Scribe Scribe 2.5.0 Testers Needed

[cmkelley]

NB: I MAKE NO PROMISES!!! Don't get mad if you lose your log files, you have been warned!

Since ASUS is now putting the default syslog.log on /jffs instead of /tmp, this is causing problems for scribe. I don't have one of those new-fangled routers, so I can only test that it doesn't completely break the "old" way.

I need people who are certain that the default syslogd is storing the log at /jffs/syslog.log to see if this works on your system.

Known issues:
1) The /opt/var/messages gets wiped when it tries to figure out where syslogd wants to put the log. I need to work through that logic and see what I missed.
2) I have temporarily disabled the screen clearing before the menu, this is intentional so error messages don't disappear.

Need to check:
1) For systems with the syslog at /jffs/syslog.log, please verity if /tmp/syslog.log is symlinked to /jffs/syslog.log (which should in turn be symlinked to /opt/var/messages). Even if it is, I'm considering linking it directly to /opt/var/messages to skip the "middleman" as it were. EDIT: decided to skip the middleman.

Have fun, please don't use this on anything resembling a production router, or if other people in your household don't take kindly to the router going down.

To test (yes, I'm hoping you read all that above to find this part): Use your favorite text editor to change:

readonly scribe_branch="master"

to

readonly scribe_branch="gamma"

Please do not use sed, that isn't the only line in the code that has the word "master" in it.

After changing the line, when you run scribe it should tell you there's an update. Given how much I changed, and the fact that I no longer have a "test" router, I'm half expecting it not to upgrade properly, so let me know if that's broken.

 

[XIII]

readonly scribe_branch="gamma"

I have done alpha and beta tests before, but never a gamma test...

Need to check:
1) For systems with the syslog at /jffs/syslog.log, please verity if /tmp/syslog.log is symlinked to /jffs/syslog.log (which should in turn be symlinked to /opt/var/messages). Even if it is, I'm considering linking it directly to /opt/var/messages to skip the "middleman" as it were.

On my router (GT-AX6000, Asuswrt-Merlin 388.2 Beta 2) I do have symlink from /tmp/syslog.log to /jffs/syslog.log, but the latter is an empty folder; not a symlink to /opt/var/messages.

 

[elorimer]

Okay, I follow now. This is just something about getting an existing Asus long into messages when syslog-ng starts, for certain models, and to show the log in the webgui when uiscribe isn't running.

Does anyone use scribe without uiscribe?

On my AX88 and AC86 /tmp/syslog.log is a link to /opt/var/log/messages, as it should be, with /jffs/syslog.log being an empty directory, as it should be. Not really in a position now to see if your 2.5 messes with that.

 

[cmkelley]

I have done alpha and beta tests before, but never a gamma test...

That's just me being a smarta** trying to be a unique flower, lol.

On my router (GT-AX6000, Asuswrt-Merlin 388.2 Beta 2) I do have symlink from /tmp/syslog.log to /jffs/syslog.log, but the latter is an empty folder; not a symlink to /opt/var/messages.

My bad, I meant AFTER scribe 4.5_0 is installed. If that is after, then that's a big bug.

 

[cmkelley]

Okay, I follow now. This is just something about getting an existing Asus long into messages when syslog-ng starts, for certain models, and to show the log in the webgui when uiscribe isn't running.

Does anyone use scribe without uiscribe?

On my AX88 and AC86 /tmp/syslog.log is a link to /opt/var/log/messages, as it should be, with /jffs/syslog.log being an empty directory, as it should be. Not really in a position now to see if your 2.5 messes with that.

There may or may not be other applications which expect the log to be in either /tmp or /jffs without checking the other. I'm trying to ensure no matter where something is looking for the log file, it can find a link to it.

I have uiscribe installed, but rarely use it to look at logfiles. If I'm looking at them at all, it's usually from the command line. I could see someone who rarely uses the webgui not bothering with uiscribe. But that's just me, maybe I'm a unique flower here, lol.

 

[elorimer]

I have uiscribe installed, but rarely use it to look at logfiles. If I'm looking at them at all, it's usually from the command line.

kind of funny. I rarely use it to look at logfiles, but when I do, I usually use Winscp and then notepad++ as a reader. uiScribe is a little funky, particularly if the log files are largish.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Since ASUS is now putting the default syslog.log on /jffs instead of /tmp,

Really? Is this a recent change?

