---
title: "systemd-syslog: Collect systemd messages using a socket"
url: "https://axoflow.com/docs/axosyslog-core/4.28/chapter-sources/configuring-sources-systemd-syslog/"
last_modified: "2025-10-16T10:49:48+02:00"
---

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

# systemd-syslog: Collect systemd messages using a socket

On platforms running systemd, the `systemd-syslog()` driver reads the log messages of systemd using the `/run/systemd/journal/syslog` socket. Note the following points about this driver:

- If possible, use the more reliable [systemd-journal()](https://axoflow.com/docs/axosyslog-core/4.28/chapter-sources/configuring-sources-journal/index.md) driver instead.
- The socket activation of systemd is buggy, causing some log messages to get lost during system startup.
- If AxoSyslog is running in a jail or a Linux Container (LXC), it will not read from the `/dev/kmsg` or `/proc/kmsg` files.

## Declaration:

```shell
   systemd-syslog();
```

## Example: Using the systemd-syslog() driver

```shell
   @version: 4.28

    source s_systemdd {
        systemd-syslog();
    };

    destination d_network {
        syslog("server.host");
    };

    log {
        source(s_systemdd);
        destination(d_network);
    };
```

---

[systemd-syslog() source options](https://axoflow.com/docs/axosyslog-core/4.28/chapter-sources/configuring-sources-systemd-syslog/reference-source-systemd-syslog/index.md)

Last modified October 16, 2025: [Fix @version config numbers in examples (89688d87)](https://github.com/axoflow/axosyslog-core-docs/commit/89688d8719a35ac2c048319e8fa82c11c6cad085)