---
name: cloud-logs-cl-operational-logs
title: Monitoring operational logs
description: You can send infrastructure and application logs to an IBM Cloud Logs instance by using the Logging agent or by using the REST API. You can also configure a Linux Logging agent on a Linux server to collect and route Rsyslog data to an IBM Cloud Logs instance.
last-updated: 2025-02-17
---

> ## Documentation Index
> The table of contents for this documentation set is at https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/cloud-logs?format=markdown
> The index for all IBM Cloud docs is at: https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use these files to discover more information as needed.

# Monitoring operational logs
{: #cl-operational-logs}

You can send infrastructure and application logs to an IBM Cloud Logs instance by using the Logging agent or by using the REST API. You can also configure a Linux Logging agent on a Linux server to collect and route Rsyslog data to an IBM Cloud Logs instance.
{: shortdesc}



## By deploying the Logging agent
{: #cl-operational-logs-agent}

The Logging agent is based on the Fluent Bit open-source agent which is used to collect and process log data. You can deploy the Logging agent in supported environments and manage data from various sources and formats. For more information, see [About the Logging agent](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/cloud-logs?topic=cloud-logs-agent-about&format=markdown).

The following diagram shows the high level view of sources where you can deploy the Logging agent to send logs directly to an IBM Cloud Logs instance:

![Sources where the agent is supported](images/sending-logs-agent.svg "Sources where the agent is supported"){: caption="Flow of logs from agent" caption-side="bottom"}

For more information, see:
- [Deploying the Logging agent for Red Hat OpenShift clusters using a Helm chart](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/cloud-logs?topic=cloud-logs-agent-helm-os-deploy&format=markdown).
- [Deploying the Logging agent for Kubernetes clusters using a Helm chart](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/cloud-logs?topic=cloud-logs-agent-helm-kube-deploy&format=markdown).
- [Deploying the Linux Logging agent](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/cloud-logs?topic=cloud-logs-agent-linux&format=markdown).

## By using the Ingestion REST API
{: #cl-operational-logs-api}

You can send logs to an IBM Cloud Logs instance by using the ingestion API. For more information, see [Sending logs by using the REST API](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/cloud-logs?topic=cloud-logs-send-logs-api&format=markdown).


## Using a Linux Logging agent on a Linux server to collect and route rsyslog data
{: #cl-operational-logs-agent-collector}

You can configure a Linux Logging agent on a Linux server to collect and route Rsyslog data to an IBM Cloud Logs instance.
- IBM Cloud Logs does not support a syslog endpoint.
- For more information, see [Configuring the Logging agent for Rsyslog logs](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/cloud-logs?topic=cloud-logs-agent-rsyslog&format=markdown).


The following diagram shows the high level view of a source, such as PowerVS, where you can configure rsyslog to send logs to a Linux server:

![Sources such as PowerVS where the agent is supported](images/sending-logs-agent-collector.svg "Sources where the agent is supported"){: caption="Flow of logs from agent" caption-side="bottom"}