# Options of linux-audit-parser() parsers

The `linux-audit-parser()` has the following options. Because `linux-audit-parser()` is a specialized key-value parser, it accepts the same key-value options as [Options of key=value parsers](../../../docs/axosyslog-core/4.26/chapter-parsers/key-value-parser/kv-parser-options/index.md).

## allow-pair-separator-in-value()

|   
---|---  
Accepted values: | `yes`, `no`  
Default: | `yes`  
  
_Description:_ Permits the pair separator character inside the value of a key-value pair, so that `key1=value with spaces, key2=other value` parses into two pairs even though the value of `key1` contains spaces.

AxoSyslog always parses key-value pairs this way, so setting this option has no effect. AxoSyslog only accepts it so that older configurations remain valid.

## extract-stray-words-into()

|   
---|---  
Synopsis: | extract-stray-words-into(")  
  
_Description:_ Specifies the name-value pair where AxoSyslog stores any stray words that appear before or between the parsed key-value pairs (mainly when the [`pair-separator()`](../../../docs/axosyslog-core/4.26/chapter-parsers/key-value-parser/kv-parser-options/index.md) option is also set). If multiple stray words appear in a message, then AxoSyslog stores them as a comma-separated list. Note that the `prefix()` option does not affect the name-value pair storing the stray words. Default value:`N/A`

### Example: Extracting stray words in key-value pairs

For example, consider the following message:

Terminal window
```
       VSYS=public; Slot=5/1; protocol=17; source-ip=10.116.214.221; source-port=50989; destination-ip=172.16.236.16; destination-port=162;time=2016/02/18 16:00:07; interzone-emtn_s1_vpn-enodeb_om; inbound; policy=370;
```

This is a list of key-value pairs, where the value separator is `=` and the pair separator is `;`. However, before the last key-value pair (`policy=370`), there are two stray words: `interzone-emtn_s1_vpn-enodeb_om inbound`. If you want to store or process these, specify a name-value pair to store them in the `extract-stray-words-into()` option, for example, `extract-stray-words-into("my-stray-words")`. The value of `${my-stray-words}` for this message will be `interzone-emtn_s1_vpn-enodeb_om, inbound`

## internal()

|   
---|---  
Accepted values: | `yes`, `no`  
Default: | `no`  
  
_Description:_ Marks this pipeline element as internal. Elements marked as `internal()` are treated as an implementation detail, so for example statistics of the given pipe are available only on higher stats level. This option is mainly useful for developers or when writing SCL blocks and integrations.

## pair-separator()

|   
---|---  
Synopsis: | pair-separator(")  
  
_Description:_ Specifies the character or string that separates the key-value pairs from each other. Default value: `,` .

For example, to parse `key1=value1;key2=value2` pairs, use `kv-parser(pair-separator(";"));` .

## prefix()

|   
---|---  
Synopsis: | prefix()  
  
_Description:_ Insert a prefix before the name part of the parsed name-value pairs to help further processing. For example:

  * To insert the `my-parsed-data.` prefix, use the `prefix(my-parsed-data.)` option.
  * To refer to a particular data that has a prefix, use the prefix in the name of the macro, for example, `${my-parsed-data.name}`.
  * If you forward the parsed messages using the IETF-syslog protocol, you can insert all the parsed data into the SDATA part of the message using the `prefix(.SDATA.my-parsed-data.)` option.



Names starting with a dot (for example, `.example`) are reserved for use by AxoSyslog. If you use such a macro name as the name of a parsed value, it will attempt to replace the original value of the macro (note that only soft macros can be overwritten, see [Hard versus soft macros](../../../docs/axosyslog-core/4.26/chapter-manipulating-messages/customizing-message-format/macros-hard-vs-soft/index.md) for details). To avoid such problems, use a prefix when naming the parsed values, for example, `prefix(my-parsed-data.)`

By default, `linux-audit-parser()` uses the `.auditd.` prefix. To modify it, use the following format:

Terminal window
```
       parser {
            linux-audit-parser(prefix("myprefix."));
        };
```

## template()

|   
---|---  
Synopsis: | `template("${<macroname>}")`  
  
_Description:_ The macro that contains the part of the message that the parser will process. It can also be a macro created by a previous parser of the log path. By default, the parser processes the entire message (`${MESSAGE}`).

## value-separator()

|   
---|---  
Synopsis: | value-separator("")  
  
_Description:_ Specifies the character that separates the keys from the values. Default value: `=`.

For example, to parse `key:value` pairs, use `kv-parser(value-separator(":"));`.

Last modified August 6, 2026: [Sync linux-audit-parser with source code (9ed34a18)](<https://github.com/axoflow/axosyslog-core-docs/commit/9ed34a182710211ee22cb6e95d1bd048c4d46c7d>)