logger(1)

NAME

logger — make entries in the system log

SYNOPSIS

logger [-t tag] [-p pri] [-i] [-f file] [message...]

DESCRIPTION

The logger command provides a program interface to the syslog() system log module (see syslog(3C)).

A message can be given on the command line, which is logged immediately, or a file is read and each line is logged. If no file or message is specified, the contents of the standard input are logged.

Options

The logger command recognizes the following command-line options and arguments:

-t tag: Mark every line in the log with the specified tag. The default is the value returned by getlogin() (see getlogin(3C)). If getlogin() returns NULL, syslog is the default.
-p pri: Enter the message with the specified priority. The priority can be specified numerically or as a facility.level pair. For example, -p local3.info logs the message or messages as informational level in the local3 facility. The default is user.notice.
-i: Log the process ID of the logger process with each line.
-f file: Log the contents of the specified file.
message: The message to log; if not specified, the file specified by the -f option or standard input is logged.

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

Environment Variables

LC_MESSAGES determines the language in which messages are displayed.

If LC_MESSAGES is not specified in the environment or is set to the empty string, the value of LANG is used as a default for each unspecified or empty variable. If LANG is not specified or is set to the empty string, a default of "C" (see lang(5)) is used instead of LANG.

If any internationalization variable contains an invalid setting, logger behaves as if all internationalization variables are set to "C". See environ(5).

International Code Set Support

Single- and multi-byte character code sets are supported.

EXAMPLES

Send the message System rebooted to the syslogd daemon:

logger System rebooted 

Send output from the users command (see users(1) to the syslogd daemon, marked as level info and facility local0. The message is tagged with the string USERS:

users | logger -p local0.info -t USERS 

Send the message System going down immediately!!! to the syslog daemon, at the emerg level and user facility:

logger -p user.emerg "System going down immediately!!!" 

WARNINGS

The logger command has no effect if the syslogd daemon (see syslogd(1M)) is not running on the system.

Messages written in locales other than the POSIX/C locale are not supported.

AUTHOR

logger was developed by the University of California, Berkeley.

STANDARDS CONFORMANCE

logger: XPG4, POSIX.2