Echolog System

Echolog is a lightweight, Unix-domain-socket-based logging system composed of three parts:

• echolog: Command-line tool to send structured log messages.
• el-server: A Unix domain socket server that receives, timestamps, logs, and broadcasts messages.
• el-monitor: A colored log monitor that displays recent and live log entries.

This system is designed for efficient and real-time log handling within local environments using sockets instead of TCP/UDP.

Components

1. echolog

A small command-line utility to send typed messages to the logging server.

Usage:

./echolog -t <type> -m <message>
# or
echo "message" | ./echolog -t <type>

• -t <type>: Message type (info, error, debug, etc.)
• -m <message>: Log message. If omitted, reads from stdin.

Connects to /tmp/unix_incoming_socket and sends a single line message in the format:

<type> <message>

2. el-server

The central server component. It:

• Listens on /tmp/unix_incoming_socket for messages from clients.
• Appends timestamped log entries to /var/log/echolog.
• Broadcasts all received messages to connected monitors via /tmp/unix_outgoing_socket.

Run:

./el-server

Responsibilities:

• Maintains up to 10 live monitor clients.
• Replaces newline characters in log messages with [/n] to ensure single-line log integrity.

3. el-monitor

Displays recent and live logs with color-coded message types.

Run:

./el-monitor

Features:

• Reads the last 100 entries from /var/log/echolog.
• Connects to /tmp/unix_outgoing_socket and displays incoming messages in real time.
• Uses color to visually distinguish log levels (error, info, debug, etc.).

Setup

1. Ensure Python 3 is available.

2. Install termcolor for el-monitor:

   pip install termcolor

3. Create log file:

   sudo touch /var/log/echolog
   sudo chmod 666 /var/log/echolog

4. Make all scripts executable:

   chmod +x echolog el-server el-monitor

5. Start the server:

   ./el-server

6. In separate terminals, run monitors or send logs with echolog.

Example Workflow

1. Start the server:

   ./el-server

2. Start a monitor:

   ./el-monitor

3. Send messages:

   ./echolog -t info -m "System initialized"
   ./echolog -t error -m "Something went wrong"

Monitor will display them in real time with timestamps and colors.

Bugs

Bug: If no file, it will print so, instead of making a new one.