rcl_logging_syslog 🚢🚀🚂

rcl_logging_syslog is alternative logging backend implementation that can be used for ROS 2 application via rcl_logging_interface.

rcl_logging_syslog uses SYSLOG(3) to send the log data to rsyslog a.k.a rocket-fast system for log processing 🚀.

The main objective is that Enabling ROS 2 logging system with Cloud-Native Log Management and Observability.

see overview slide deck for more information.

Motivation

The logging data is critical especially for entire system observability and status, so that application can alert the administrator or even give the feedback to the system with adjusting the parameter. This importance rises once it comes to robotics and robot application, especially distributed system such as ROS 2 or edge computing because we must be able to specify what went wrong in the 1st place with these logging data.

rsyslog is available in default Ubuntu distribution managed by system service, performative, and many configuration supported including log data pipeline. So that user can choose the logging configuration depending on the application requirement and use case, sometimes file system sink, sometimes forwarding to remote rsyslogd, or even FluentBit.

FluentBit is a Fast Log Processor and Forwarder part of Graduated Fluentd Ecosystem and a CNCF sub-project.

Demonstration

See how it works 🔥

• rsyslog / FluebtBit

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/bdb05bf7-92b2-4b9a-8f20-3d3b803a7a86

• rsyslog / Fluentd / Loki / Grafana

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/4a1aae42-5c55-4f31-9198-8c7c246244ca

Tutorials

• How to integrate with Fluentd / Loki / Grafana

Supported ROS Distribution

Installation

Prerequisites

• rsyslog installation

rcl_logging_syslog requires rsyslog package, which Ubuntu should have already in default. But if you are using container, the situation is bit different from host system since there is no system services or rsyslogd is running by default. In the case of container, we need to install rsyslog packages in the container root file system.

[!NOTE] We can enable the container with host system privileges but that is NOT recommended, especially for security.

### Install rsyslog package
apt install rsyslog

• create ros directory for rsyslog.

The following commands require root permission. /var/log/ros is the root directory for rcl_logging_syslog, all logs are expected to be stored under this root directory.

mkdir -p /var/log/ros
chown syslog:adm /var/log/ros

[!WARNING] For production, user needs to configure appropriate group if necessary but owner should be syslog. Otherwise rsyslogd may meet the permission problem for the file system.

• rsyslog service check

If you are running the application on host system, check the rsyslog system service.

systemctl status rsyslog

If you are running the application on container environment, start the rsyslogd daemon process.

/usr/sbin/rsyslogd -n -iNONE

Or you prefer to use rsyslogd in the host system from the application in the container, you need to bind the /dev/log to the container via -v /dev/log:/dev/log, so that the application running in the container can open the Unix Domain Socket for rsyslogd running in the host system. In this setting, all rsyslogd configuration needs to be set in the host system.

• fluent-bit installation

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Changelog for package rcl_logging_syslog

0.1.1 (2025-06-10)

• enable builtin dictionaries with custom ones. (#111)

• Support codespell (#106)

  • support codespell github action.
  • spelling fixes by codespell.

  * add empty dictionary. ---------

• support kilted kaiju, branch rules and github action. (#102)

  • support kilted kaiju, branch rules and github action.
  • Update slide deck icnluding PDF.

  * update overview.html. ---------

• support full source build via github workflow. (#95)

• fix ROS by the Bay presentation slide. (#91)

• cosmetic fix for markdown presentation URLs. (#88)

• add slide deck for ROS by the Bay 20250130. (#85)

  • add slide deck for ROS by the Bay 20250130.

  * add pdf and html slide decks. ---------

• fix nightly workflow. (#82)

• add label [skip-backport]{.title-ref} to skip the backport to downstream branches. (#79)

• make nightly build and workflow to be more generic. (#76)

  • remove humble and jazzy nightly workflow files.

  * create generic nightly workflow that can be used for any distro. ---------

• add nightly workflow files for each distribution. (#73)

• add .mergify/config.yml to automatic backport support. (#68)

• remove Iron Irwini since it is already End of Life. (#65)

• add github workflows status bars in README. (#60)

• github workflow script should be distro agnostic package names. (#56)

• enable github workflows to rolling branch. (#52)

  • enable github workflows to rolling branch.
  • add exec permission for scripts/github_workflows.sh.

  * enable workflow for other distro branches. ---------

• Blank issue enabled for miscellaneous issues. (#47)

• add github issue templates. (#43)

• add note how to bind the /dev/log socket to the container. (#29)

• add ROSCon 2024 LT slide deck. (#28)

• test: check if the directory exists before removing. (#26)

• rsyslogd omfile permission error. (#25)

• support basic colcon test. (#19)

  • support basic colcon test.
  • add logging file and contents check via rsyslog test conf.

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