the destination using its IPv6 address. Note that the destination must have a real IPv6 address. **--loop-reading** or **-l** Read the file specified in **--read-file** option in loop: loggen will start reading from the beginning of the file when it reaches the end of the file. **--number <number-of-messages>** or **-n <number-of-messages>** Number of messages to generate. ``` NOTE: When `--interval` and `--number` are used together, loggen will send messages until the period set in `--interval` expires or the amount of messages set in `--number` is reached, whichever happens first. ``` **--no-framing** or **-F** Do not use the framing of the IETF-syslog protocol style, even if the **--syslog-proto** option is set. **--quiet** or **-Q** Display statistics only when loggen is finished. If not set, the statistics are displayed every second. **--permanent** or **-T** Keep sending logs indefinitely, without time limit. **--rate <message/second>** or **-r <message/second>** The number of messages generated per second for every active connection. Default value: 1000 ``` If you want to change the message rate while loggen is running, send SIGUSR1 to double the message rate, or SIGUSR2 to halve it: kill `-USR1 kill` `-USR2 ` ``` **--read-file <filename>** or **-R <filename>** Read the messages from a file and send them to the target. See also the **--skip-tokens** option. Specify - as the input file to read messages from the standard input (stdio). Note that when reading messages from the standard input, loggen can only use a single thread. The -R -parameters must be placed at end of command, like: loggen 127.0.0.1 1061 **--read-file** - **--sdata <data-to-send>** or **-p <data-to-send>** Send the argument of the **--sdata** option as the **SDATA** part of IETF-syslog (RFC-5424 formatted) messages. Use it together with the **--syslog-proto** option. ```` For example: ```config --sdata "[test name=\"value\"] ``` ```` **--size <message-size>** or **-s <message-size>** The size of a syslog message in bytes. Default value: 256. Minimum value: 127 bytes, maximum value: 8192 bytes. **--skip-tokens <number>** Skip the specified number of space-separated tokens (words) at the beginning of every line. For example, if the messages in the file look like foo bar message, --skip-tokens 2 skips the foo bar part of the line, and sends only the message part. Works only when used together with the --read-file parameter. Default value: 0 **--stream** or **-S** Use a stream socket (TCP or unix-stream) to send the messages to the target. **--syslog-proto** or **-P** Use the new IETF-syslog message format. By default, loggen uses the legacy BSD-syslog message format. See also the --no-framing option. **--unix </path/to/socket>** or **-x </path/to/socket>** Use a UNIX domain socket to send the messages to the target. **--use-ssl** or **-U** Use an SSL-encrypted channel to send the messages to the target. Note that it is not possible to check the certificate of the target, or to perform mutual authentication. **--version** or **-V** Display version number of syslog-ng. ## [EXAMPLES:](#EXAMPLES:) The following command generates 100 messages per second for ten minutes, and sends them to port 2010 of the localhost via TCP. Each message is 300 bytes long. ``` loggen --size 300 --rate 100 --interval 600 127.0.0.1 2010 ``` The following command is similar to the one above, but uses the UDP protocol. ``` loggen --inet --dgram --size 300 --rate 100 --interval 600 127.0.0.1 2010 ``` Send a single message on TCP6 to the ::1 IPv6 address, port 1061: ``` loggen --ipv6 --number 1 ::1 1061 ``` Send a single message on UDP6 to the ::1 IPv6 address, port 1061: ``` loggen --ipv6 --dgram --number 1 ::1 1061 ``` Send a single message using a unix domain-socket: ``` loggen --unix --stream --number 1 ``` Read messages from the standard input (stdio) and send them to the localhost: ``` loggen 127.0.0.1 1061 --read-file - ``` # [FILES](#FILES) /Users/hofi/Develop/Balabit/syslog-ng/build/install/bin/loggen **NOTE:** If you experience any problems or need help with syslog-ng OSE, see the *syslog-ng OSE Administration Guide*\[1], or visit the *syslog-ng OSE mailing list*\[2]. For news and notifications about syslog-ng OSE, visit the *syslog-ng OSE blogs*\[3]. # [AUTHOR](#AUTHOR) This manual page was generated from the *syslog-ng OSE Administration Guide*\[1], which was written by several contributors to whom we'd like to extend our sincere thanks. # [COPYRIGHT](#COPYRIGHT) # [NOTES](#NOTES) \[1] **syslog-ng OSE Administration Guide** ⟨https://syslog-ng.github.io/admin-guide/README⟩ \[2] **syslog-ng OSE mailing list** ⟨https://lists.balabit.hu/mailman/listinfo/syslog-ng⟩ \[3] **syslog-ng OSE blogs** ⟨https://syslog-ng.com/blog/⟩ 18 December 2025 4.10.2 --- Document: loggen(1) from syslog-ng 4.12.0-r2 (Chainguard OS) Source: https://github.com/syslog-ng/syslog-ng