---
title: "The dqtool tool manual page"
url: "https://axoflow.com/docs/axosyslog-core/4.28/app-man-syslog-ng/dqtool.1/"
last_modified: "2026-09-15T12:56:36+02:00"
---

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://axoflow.com/docs/axosyslog-core/4.28/llms.txt).

# The dqtool tool manual page

## Name

`dqtool` — Display the contents of a disk-buffer file created with AxoSyslog.

## Synopsis

`dqtool [command] [options]`

## Description

> **Note:**
> The `dqtool` application is distributed with the AxoSyslog system logging application, and is usually part of the AxoSyslog package.

The `dqtool` application is a utility that can be used to display and format the messages stored in a disk-buffer file.

## The cat command

`cat [options] [file]`

Use the `cat` command to display the log messages stored in the disk-buffer (also called disk-queue) file, and also information from the header of the disk queue file. The messages are printed to the standard output (`stdout`), so it is possible to use `grep` and other tools to find particular log messages, for example, `dqtool cat /var/log/messages.lgs |grep 192.168.1.1`.

The `cat` command has the following options:

- `--debug` or `-d`

  Print diagnostic and debugging messages to `stderr`.
- `--help` or `-h`

  Display a brief help message.
- `--template=<template>` or `-t`

  Format the messages using the specified template.
- `--verbose` or `-v`

  Print verbose messages to `stderr`.
- `--version` or `-V`

  Display version information.

## Example: The cat command

```shell
./dqtool cat ../var/syslog-ng-00000.qf
```

The output looks like:

```shell
Disk-buffer state loaded;
filename='../var/syslog-ng-00000.qf', qout_length='65', qbacklog_length='0', qoverflow_length='9205', qdisk_length='0'
Mar  3 10:52:05 tristram localprg[1234]: seq: 0000011630, runid: 1267609923, stamp: 2010-03-03T10:52:05 PADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADD
Mar  3 10:52:05 tristram localprg[1234]: seq: 0000011631, runid: 1267609923, stamp: 2010-03-03T10:52:05 PADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADDPADD
```

## The info command

`info [DISK-BUFFER_FILE]`

Shows status information about the specified disk-buffer file. For example:

- Empty, normal disk-buffer file

  ```shell
  /opt/syslog-ng/bin/dqtool info /opt/syslog-ng/var/syslog-ng-00000.qf/var/lib/syslog-ng/syslog-ng-00000.qf
  ```

  Example output:

  ```shell
  Disk-buffer state loaded; filename='/opt/syslog-ng/var/syslog-ng-00000.qf/var/lib/syslog-ng/syslog-ng-00000.qf', number_of_messages='0'
  ```
- Non-empty, reliable disk-buffer queue file

  ```shell
  /opt/syslog-ng/bin/dqtool info /opt/syslog-ng/var/syslog-ng-00000.rqf
  ```

  ```shell
  Reliable disk-buffer state loaded; filename='/opt/syslog-ng/var/syslog-ng-00000.rqf', number_of_messages='10'
  ```

## The relocate command

`relocate [options] [files]`

Use the `relocate` command to move or rename disk-buffer (also called disk-queue) files. Note that this option modifies the persist file. Stop AxoSyslog before using this command.

The `relocate` command has the following options:

- `--all` or `-a`

  Relocate every disk-buffer file that is listed in the AxoSyslog persist file.
- `--new_path` or `-n`

  The directory where you want to move the disk-bufffer files. For example: `/var/disk-buffers`
- `--persist` or `-p`

  The path to the AxoSyslog persist file. The `relocate` command automatically updates the entries of the disk-buffer files in the persist file.

## Examples

Relocate a single queue file:

```shell
bin/dqtool relocate --new_path /tmp/dq --persist var/syslog-ng.persist /tmp/syslog-ng-00000.rqf
```

Relocate multiple queue files:

```shell
bin/dqtool relocate --new_path /tmp/dq --persist var/syslog-ng.persist /tmp/syslog-ng-00000.rqf /tmp/syslog-ng-00001.rqf
```

Relocate every queue file:

```shell
bin/dqtool relocate --new_path /tmp/dq --persist var/syslog-ng.persist --all
```

## The assign command

`assign [options] [file]`

Use the `assign` command to assign an existing disk-buffer file to a destination, by adding it to the AxoSyslog persist file under a specific persist name. This is useful when the persist file has no entry for the disk-buffer file, and you want to attach the file to a destination manually. Note that this command modifies the persist file. Stop AxoSyslog before using it.

If the disk-buffer file is specified by filename only, `dqtool` appends it to the current working directory. You must know the persist name that your destination uses.

The `assign` command has the following options:

- `--example` or `-e`

  Print usage examples and exit.
- `--persist=<persist-file>` or `-p`

  The path to the AxoSyslog persist file to update.
- `--persist_name=<persist-name>` or `-n`

  The persist name to assign the disk-buffer file to. If the persist file already contains an entry with this name, `dqtool` overwrites it and prints the previous value.

### Example: The assign command

```shell
bin/dqtool assign -p var/syslog-ng.persist \
                  -n "afsocket_dd_qfile(stream,localhost:15554)" \
                  /tmp/syslog-ng-dq/syslog-ng-00000.rqf
```

## The truncate command

`truncate [options] [files]`

Use the `truncate` command to reclaim the unused space of abandoned disk-buffer files.

**CAUTION:**

Truncating a disk-buffer file that AxoSyslog is actively using can result in data loss. Stop AxoSyslog, or make sure that the files are no longer in use, before you run this command.

The `truncate` command has the following options:

- `--force` or `-f`

  Perform the truncation. Without this option, `dqtool` only prints a warning and exits without modifying any file.

### Example: The truncate command

```shell
bin/dqtool truncate --force /tmp/syslog-ng-00000.rqf
```

The output looks like:

```shell
Disk-buffer /tmp/syslog-ng-00000.rqf has been truncated, reclaimed space: 1.453125 GiB
```

## Files

`/opt/syslog-ng/bin/dqtool`

## See also

[syslog-ng.conf.5](https://axoflow.com/docs/axosyslog-core/app-man-syslog-ng/syslog-ng.conf.5/)

[syslog-ng.8](https://axoflow.com/docs/axosyslog-core/app-man-syslog-ng/syslog-ng.8/)

## Getting help

- The up-to-date documentation of AxoSyslog is available on the [AxoSyslog documentation site](https://axoflow.com/docs/axosyslog-core/).
- For news and notifications about AxoSyslog, visit the [Axoflow blog](https://axoflow.com/blog/).
- If you want to contact the developers directly to help with problems or report issues, contact us on [Discord](https://discord.gg/583Z4wjem2) or [GitHub](https://github.com/axoflow/axosyslog/issues/).

This manual page is maintained by [Axoflow](https://axoflow.com/)

Last modified September 15, 2026: [Sync man page options with source code (52ac2d7f)](https://github.com/axoflow/axosyslog-core-docs/commit/52ac2d7f3ec90a7dff8bc663195d0caf482be463)