Logging agent for Linux
The Linux logging agent collects and forwards Linux logs to your IBM Log Analysis instance. After you provision an IBM® Log Analysis instance, you must configure a logging agent for each log source that you want to monitor.
As of 28 March 2024 the IBM Log Analysis and IBM Cloud Activity Tracker services are deprecated and will no longer be supported as of 30 March 2025. Customers will need to migrate to IBM Cloud Logs, which replaces these two services, prior to 30 March 2025. IBM Cloud Logs will become generally available during the summer of 2024 in Frankfurt and Madrid with day-one support for EU-managed controls. The service will continue its worldwide multizone region (MZR) roll-out through 3Q2024.
By default, the logging agent monitors all files with extension .log, and extensionless files under /var/log/.
The logging agent tails for new log data, and looks for new files that are added to the logging directories that the agent monitors.
Before you begin, understand the agent storage requirements.
Linux image versions
Logging agent images for Linux are public images that are available in the logging repo https://assets.logdna.com.
The following table outlines the agent versions that are available:
| Linux | Logging agent V1 | Logging agent V2 | Logging agent V3 |
|---|---|---|---|
Linux |
 |
|
|
Connecting a logging agent with a logging instance
The logging agent is responsible for collecting and forwarding system-level, and file-based logs to your IBM Log Analysis instance.
To connect your Linux server to send logs to your IBM Log Analysis instance, you must install a logging-agent.
- The logging agent reads log files from /var/log, and forwards the log data to your logging instance.
To connect an agent to a Linux platform, choose 1 of the following options:
Configuration the agent
You can customize a logging agent by configuring parameters for Linux agents.