Kiwi Syslog Daemon 7.0.3

"Kiwi Enterprises has surpassed expectations for a program of this nature"

www.kiwisyslog.com

INTRODUCTION

Kiwi Syslog Daemon is a fantastic program that provides an alternative, newfound approach to monitoring syslog messages. Many of us are tired of surfing through raw text logs and e-mails from our UNIX servers and routers searching endlessly for what we need. This review will cover the functionality, pros and cons, comparisons to other programs, and usefulness.

INSTALLATION

Installation is very simple. Select type of installation, then folder to install to. Voila!

CONFIGURATION

Having 2 FreeBSD machines on-site, we were able to test the application right away. Within 5 minutes, I had Kiwi Syslog capturing all my messages from both machines! The included help documentation explained to me how to setup my unix boxes to send the messages to Syslog on my WindowsXP machine (Fig 1.1). Due to the nature of the program, we were expecting a lot more setup time than we experienced.

 Fig 1.1

As you can see the documentation covers a wide range of devices to help get your Syslog up and monitoring quickly.

INTERFACE

The main interface consists of a log window that displays your incoming messages based on your rules and filters, a 'Free Message Buffer Space' percentage, and a received 'Messages per hour' average (Fig 1.2). There are multiple display areas that you can define in the configuration. In addition, there's a statistical graph that displays the amount of messages you're receiving (Fig 1.3)

 Fig 1.2

 Fig 1.3

FUNCTIONALITY

Kiwi Syslog Daemon is one of the handiest programs I've come across in a long time, being a network admin myself, it does nothing but make my life easier when it comes to debugging and monitoring my various unix servers. The messages appear instantly, and organized as to how I configured them. Kiwi Syslog Daemon comes with 10 virtual display screens based on what rules you apply. You can add your custom filters and actions through the rules section in the setup utility.(Fig 1.4)

 Fig 1.4

You can filter your messages by:

    1. Priority
    2. IP Address
    3. Hostname
    4. Message Text
    5. Time of Day
    6. Various flags/counters
    7. Using a custom VBScript filter/Action combination

There are also various actions you can perform on the match of a rule:

    1. Display to selected virtual display(main screen)
    2. Log to a file
    3. Forward to another host
    4. Play a sound
    5. Run external program
    6. E-mail a message
    7. Send syslog message
    8. Log to ODBC database
    9. Log to NT event log
    10. Send SNMP Trap
    11. Stop Processing Message
    12. Send an ICQ Message!
    13. Run the message through a VBScript

As you can see there are many ways to manipulate the method by which your messages are received. Almost everything in Kiwi Syslog Daemon is customizable; the format of the messages can also be altered by using the 'Custom DB format' and 'Custom file format' utilities in the setup. Non printable characters can be replaced; new types of logging events can be defined. Skins can be applied, wallpaper can be added, and the toolbar texture can be changed to change the look of the application. Alarms can be created to activate when too many or not enough messages are being received. Settings and Rules can be imported and exported to prevent loss of data.

One special feature included in the latest version is the ability to process filters and actions through scripts written in Java or Visual Basic. The user can write his custom script and have Kiwi Syslog Daemon execute it. Programmers will find it very easy implementing scripts into Kiwi Syslog Daemon, this expands the functionality past limitations that the program may have, using custom scripts allows almost anything possible! Full help documentation on how to get your script running properly is also provided. There's not much left to add to this program. Kiwi Enterprises has surpassed expectations for a program of this genre, and best of all there's a freeware version that anyone can use!

EASE OF USE

As I stated before, I had both my UNIX servers sending log messages to Syslogd and filtering those messages in less than 5 minutes. Advanced filtering and such may require a small learning curve, but anyone can master this program in less than an hour. The documentation is superb.

CONCLUSION

I am overall very impressed with the capabilities, appearance, effectiveness, and advanced functionality of this application. I recommend it to any system administrator that needs to monitor the events of more than 1 machine/router. It shows no flaws, and provides excellent customization.

Comparison Between Kiwi Syslog Daemon 7.0.3 & WinSyslog 4.2

Features Kiwi Syslog Daemon 7.0.3 WinSyslog 4.2
Capture Syslog messages Yes Yes
Log to an ODBC database Yes Yes
Firewall Support Yes Yes
Run as Service Yes Yes
Message Buffer Yes Yes
Message Filtering Yes - Has more filters Yes
Log SNMP messages Yes No
DNS Caching Yes No
Statistical graph Yes No
Send ICQ Messages Yes No
Send SNMP Traps Yes No
Logfile archiving Yes No
MPH Alarm notification Yes No
Multiple skins Yes - Can skin more Yes - XP skins
Scriptable filters/actions Yes No
Disk space monitoring Yes No
DNS lookup within message text Yes No
Runs on Win9x/ME Yes No
Freeware version Yes - More free features Yes
Price (5 licenses) $49.00 USD $47.00 USD

Below is an excerpt from the Kiwi Enterprises web page.
Click here to visit the page.

Kiwi Syslog Daemon
Latest version 7.0.3 Beta 6 Released 14th Feb 2003

Kiwi Syslog Daemon is a freeware Syslog Daemon for Windows. It receives, logs, displays and forwards syslog messages from hosts such as routers, switches, Unix hosts and any other syslog enabled device. There are many customisable options available. Users running Windows 95 will require DCOM.

Features include:

  1. PIX firewall logging.
  2. LinkSys home firewall logging.
  3. SNMP Trap and TCP support.
  4. SNMP MIB parsing. [Download the latest Kiwi Syslog Daemon MIB database]
  5. Ability to filter - parse - modify messages and take actions via VBScript/JScript engine.
  6. A Service edition is available for use on Windows NT/2K/XP.

Download | More Info | Request a Trial key | What's New | Pricing | Purchase | FAQ | On-line help | Screen Shots

 
PROS:
a. Simplifies message tracking
b. Advanced Filter/Action abilities

CONS:
a. None Noted

 © Transit Network 2005 All Rights Reserved