<?xml version='1.0'?> <!--*-nxml-*-->

<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"

"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">

<refentry id="systemd-cat"

xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">

<refentryinfo>

<title>systemd-cat</title>

<productname>systemd</productname>

<authorgroup>

<author>

<contrib>Developer</contrib>

<firstname>Lennart</firstname>

<surname>Poettering</surname>

<email>lennart@poettering.net</email>

</author>

</authorgroup>

</refentryinfo>

<refmeta>

<refentrytitle>systemd-cat</refentrytitle>

<manvolnum>1</manvolnum>

</refmeta>

<refnamediv>

<refname>systemd-cat</refname>

<refpurpose>Connect a pipeline or program's output with the journal</refpurpose>

</refnamediv>

<refsynopsisdiv>

<cmdsynopsis>

<command>systemd-cat <arg choice="opt" rep="repeat">OPTIONS</arg> <arg>COMMAND</arg> <arg choice="opt" rep="repeat">ARGUMENTS</arg></command>

</cmdsynopsis>

<cmdsynopsis>

<command>systemd-cat <arg choice="opt" rep="repeat">OPTIONS</arg></command>

</cmdsynopsis>

</refsynopsisdiv>

<refsect1>

<title>Description</title>

<para><command>systemd-cat</command> may be used to

connect the standard input and output of a process to the

journal, or as a filter tool in a shell pipeline to

pass the output the previous pipeline element

generates to the journal.</para>

<para>If no parameter is passed,

<command>systemd-cat</command> will write

everything it reads from standard input (stdin) to the journal.</para>

<para>If parameters are passed, they are executed as

command line with standard output (stdout) and standard

error output (stderr) connected to the journal, so

that all it writes is stored in the journal.</para>

</refsect1>

<refsect1>

<title>Options</title>

<para>The following options are understood:</para>

<variablelist>

<xi:include href="standard-options.xml" xpointer="help" />

<xi:include href="standard-options.xml" xpointer="version" />

<varlistentry>

<term><option>-t</option></term>

<term><option>--identifier=</option></term>

<listitem><para>Specify a short string

that is used to identify the logging

tool. If not specified, no identification

string is written to the journal.</para></listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term><option>-p</option></term>

<term><option>--priority=</option></term>

<listitem><para>Specify the default

priority level for the logged

messages. Pass one of

<literal>emerg</literal>,

<literal>alert</literal>,

<literal>crit</literal>,

<literal>err</literal>,

<literal>warning</literal>,

<literal>notice</literal>,

<literal>info</literal>,

<literal>debug</literal>, or a

value between 0 and 7 (corresponding

to the same named levels). These

priority values are the same as

defined by

<citerefentry><refentrytitle>syslog</refentrytitle><manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry>. Defaults

to <literal>info</literal>. Note that

this simply controls the default,

individual lines may be logged with

different levels if they are prefixed

accordingly. For details see

<option>--level-prefix=</option>

below.</para></listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term><option>--level-prefix=</option></term>

<listitem><para>Controls whether lines

read are parsed for syslog priority

level prefixes. If enabled (the

default), a line prefixed with a

priority prefix such as

<literal>&lt;5&gt;</literal> is logged

at priority 5

(<literal>notice</literal>), and

similar for the other priority

levels. Takes a boolean

argument.</para></listitem>

</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

</refsect1>

<refsect1>

<title>Exit status</title>

<para>On success, 0 is returned, a non-zero failure

code otherwise.</para>

</refsect1>

<refsect1>

<title>Examples</title>

<example>

<title>Invoke a program</title>

<para>This calls <filename noindex='true'>/bin/ls</filename>

with standard output and error connected to the

journal:</para>

<programlisting># systemd-cat ls</programlisting>

</example>

<example>

<title>Usage in a shell pipeline</title>

<para>This builds a shell pipeline also

invoking <filename>/bin/ls</filename> and

writes the output it generates to the

journal:</para>

<programlisting># ls | systemd-cat</programlisting>

</example>

<para>Even though the two examples have very similar

effects the first is preferable since only one process

is running at a time, and both stdout and stderr are

captured while in the second example, only stdout is

captured.</para>

</refsect1>

<refsect1>

<title>See Also</title>

<para>

<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,

<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,

<citerefentry><refentrytitle>logger</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>

</para>

</refsect1>

</refentry>