Tutorial: Create a Simple Syslog Server and Write to a File

Use this tutorial when you want WinSyslog to receive syslog messages and store them in a local text file.

Goal

At the end of this procedure, WinSyslog will:

• listen for incoming syslog messages

• pass them through a ruleset

• write matching messages to a file on disk

Prerequisites

• A writable target directory for log files

• At least one ruleset for incoming messages

• A service that will bind to that ruleset

Steps

1. Create or choose a ruleset.

   • In the WinSyslog Configuration Client, create a ruleset for the messages you want to store.

   • If this is your first setup, you can also reuse the ruleset from Creating an Initial Configuration.

2. Add a Write to File action.

   • Inside that ruleset, add a Write to File action.

   • Open the file logging settings.

3. Configure the target file.

   • Set File Path Name to the directory where WinSyslog should write the files.

   • Set File Base Name to the logical file name prefix.

   • Keep the default extension unless you need something specific.

4. Decide how files should be created.

   • Use daily unique filenames if you want date-based rotation.

   • Use a continuous filename if another process expects one stable file name.

   • Enable Include Source in Filename only if you explicitly want separate files per sender.

5. Bind message intake to the ruleset.

   • Ensure at least one service, for example a Syslog server service, is bound to the ruleset that contains the file action.

6. Save the configuration and restart the WinSyslog service if required.

Verification

1. Send a test message with Tools -> Send Syslog Test Message.

2. Open the configured directory.

3. Confirm that WinSyslog created the expected log file.

4. Open the file with a tool that does not lock it aggressively, such as Notepad.

Next step

If file logging works, continue with:

• Creating an Initial Configuration

• Write to File action reference

• Store and forward