 

[JGrana]

Really? Is this a recent change?

Running a new AX88U Pro with 388.2 beta 2 - yes:

(and 388.X is the only release for AX88U Pros. No turning back!

 

[JGrana]

On my router (GT-AX6000, Asuswrt-Merlin 388.2 Beta 2) I do have symlink from /tmp/syslog.log to /jffs/syslog.log, but the latter is an empty folder; not a symlink to /opt/var/messages.

Same here on AX88U Pro.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Are you running Scribe on those routers? That looks like something Scribe has done.

EDIT: Ok I see the problem reported here for a non-Scribe installation.

 

[JGrana]

Ok, installed the gamma and did some brief testing.

Above was my AX88U Pro pre gamma /tmp/sys* and /jffs/syslog*

Post gamma, /tmp/syslog.log is gone, /tmp/syslog.log-1 still there and a new symlink in /jffs:

/opt/var/log/messages survived the update. I did a logger message and it showed up in /opt/var/log/messages.

Seems there is a missing argument to uiscribe. I use both WebUI (for a quick glance) and CLI for more thorough use.

 

[JGrana]

Are you running Scribe on those routers?

Always ;-)

 

[elorimer]

I wonder if it is going to be easier for Scribe to install in a model specific way. If it is one of these models, do it this way, otherwise do it this other way.

 

[cmkelley]

I wonder if it is going to be easier for Scribe to install in a model specific way. If it is one of these models, do it this way, otherwise do it this other way.

Per RMerlin, it's determined by a flag in the build profile for each router. So ASUS could randomly select that flag on more models as time goes on. Having a list of routers it's set on could become a game of whack-a-mole for me requiring multiple updates as time goes on. Certainly it would be easier code-wise to just look at the model, but it would require updating scribe every time a new model came out, or if ASUS changed the flag for a particular model with some build. So big picture, not easier.

I think @Adamm's detection system that I've shamelessly stolen is robust enough that a bit of code complexity on my part now is worth it to keep scribe model-agnostic.

"It may not be the easy way, but it's the cowboy way." - Ranger Doug

 

[thelonelycoder]

Per RMerlin, it's determined by a flag in the build profile for each router. So ASUS could randomly select that flag on more models as time goes on. Having a list of routers it's set on could become a game of whack-a-mole for me requiring multiple updates as time goes on. Certainly it would be easier code-wise to just look at the model, but it would require updating scribe every time a new model came out, or if ASUS changed the flag for a particular model with some build. So big picture, not easier.

I think @Adamm's detection system that I've shamelessly stolen is robust enough that a bit of code complexity on my part now is worth it to keep scribe model-agnostic.

"It may not be the easy way, but it's the cowboy way." - Ranger Doug

Just looking for the AX or AC part in the router model simplifies this a lot for me.

 

[cmkelley]

Just looking for the AX or AC part in the router model simplifies this a lot for me.

EDIT:
I'm worried that although it may be that simple now, it won't be in the future. Also, from what I've read (although I'm not sure) it seems like some older versions of AX firmware may have used /tmp instead of /jffs. And if Asus decides to produce an "affordable" AX router they may not put syslog in /jffs. I'm probably over-thinking this, but it keeps my brain active, lol.

It's not that simple, as of the date of this writing, some AX routers still use /tmp instead of /jffs.

scribe has always been about me learning to be honest. I wanted a project to really learn shell scripting with, and I was curious about the router logfiles but found them too full of extraneous messages to be readable. I've learned a lot from your code as well as Adamm's, Jack's, and others, and a couple O'Reilly books. I honestly never thought it would become popular at all, considering the small amount of attention the original discussion between tomsk & kvic that inspired it got. It's been a real learning experience and it's helped me with issues on other systems (mostly RPis) that I fiddle with.

 

[elorimer]

My AX88u I think has the same behavior as my AC86.

 

[cmkelley]

My AX88u I think has the same behavior as my AC86.

Using which version of scribe?

 

[elorimer]

Using which version of scribe?

2.4.4. By which I mean to say, it is more than AX vs AC.