How to Use Python syslog Module

09/15/2021

Contents

In this article, you will learn how to use Python syslog module.

Python syslog Module

The syslog module in Python provides an interface to the Unix system logging facility, which allows you to send log messages to the system logger. Here’s how you can use it:

Import the syslog module:

import syslog

Open a connection to the system logger by calling the openlog function. You can specify the name of your application as the ident parameter. If you don’t specify an identity, the name of your Python script will be used.

syslog.openlog(ident='myapp', logoption=syslog.LOG_PID, facility=syslog.LOG_LOCAL0)

The logoption parameter specifies how the logging should be done, and facility specifies the facility code to use.

Send log messages using the syslog.syslog function. You can specify the severity of the message using the constants defined in the syslog module (e.g., syslog.LOG_INFO, syslog.LOG_WARNING, etc.).

syslog.syslog(syslog.LOG_INFO, 'This is an information message.')
syslog.syslog(syslog.LOG_WARNING, 'This is a warning message.')
syslog.syslog(syslog.LOG_ERR, 'This is an error message.')

When you’re finished logging, close the connection to the system logger using the closelog function.

syslog.closelog()

With these simple steps, you can use the syslog module in Python to log messages to the system logger.