How to bind a template

This little FAQ describe how to bind a template.
First with the new template format “list” and then with the old “legacy” format.

First off all you have to define a template for example for specify output.

Here is an example template in the list format:

template(name=”FileFormat” type=”list”) {
property(name=”timestamp” dateFormat=”rfc3339″)
constant(value=” “)
property(name=”hostname”)
constant(value=” “)
property(name=”syslogtag”)
constant(value=” “)
property(name=”msg” spifno1stsp=”on” )
property(name=”msg” droplastlf=”on” )
constant(value=”\n”)
}

Then you have to bind the template to an action. You do this via the “template” parameter.

action(… template=”name-of-template”)

Here is an example action with a example-template:

*.* action(type=”omfile” file=”/var/log/all-messages.log” template=”Name-of-your-template”)

In the configuration it should looks like this:

template(name=”FileFormat” type=”list”) {
property(name=”timestamp” dateFormat=”rfc3339″)
constant(value=” “)
property(name=”hostname”)
constant(value=” “)
property(name=”syslogtag”)
constant(value=” “)
property(name=”msg” spifno1stsp=”on” )
property(name=”msg” droplastlf=”on” )
constant(value=”\n”)
}
action(type=”omfile” file=”/var/log/all-msgs.log” template=”FileFormat”)

Here is an example for obsolete legacy format

Here is an example template in the legacy format:

$template ExampleFormat,”%timereported:::date-rfc3339% %HOSTNAME% %msg%”

Here is an example action with a example-template:

*.* /var/log/all-messages.log;Your-Template-Name

In the Configuration it looks like this:

$template ExampleFormat,”%timereported:::date-rfc3339% %HOSTNAME% %msg%”
*.* /var/log/all-messages.log;ExampleFormat

Note that it is advised NOT to use obsolete legacy format for anything complex. Assigning templates is at the border of being not recommended.