Getting Data In

Heavy Forwarder sending incorrect Host

adelucaa
New Member

We have a heavy forwarder set up on our log server. It is sending to rsyslog and then forwarding to the indexer.

If I send it directly from the forwarder to the indexer, then I receive the log server as the host field. If I send it through to the rsyslog, then I receive localhost in in the host field.

This is our config on the heavy forwarder:

outputs.conf

[syslog:syslog_group]
server = IndexerIP:514
type = tcp
inputs.conf
[tcp://:9997]

props.conf

[host::*]
TRANSFORMS-sys = syslogrouting

transforms.conf

[syslogrouting]
REGEX = .
DEST_KEY = _SYSLOG_ROUTING
FORMAT = syslog_group

The indexer is set to receive in syslog format.

0 Karma

grijhwani
Motivator

Simple answer: don't use Splunk's syslog service. Use syslog-ng (or something like) and use Splunk to then sweep those logs. syslog-ng can be tailored to store logs based on hostname, ip address, date, etc., which then makes granular indexing within Splunk a doddle.

0 Karma

adelucaa
New Member

After the heavy forwarder, we send to rsyslog(which we would like to be receiving in syslog format). We only use the heavy forwarder, because we need to receive from the light forwarders and forward to the syslog. How would I set the heavy forwarder to forward, but not index? Thank you.

0 Karma
Get Updates on the Splunk Community!

Index This | Why did the turkey cross the road?

November 2025 Edition  Hayyy Splunk Education Enthusiasts and the Eternally Curious!   We’re back with this ...

Enter the Agentic Era with Splunk AI Assistant for SPL 1.4

  🚀 Your data just got a serious AI upgrade — are you ready? Say hello to the Agentic Era with the ...

Feel the Splunk Love: Real Stories from Real Customers

Hello Splunk Community,    What’s the best part of hearing how our customers use Splunk? Easy: the positive ...