---
title: "Change an old source driver to the network() driver"
url: "https://axoflow.com/docs/axosyslog-core/4.28/chapter-sources/configuring-sources-tcpudp/reference-source-tcpudp/source-tcpudp-to-network/"
last_modified: "2026-05-08T12:04:12+02:00"
---

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

# Change an old source driver to the network() driver

To replace your existing `tcp()`, `tcp6()`, `udp()`, `udp6()` sources with a `network()` source, complete the following steps.

1. Replace the driver with `network`. For example, replace `udp(` with `network(`
2. Set the transport protocol.

   - If you used TLS-encryption, add the `transport("tls")` option, then continue with the next step.
   - If you used the `tcp` or `tcp6` driver, add the `transport("tcp")` option.
   - If you used the `udp` or `udp` driver, add the `transport("udp")` option.
3. If you use IPv6 (that is, the `udp6` or `tcp6` driver), add the `ip-protocol(6)` option.
4. If you did not specify the port used in the old driver, check [network() source options](https://axoflow.com/docs/axosyslog-core/4.28/chapter-sources/configuring-sources-network/reference-source-network/index.md) and verify that your clients send the messages to the default port of the transport protocol you use. Otherwise, set the appropriate port number in your source using the `port()` option.
5. All other options are identical. Test your configuration with the `syslog-ng --syntax-only` command.

   The following configuration shows a simple `tcp` source.

   ```shell
       source s_old_tcp {
           tcp(
               ip(127.0.0.1) port(1999)
               tls(
                   peer-verify("required-trusted")
                   key-file("/opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.key")
                   cert-file('/opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.crt')
               )
           );
       };
   ```

   When replaced with the `network()` driver, it looks like this.

   ```shell
       source s_new_network_tcp {
           network(
               transport("tls")
               ip(127.0.0.1) port(1999)
               tls(
                   peer-verify("required-trusted")
                   key-file("/opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.key")
                   cert-file('/opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.crt')
               )
           );
       };
   ```

Last modified May 8, 2026: [Marks sources where we do syslog parsing automatically (5b8c29b7)](https://github.com/axoflow/axosyslog-core-docs/commit/5b8c29b7e7ee800add5a73ae2fe07f4db5115f6c)