# Upgrade syslog-ng to AxoSyslog

If you’re already using `syslog-ng`, you can upgrade your existing `syslog-ng` deployments to AxoSyslog in a matter of minutes, by simply installing AxoSyslog on the host.

We assume that you’ve installed `syslog-ng` from the repositories of your distribution. To upgrade to AxoSyslog, complete the following steps.

  1. Check that the syslog-ng service is running:
```
 sudo systemctl syslog-ng status
         
```

The output will look something like:
```
 syslog-ng.service - System Logger Daemon
          Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/syslog-ng.service; enabled; preset>
          Active: active (running) since Thu 2025-02-27 17:04:28 CET; 11s ago
            Docs: man:syslog-ng(8)
         Main PID: 254 (syslog-ng)
           Tasks: 2 (limit: 9594)
          Memory: 19.6M (peak: 20.8M)
             CPU: 215ms
          CGroup: /system.slice/syslog-ng.service
                  └─254 "[rosetta]" /usr/sbin/syslog-ng /usr/sbin/syslog-ng -F
         
```

  2. Check the version of `syslog-ng` you have by running:
```
 syslog-ng --version
         
```

The output will start with something like:
```
 syslog-ng 4 (4.8.1)
         Config version: 4.2
         Installer-Version: 4.8.1
         
```

  3. Add the AxoSyslog repository for your distribution and install AxoSyslog. For details, see the installation sections:

     * [Install AxoSyslog on Debian/Ubuntu](../../docs/axosyslog-core/install/debian-ubuntu/index.md)
     * [Install AxoSyslog on RHEL/Fedora/AlmaLinux](../../docs/axosyslog-core/install/rhel-fedora-almalinux/index.md)

The installation replaces the `syslog-ng` packages with AxoSyslog packages, but provides the same binaries (for example, `/usr/sbin/syslog-ng`). It will keep using the existing configuration files (`/etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.conf`), certificates, and so on.

  4. Check that the `syslog-ng` service is still running:
```
 sudo systemctl syslog-ng status
         
```

The output should be identical to the earlier result:
```
 syslog-ng.service - System Logger Daemon
          Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/syslog-ng.service; enabled; preset>
          Active: active (running) since Thu 2025-02-27 17:07:41 CET; 42s ago
            Docs: man:syslog-ng(8)
         Main PID: 1936 (syslog-ng)
           Tasks: 2 (limit: 9594)
          Memory: 79.9M (peak: 83.1M)
             CPU: 462ms
          CGroup: /system.slice/syslog-ng.service
                  └─1936 "[rosetta]" /usr/sbin/syslog-ng /usr/sbin/syslog-ng -F
         
```

  5. Check the version of `syslog-ng` you have by running:
```
 syslog-ng --version
         
```

You’ll see that now you’re running AxoSyslog:
```
 axosyslog 4 (4.10.1)
         Config version: 4.2
         Installer-Version: 4.10.1
         
```




In case you run into any issues, [contact us](../../docs/axosyslog-core/support/index.md).

Last modified March 3, 2025: [Adds upgrading syslog-ng info from the blog (b1f73b1e)](<https://github.com/axoflow/axosyslog-core-docs/commit/b1f73b1ec275987fae46e3fd64707025059bcf08>)