From 51a24d4c5628b03fc4d1563ee8c8b3eb585faf06 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Balazs Scheidler
Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2024 12:35:44 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] README.md: add more context about AxoSyslog
Signed-off-by: Balazs Scheidler
---
README.md | 84 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------
1 file changed, 67 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-)
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6ccf12ae5f..81c7d00f3c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
-# AxoSyslog - a cloud-native distribution of syslog-ng by Axoflow
+# AxoSyslog - the scalable security data processor
[![Discord](https://img.shields.io/discord/1082023686028148877?label=Discord&logo=discord&logoColor=white)](https://discord.gg/qmq53uBm2c)
@@ -14,9 +14,52 @@
[![Nightly](https://github.com/axoflow/axosyslog/actions/workflows/axosyslog-nightly.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/axoflow/axosyslog/actions/workflows/axosyslog-nightly.yml)
[![Binary packages](https://github.com/axoflow/axosyslog/actions/workflows/packages.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/axoflow/axosyslog/actions/workflows/packages.yml)
-This repository contains the AxoSyslog source tree, cloud-ready syslog-ng images, and Helm charts
+AxoSyslog started as a syslog-ng [[1]](#r1) fork, branched right after
+syslog-ng v4.7.1 with the following focus:
+ * cloud native (containers, helm charts, kubernetes integration),
+ * security data tailored parsing and transformation (filterx, app-parser, app-transform, etc)
+ * performance (eBPF, memory allocator, etc),
+
+AxoSyslog (created by the original creators of syslog-ng [[1]](#r1)):
+- is a drop in replacement for syslog-ng [[1]](#r1),
+- keeps using the same license and development practices.
+
+This repository contains the AxoSyslog source tree, container images, and Helm charts
created and maintained by [Axoflow](https://axoflow.com).
+[1] syslog-ng is a trademark of One Identity.
+
+## Quick-start
+
+To start using AxoSyslog, you can use one of these
+deployment mechanisms:
+ - pure containers (docker, podman)
+ - Helm charts (Kubernetes)
+ - packages (deb, rpm, etc)
+
+Once the binaries are deployed, create a configuration file called
+`/etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.conf`, which will then be processed by
+the `syslog-ng` process.
+
+A simple example is to ingest syslog traffic on tcp/514 and write it to a
+file:
+
+```
+@version: 4.7
+@include "scl.conf"
+
+log {
+ source {
+ system();
+ network();
+ };
+ destination { file("/var/log/syslog"); };
+};
+```
+
+You can find more examples in the [Quickstart section of the
+documentation](https://axoflow.com/docs/axosyslog-core/quickstart/).
+
## Container images
You can find the list of tagged versions at [https://github.com/axoflow/axosyslog/pkgs/container/axosyslog](https://github.com/axoflow/axosyslog/pkgs/container/axosyslog).
@@ -45,14 +88,9 @@ docker pull ghcr.io/axoflow/axosyslog:nightly
> docker pull ghcr.io/axoflow/axosyslog:4.7.1
> ```
-### Difference from upstream images
-
-Our images are different from the [upstream syslog-ng images](https://hub.docker.com/r/balabit/syslog-ng/) in a number of ways:
-
-- They are based on Alpine Linux, instead of Debian testing for reliability and smaller size (thus smaller attack surface).
-- They incorporate cloud-native features and settings (such as the Kubernetes source).
-- They incorporate container-level optimizations (like the use of an alternative malloc library) for better performance and improved security.
-- They support the ARM architecture.
+The container images contain a default configuration file which you probably
+want to customize. Read more about using these images [directly via
+podman/docker](https://axoflow.com/docs/axosyslog-core/install/podman-systemd/)
Our images are available for the following architectures:
@@ -62,7 +100,7 @@ Our images are available for the following architectures:
## Helm Charts
-AxoSyslog provides [Helm charts](https://helm.sh/docs/topics/charts/) to deploy syslog-ng on Kubernetes.
+AxoSyslog provides [Helm charts](https://helm.sh/docs/topics/charts/) to deploy on Kubernetes.
[Helm](https://helm.sh) must be installed to use the charts. Please refer to
Helm's [documentation](https://helm.sh/docs) to get started.
@@ -83,18 +121,24 @@ To uninstall the chart:
helm delete my-axosyslog
+Helm charts would use the latest images by default, but you can customize
+that via the values file.
+For details, see [Install AxoSyslog with Helm](https://axoflow.com/docs/axosyslog-core/install/helm/).
## Documentation
You can find [comprehensive documentation for AxoSyslog](https://axoflow.com/docs/axosyslog-core)
on the [Axoflow website](https://axoflow.com/).
-The documentation is a combination of the syslog-ng reference guide and the
-AxoSyslog reference guide. The [syslog-ng documentation](https://axoflow.com/docs/axosyslog-core)
-was included in there as the upstream documentation fell out of maintenance.
+## Difference from syslog-ng
+
+The original founder of syslog-ng forked off AxoSyslog from the original
+syslog-ng after the 4.7.1 release. AxoSyslog is a drop in replacement, retaining
+the original license, release schedule and processes.
## Contact and support
-In case you need help or want to contact us, open a [GitHub issue](https://github.com/axoflow/axosyslog/issues), or come chat with us in the [syslog-ng channel of the Axoflow Discord server](https://discord.gg/4Fzy7D66Qq).
+In case you need help or want to contact us, open a [GitHub issue](https://github.com/axoflow/axosyslog/issues),
+or come chat with us in the [syslog-ng channel of the Axoflow Discord server](https://discord.gg/4Fzy7D66Qq).
## Contribution
@@ -103,6 +147,12 @@ AxoSyslog, [open a pull request](https://github.com/axoflow/axosyslog/pulls). We
## About Axoflow
-The [Axoflow](https://axoflow.com) founder team consists of successful entrepreneurs with a vast knowledge and hands-on experience about observability, log management, and how to apply these technologies in the enterprise security context. We also happen to be the creators of wide-spread open source technologies in this area, like syslog-ng and the [Logging operator for Kubernetes](https://github.com/kube-logging/logging-operator).
+The [Axoflow](https://axoflow.com) founder team has a long history and
+hands-on experience about observability, log management, and how to apply
+these technologies in the enterprise security context. We also happen to be
+the original creators of wide-spread open source technologies in this area, like
+syslog-ng and the [Logging operator for Kubernetes](https://github.com/kube-logging/logging-operator).
-To learn more about our products and our open-source projects, visit the [Axoflow blog](https://axoflow.com/blog/), or [subscribe to the Axoflow newsletter](https://axoflow.com/#newsletter-subscription).
+To learn more about our products and our open-source projects, visit the
+[Axoflow blog](https://axoflow.com/blog/), or [subscribe to the Axoflow
+newsletter](https://axoflow.com/#newsletter-subscription).