Version 4.11.0 of syslog-ng is now available. The main attraction is the brand new Kafka source, but there are many other smaller features and improvements, as well.
Before you begin
If you happen to use Debian, Ubuntu or the RHEL family of operating systems (RHEL, CentOS, Rocky Linux, Alma Linux, Oracle Linux, etc.) then ready-to-use packages are already available as part of the release process. For details, check the README in the syslog-ng source code repository on GitHub: https://github.com/syslog-ng/syslog-ng/?tab=readme-ov-file#installation-from-binaries The syslog-ng container is also updated to this release: https://github.com/syslog-ng/syslog-ng/?tab=readme-ov-file#installation-from-binaries
I plan to update Fedora 44 and Rawhide soon, just like openSUSE Tumbleweed. For other distributions, you often need to wait a bit more or use third-party repositories. Our 3rd-party repo page has some pointers: https://www.syslog-ng.com/products/open-source-log-management/3rd-party-binaries.aspx
What is new?
The largest new feature is the Kafka source, which allows you to collect log messages from Kafka streams. For many years, syslog-ng had a Kafka destination, allowing you to send log messages to a Kafka-based data pipeline. The Kafka source enables syslog-ng to collect log messages from Kafka, parse and filter log messages, and route them to various destinations. You can learn more about the Kafka source from the syslog-ng documentation at https://syslog-ng.github.io/admin-guide/060_Sources/038_Kafka/README .
Support for Elasticsearch / OpenSearch data streams was also added: https://www.syslog-ng.com/community/b/blog/posts/changes-in-the-syslog-ng-elasticsearch-destination
4.11 also includes many other interesting new features and bug fixes, including:
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OAuth2 support in the cloud-auth module, including gRPC-based destinations
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Failover support in the load-balancer
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Improved performance and lowered resource usage on macOS
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cmake support feature parity with autotools
For a complete list of changes, check the release notes on GitHub: https://github.com/syslog-ng/syslog-ng/releases/tag/syslog-ng-4.11.0
As usual, while we make every effort to make all features work everywhere, it is not always technically possible. For example, compilers and / or dependencies are too old to support gRPC-based modules in older RHEL, SUSE and Debian releases.
What is next?
As usual: feedback is very welcome. If you have any problems with the syslog-ng 4.11.0 release, open an issue on GitHub at https://github.com/syslog-ng/syslog-ng/issues Your report helps us to make syslog-ng better. Of course, we are also very happy about any positive feedback :-)
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If you have questions or comments related to syslog-ng, do not hesitate to contact us. You can reach us by email or even chat with us. For a list of possibilities, check our GitHub page under the “Community” section at https://github.com/syslog-ng/syslog-ng. On Twitter, I am available as @PCzanik, on Mastodon as @Pczanik@fosstodon.org.