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rsyslog

INFRA · APIS
Velocity0.0

High-performance log processing and forwarding system

www.rsyslog.com ↗

The syslog daemon is quietly becoming an OpenTelemetry-era pipeline, YAML config and all.

loggingopentelemetryyaml-configelastic-beatsazure-monitordefensive-hardening
◆Current state
rsyslog ships bi-monthly scheduled-stable snapshots of its daily-stable branch, and the last two carried real capability rather than upkeep. April added YAML as an alternative configuration format, an Azure Monitor output, API key authentication for imhttp, and native protobuf encoding for omotel over HTTP. June followed with an Elastic Beats and Lumberjack input, a POSIX FIFO input, experimental TCP stream compression between omfwd and imtcp, and shared per-source ratelimit policy.
◆Where it's heading
Two moves are reshaping what this product is. The configuration story is opening up — RainerScript, rsyslog's bespoke and long-criticized config language, now has a YAML alternative while gaining new helpers of its own. And the transport story is converging on the modern observability stack: native protobuf for OpenTelemetry output, a cloud vendor sink, Beats and Lumberjack ingestion. Underneath both runs continuous defensive hardening across parsers, inputs, outputs, queues and TLS, mentioned in both releases.
◆Prediction
Expect the YAML configuration path to broaden from alternative to fully supported, and TCP stream compression to move from experimental to stable, since both are flagged as partial in the releases that introduced them.

◆Recent moves

  1. 1mo ago

    rsyslog 8.2606.0 adds Elastic Beats input and TCP compression

    Broadens the ingest side with imbeats for Elastic Beats and Lumberjack and imfifo for POSIX FIFOs, adds experimental TCP stream compression between omfwd and imtcp, and lets ratelimit policy be shared across multiple inputs. Continues the hardening sweep across parsers, queues and TLS that runs through both recent snapshots.

    View source ↗
  2. 3mo ago

    rsyslog 8.2604.0 adds YAML config and native OTel protobuf

    ⚡ SPARK

    The release that changes what rsyslog is configured with and what it speaks to: YAML arrives as an alternative to RainerScript, and omotel gains native protobuf encoding over HTTP. An Azure Monitor output with gzip compression and API key auth for imhttp round out the move toward cloud and OpenTelemetry destinations.

    View source ↗
  3. 5mo ago

    v8.2602.0

    The February scheduled-stable snapshot, published with a single line of description and no highlights. Whatever it contained is not documented in the release entry.

    View source ↗
  4. 7mo ago

    pre-ai-agent-doc-changes-end_of_2025: tag to describe (almost) unchanged AGENTS.md before next iteration

    Not a release at all — a reference tag marking the state of AGENTS.md before the project adapted its AI agent instructions, kept as a fallback point in case the changes hurt other agents. It appears in the release feed as a side effect of tagging.

    View source ↗
  5. 8mo ago

    v8.2512.0

    The December scheduled-stable snapshot, documented only by its own version string. Like the February release, it carries no published change summary.

    View source ↗
  6. 9mo ago

    rsyslog 8.2406.3-vlt adds TLS to the Redis input and output

    A tag off a separate -vlt variant line adding TLS support to both the imhiredis input and omhiredis output, plus command timeouts to prevent infinite waits. Redis transport gaining encryption on a maintenance branch, out of step with the main scheduled-stable series.

    View source ↗