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General Router FAQ Syslog

How do I use Syslog?

Syslog is a method of logging router activity. When enabled, the router continuously outputs syslog event messages; these can be captured by a syslog daemom (a listening/capturing program) and displayed or logged to a file. DrayTek provide a syslog tool on the CD-Rom which comes with your router, or you can download the latest version.

One the program is installed, go to the Syslog option on the router's main menu. Enter the IP address of the PC which is running the Syslog program (in our example 192.168.1.8):

Run the Syslog program and you will start to see messages and statistics build up. You can leave the Syslog program running continuously (add it to your Windows start up group if you want to):

How do I use 'Mail Alert' ?

Enabling 'Mail Alert' will cause the router to email your chosen address with certain alerts, notably potential firewall attacks. It is a simple function to set up - go to the Syslog/Mail Alert menu on the router and enter the address of your chosen mail server (local or ISP's) and the addres you want the alerts sent to:

How do I use store syslog on USB Disk?

Instead of the router sending syslog message to a PC and running a sylog utility on that PC, some DrayTek router models can store syslog to an attached USB Disk. The Vigor2820 series supports this functionality from firmware 3.3.3 and later, check the product specification for your specific model

To enable the router to send syslog message to an attached USB Disk instead of an IP Address, enable the toggle button in the [Syslog] menu. The setting can only be saved if the router has detected that a USB storage device is connected to its USB port. After enabling the setting, the router will create a syslog directory and .log file on the USB disk when it needs to write output to teh USB Disk.

The router does not immediately write the output to the USB Disk, it stores in memory first and then, once the log reaches 32KB, it writes the file to the .log file on the USB drive. Once the .log file on the USB drive reaches 1MB, the router will create a new .log with an incremented filename

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