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javassllogbacksplunk

Splunk Log Displaying as Hex When Using Logback SSLSocketAppender


I am trying to use Splunk to collect logs for my app. I set up TCP data input on port 6514 (with SSL enabled on this port). From my Java application, I am able to connect to the port and send logs. However, when I check these logs on Splunk web, it displays as Hex format.

LOGBACK CONFIGURATION

<configuration debug="true">

 <appender name="console" class="ch.qos.logback.core.ConsoleAppender">
    <encoder>
        <pattern>%date{ISO8601} [%thread] [%cyan(%C.%M\(\))] [%highlight(%level)] : %msg - %ex{short} %n</pattern>
    </encoder>
</appender>

<appender name="sslsocket" class="ch.qos.logback.classic.net.SSLSocketAppender">
    <remoteHost>127.0.0.1</remoteHost>
    <port>6514</port>
    <queueSize>20</queueSize>
    <reconnectionDelay>20</reconnectionDelay>
    <ssl>
        <trustStore>
            <location>file:///path/to/truststore.jks</location>
            <password>truststorepassword</password>
        </trustStore>
    </ssl>
</appender>

<logger name="splunk.secure.logger" additivity="false" level="INFO">
    <appender-ref ref="sslsocket"/>
</logger>

<root level="DEBUG">
    <appender-ref ref="console" />
</root>
</configuration>

USAGE

public class Starter {

private final static org.slf4j.Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger("splunk.secure.logger");


public static void main(String[] args) {
    logger.info("Testing SSL Socket Appender Log");
}

}

LOG BACK DEBUG OUTPUT TO CONSOLE

11:00:04,701 |-INFO in ch.qos.logback.core.joran.action.AppenderAction - 
About to instantiate appender of type 
[ch.qos.logback.classic.net.SSLSocketAppender]
11:00:04,720 |-INFO in ch.qos.logback.core.joran.action.AppenderAction - 
Naming appender as [sslsocket]
11:00:04,763 |-INFO in 
ch.qos.logback.core.joran.action.NestedComplexPropertyIA - Assuming default type 
[ch.qos.logback.core.net.ssl.SSLConfiguration] for [ssl] property
11:00:04,776 |-INFO in ch.qos.logback.core.joran.action.NestedComplexPropertyIA - Assuming default type [ch.qos.logback.core.net.ssl.KeyStoreFactoryBean] for 
[trustStore] property
11:00:06,035 |-INFO in ch.qos.logback.classic.net.SSLSocketAppender[sslsocket] - SSL protocol 'SSL' provider 'SunJSSE version 1.8'
11:00:06,045 |-INFO in ch.qos.logback.classic.net.SSLSocketAppender[sslsocket] - trust store of type 'JKS' provider 'SUN version 1.8': file:///path/to/truststore.jks
11:00:06,046 |-INFO in ch.qos.logback.classic.net.SSLSocketAppender[sslsocket] - trust manager algorithm 'PKIX' provider 'SunJSSE version 1.8'
11:00:06,063 |-INFO in ch.qos.logback.classic.net.SSLSocketAppender[sslsocket] - secure random algorithm 'SHA1PRNG' provider 'SUN version 1.8'
11:00:06,556 |-INFO in ch.qos.logback.classic.joran.action.LoggerAction - Setting level of logger [splunk.secure.logger] to INFO
11:00:06,557 |-INFO in ch.qos.logback.classic.joran.action.LoggerAction - Setting additivity of logger [splunk.secure.logger] to false
11:00:06,564 |-INFO in ch.qos.logback.core.joran.action.AppenderRefAction - 
Attaching appender named [sslsocket] to Logger[splunk.secure.logger]

WHAT IS RECEIVED BY SPLUNK WEB

Time    Event

3/2/19 9:48:45.000 AM
\xAC\xED\x00 host = 127.0.0.1 source = tcp:6514 sourcetype = logback

In Summary

From the above, it appears to me that this is not a connection issue, as Splunk is listening to the port 6514 and is able to capture input BUT the captured input is displayed as HEX and not normally.

When I use a normal com.splunk.logging.TcpAppender, my logs are displayed correctly on splunk.

  1. Is there any other configuration I may have missed out
  2. Is it possible to enable SSL while using the com.splunk.logging.TcpAppender
  3. Is there a dedicated Splunk SSL appender that can be used instead of ch.qos.logback.classic.net.SSLSocketAppender
  4. Any other suggestion is welcome.

Solution

  • I had to switch to log4j in order to solve this. With the below configuration in log4j, the logs were displayed correctly on splunk web.

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <Configuration status="info" name="example" packages="">
    <Appenders>
        <Socket name="ssl" host="localhost" port="6514">
            <PatternLayout charset="UTF-8">
                <pattern>%date{ISO8601} [%thread] [%C.%M\(\) - Line %L] [%level] : %msg %ex{short} %n</pattern>
            </PatternLayout>
            <JsonLayout properties="true"/>
            <SSL>
                <TrustStore location="/path/to/keystore.jks" password="password"/>
            </SSL>
        </Socket>
        </Appenders>
        <Loggers>
        <Root level="INFO">
        </Root>
        <Logger name="splunk.secure.logger" level="info">
            <AppenderRef ref="ssl"/>
        </Logger>
        </Loggers>
    </Configuration>