Configuring VNX Event Forwarding to Remote Syslog Server

Configuring remote event logging on EMC VNX storage systems involves setting up the system to forward its event logs to a remote syslog server. Here are the steps to configure remote event logging on an EMC VNX system:

Prerequisites

1. **Syslog Server**: Ensure you have a syslog server set up and accessible from the VNX storage system.

2. **Network Configuration**: Verify network connectivity between the VNX storage system and the syslog server.

3. **Administrative Access**: You need administrative access to the VNX Control Station.

Steps to Configure Remote Event Logging

1. **Access the VNX Control Station**:

   – Use an SSH client to connect to the Control Station of the VNX system. Log in with administrative credentials.

2. **Edit the Syslog Configuration File**:

   – Open the syslog configuration file for editing. The configuration file is usually located at `/etc/syslog.conf` or `/etc/rsyslog.conf`, depending on the system configuration.

  

   vi /etc/syslog.conf

  

   Or if using rsyslog:

  

   vi /etc/rsyslog.conf

  

3. **Add Remote Syslog Server Entry**:

   – Add a line to forward the logs to the remote syslog server. The syntax depends on the syslog service in use. Here are examples for both `syslog` and `rsyslog`:

   For `syslog`:

  

   *.* @<remote_syslog_server>:514

  

   For `rsyslog`:

  

   *.* @@<remote_syslog_server>:514

  

   Replace `<remote_syslog_server>` with the hostname or IP address of your syslog server.

4. **Restart the Syslog Service**:

   – After editing the configuration file, restart the syslog service to apply the changes.

   For `syslog`:

  

   service syslog restart

  

   For `rsyslog`:

  

   service rsyslog restart

  

5. **Verify Configuration**:

   – Check if the VNX system is successfully sending logs to the remote syslog server. You can verify this by observing incoming logs on the syslog server or by using network monitoring tools.

Additional Considerations

– **Log Levels and Facilities**: You can customize which log levels and facilities are forwarded to the remote syslog server by specifying them in the configuration file.

– **Firewall Settings**: Ensure that the network firewall allows traffic on the syslog port (default is 514) from the VNX system to the syslog server.

– **Redundancy**: Consider setting up multiple syslog servers for redundancy and load balancing if necessary.

Example Configuration

Here’s an example of a `syslog.conf` entry to forward all logs to a remote server with IP address `192.168.1.100`:

*.* @192.168.1.100:514

And for `rsyslog.conf`:

*.* @@192.168.1.100:514

After editing the configuration file, restart the appropriate service:

service syslog restart

or

service rsyslog restart

By following these steps, you can configure your EMC VNX storage system to forward event logs to a remote syslog server, allowing for centralized log management and monitoring.