---
title: "pipe: Collect messages from named pipes"
url: "https://axoflow.com/docs/axosyslog-core/4.28/chapter-sources/source-pipe/"
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).

# pipe: Collect messages from named pipes

The pipe driver opens a named pipe with the specified name and listens for messages. It is used as the native message delivery protocol on HP-UX.

The pipe driver has a single required parameter, specifying the filename of the pipe to open. For the list of available optional parameters, see [pipe() source options](https://axoflow.com/docs/axosyslog-core/4.28/chapter-sources/source-pipe/reference-source-pipe/index.md).

## Declaration:

```shell
   pipe(filename);
```

> **Note:**
> As of version 3.0.2, pipes are created automatically. In earlier versions, you had to create the pipe using the `mkfifo(1)` command.

Pipe is very similar to the `file()` driver, but there are a few differences, for example, `pipe()` opens its argument in read-write mode, therefore it is not recommended to be used on special files like `/proc/kmsg`.

> **Warning:**
>
> - It is not recommended to use `pipe()` on anything else than real pipes.
> - By default, AxoSyslog uses the `flags(no-hostname)` option for pipes, meaning that AxoSyslog assumes that the log messages received from the pipe do not contain the hostname field. If your messages do contain the hostname field, use `flags(expect-hostname)`.

## Example: Using the pipe() driver

```shell
   source s_pipe {
        pipe("/dev/pipe" pad-size(2048));
    };
```

---

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

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