https://peter.czanik.hu/ Recent content on Random thoughts of Peter 'CzP' Czanik Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us Wed, 04 Mar 2026 12:56:13 +0100 https://peter.czanik.hu/posts/new-toy-installing-fedora-on-hp-z2-mini/ Wed, 04 Mar 2026 12:56:13 +0100 https://peter.czanik.hu/posts/new-toy-installing-fedora-on-hp-z2-mini/ The data sheet of my new AI-focused mini workstation from HP does not mention Fedora, but I could install it just fine. I expected this though, because when I asked around about Linux support and hardware AI acceleration for AMD Ryzen 39X chips, all responses came from Fedora users… :-) Installing Fedora on the HP Z2 Mini was a smooth experience, even though I hadn’t used the graphical installer for ages. https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-4110-packaging-status/ Wed, 04 Mar 2026 09:31:45 +0100 https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-4110-packaging-status/ Committed users compile syslog-ng for themselves from source. However, most of us wait until a software is available as an easy-to-install package for our operating system of choice. In this blog post, you will see an overview on the available packages for syslog-ng 4.11.0. Read more at https://www.syslog-ng.com/community/b/blog/posts/syslog-ng-4-11-0-packaging-status syslog-ng logo https://peter.czanik.hu/posts/new-toy-installing-ubuntu-on-hp-z2-mini/ Thu, 26 Feb 2026 15:06:13 +0100 https://peter.czanik.hu/posts/new-toy-installing-ubuntu-on-hp-z2-mini/ The data sheet of my new AI focused mini workstation from HP mentions Ubuntu 24.04 as the supported Linux distribution. I have tried that, but I could not get the installer to run. However, 25.10 installed without any problems, even from an openSUSE branded USB stick :-) Only the chameleon works with this machine:-) I must admit that I’m not an Ubuntu fan, but installed it anyway, as Ubuntu is the “official” Linux distro for this machine. https://peter.czanik.hu/other/version-4110-of-syslog-ng-is-now-available/ Wed, 25 Feb 2026 14:11:05 +0100 https://peter.czanik.hu/other/version-4110-of-syslog-ng-is-now-available/ Version 4.11.0 of syslog-ng is now available. The main attraction is the brand new Kafka source, but there are many other smaller features and improvements, as well. Before you begin If you happen to use Debian, Ubuntu or the RHEL family of operating systems (RHEL, CentOS, Rocky Linux, Alma Linux, Oracle Linux, etc.) then ready-to-use packages are already available as part of the release process. For details, check the README in the syslog-ng source code repository on GitHub: https://github. https://peter.czanik.hu/posts/new-toy-installing-opensuse-tumbleweed-on-hp-z2-mini/ Tue, 24 Feb 2026 12:58:13 +0100 https://peter.czanik.hu/posts/new-toy-installing-opensuse-tumbleweed-on-hp-z2-mini/ Last week I introduced you to my new toy at home: an AI focused mini workstation from HP. It arrived with Windows pre-installed, but of course I also wanted to have Linux on the box. Documentation mentions that I have to disable secure boot and make a few more changes before installing Linux. I did all the suggested BIOS changes before installing Linux. The data sheet mentions Ubuntu 24.04 as the supported Linux distribution. https://peter.czanik.hu/posts/new-toy-in-the-house-for-ai-gaming-linux-windows-freebsd/ Thu, 19 Feb 2026 12:56:32 +0100 https://peter.czanik.hu/posts/new-toy-in-the-house-for-ai-gaming-linux-windows-freebsd/ There is a new toy in the house. It is a miniature workstation from HP, built around AMD’s Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 395 chip. If you are interested in the specifications and other details, check the HP product page at https://www.hp.com/us-en/workstations/z2-mini-a.html. In the long run, this box will serve many purposes: learning AI, but running as much as possible locally instead of utilizing cloud services learning Kubernetes by building everything from scratch on multiple virtual machines home server: running complex test environments on a single box (128 GB of RAM should be enough in most cases :-) ) photo editing using Capture One Pro occasional gaming :-) For now, I have finished unboxing and taken the first steps with Windows. https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-udp-reliability-improved-in-debian-packaging/ Thu, 19 Feb 2026 11:19:37 +0100 https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-udp-reliability-improved-in-debian-packaging/ UDP log collection is a legacy feature that does not provide any security or reliability, but is still in wide use. You can improve its reliability using eBPF on Linux in recent syslog-ng versions. Support for eBPF was added to Debian packages while preparing for the 4.11.0 syslog-ng release. You can learn more about eBPF support in syslog-ng from the documentation or reading my blog at https://www.syslog-ng.com/community/b/blog/posts/syslog-ng-4-2-extra-udp-performance Right now, packaging changes only affect the syslog-ng nightly Debian / Ubuntu packages and the syslog-ng nightly container image. https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-insider-2026-02-stats-exporter-blank-filter-kafka-source/ Fri, 13 Feb 2026 11:34:09 +0100 https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-insider-2026-02-stats-exporter-blank-filter-kafka-source/ The February syslog-ng newsletter is now on-line: The syslog-ng stats-exporter() now has all functionality of syslog-ng-ctl Using the blank() filter of syslog-ng How to test the syslog-ng Kafka source by building the package yourself? It is available at https://www.syslog-ng.com/community/b/blog/posts/the-syslog-ng-insider-2026-02-stats-exporter-blank-filter-kafka-source syslog-ng logo https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-automatic-configuration-of-the-wildcard-file-source/ Wed, 28 Jan 2026 15:33:01 +0100 https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-automatic-configuration-of-the-wildcard-file-source/ Reading files and monitoring directories became a lot more efficient in recent syslog-ng releases. However, it is also needed manual configuration. Version 4.11 of syslog-ng can automatically configure the optimal setting for both. Read more at https://www.syslog-ng.com/community/b/blog/posts/automatic-configuration-of-the-syslog-ng-wildcard-file-source syslog-ng logo https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-call-for-testing-411-is-coming/ Tue, 20 Jan 2026 13:44:57 +0100 https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-call-for-testing-411-is-coming/ The syslog-ng 4.11 release is right around the corner. Thousands of automatic tests run before each new piece of source code is merged, but nothing can replace real-world hands-on tests. So help us testing Elasticsearch / OpenSearch data-streams, Kafka source, cmake fixes and much more! The development of syslog-ng is supported by thousands of automatic test cases. Nothing can enter the syslog-ng source code before all of these tests pass. In theory, I could ask my colleagues at any moment to make a release from the current state of the syslog-ng development branch once all tests pass. https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-changes-in-the-elasticsearch-destination/ Tue, 13 Jan 2026 14:48:14 +0100 https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-changes-in-the-elasticsearch-destination/ While testing the latest Elasticsearch release with syslog-ng, I realized that there was already a not fully documented elasticsearch-datastream() driver. Instead of fixing the docs, I reworked the elasticsearch-http() destination to support data streams. So, what was the problem? The driver follows a different logic in multiple places than the base elasticsearch-http() destination driver. Some of the descriptions were too general, others were missing completely. You had to read the configuration file in the syslog-ng configuration library (SCL) to configure the destination properly. https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-using-opensearch-data-streams/ Wed, 17 Dec 2025 14:01:57 +0100 https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-using-opensearch-data-streams/ Recently, one of our power users contributed OpenSearch data streams support to syslog-ng, which reminded me to also do some minimal testing on the latest OpenSearch release with syslog-ng. TL;DR: both worked just fine. Read more at https://www.syslog-ng.com/community/b/blog/posts/using-opensearch-data-streams-in-syslog-ng syslog-ng logo https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-insider-2025-12-logrotate-rhel-rpm/ Thu, 11 Dec 2025 13:15:55 +0100 https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-insider-2025-12-logrotate-rhel-rpm/ The December syslog-ng newsletter is now on-line: File size-based log rotation in syslog-ng Syslog-ng release packages for RHEL & Co. Nightly syslog-ng RPM packages for RHEL & Co. It is available at https://www.syslog-ng.com/community/b/blog/posts/the-syslog-ng-insider-2025-12-logrotation-release-rpm-nightly-rpm syslog-ng logo https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-how-to-test-kafka-source-by-building-the-package-yourself/ Tue, 02 Dec 2025 14:05:05 +0100 https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-how-to-test-kafka-source-by-building-the-package-yourself/ A long-waited feature for syslog-ng, the Kafka source, is getting ready soon. The development is still in progress, but you can already try it, and it is worth the effort. How? Using the very same tool the syslog-ng testing and release process relies on. From this blog you can learn how to download and patch syslog-ng git sources and build packages for popular RPM and DEB Linux distributions. Once you have installable packages, comes the fun part: getting the Kafka source working. https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-insider-2025-10-values-bastillebsd-debian/ Thu, 09 Oct 2025 16:16:06 +0200 https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-insider-2025-10-values-bastillebsd-debian/ The October syslog-ng newsletter is now on-line: The core values of syslog-ng Running syslog-ng in BastilleBSD Debian and Ubuntu blogs updated It is available at https://www.syslog-ng.com/community/b/blog/posts/the-syslog-ng-insider-2025-10-values-bastillebsd-debian syslog-ng logo https://peter.czanik.hu/posts/budapest-audio-expo-2025/ Tue, 07 Oct 2025 09:45:38 +0200 https://peter.czanik.hu/posts/budapest-audio-expo-2025/ Last year’s Budapest Audio Expo was the first hifi event I had truly enjoyed in years. Needless to say, I spent a day this weekend at the Audio Expo again :-) Building on last year’s experience, I chose to visit the expo on Sunday. There were fewer people and better-sounding systems. TL;DR: If I had to sum up the expo in a one statement: Made in Hungary audio rivals the rest of the world in quality, while often being available at a much more affordable price. https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-4-10-1-released/ Wed, 01 Oct 2025 15:21:53 +0200 https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-4-10-1-released/ Version 4.10.1 is a bugfix release, not needed by most users. It fixes the syslog-ng container and platform support in some less common situations. Before you begin I assume that most people are lazy and/or overbooked, just like me. So, if you already have syslog-ng 4.10.0 up and running, and packaged for your platform, just skip this bugfix release. What is fixed? You can now compile syslog-ng on FreeBSD 15 again. https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-file-size-based-log-rotation/ Tue, 30 Sep 2025 13:51:19 +0200 https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-file-size-based-log-rotation/ Version 4.10 of syslog-ng introduced file size-based log rotation. Thanks to this, storage space is no longer filled with logs with the risk that you might not see older logs if the message rate is higher than expected. Read more at https://www.syslog-ng.com/community/b/blog/posts/file-size-based-log-rotation-in-syslog-ng syslog-ng logo https://peter.czanik.hu/posts/asztropapucs-debut/ Sun, 28 Sep 2025 08:20:15 +0200 https://peter.czanik.hu/posts/asztropapucs-debut/ The Hungarian band Asztropapucs has a special place in my heart. I have known these musicians for a long time, some of them even before they formed the band. Like almost everyone else, they started out playing cover songs years ago. Recently, however, they started writing their own songs. I have seen them perform at various concerts. They practiced regularly, and their hard work has led to continuous improvement. This weekend, they published their first song on several streaming services: “Maja” I’ve listened to it many times, and I recommend you do the same. https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-4-10-0-released/ Tue, 23 Sep 2025 15:32:10 +0200 https://peter.czanik.hu/other/syslog-ng-4-10-0-released/ Version 4.10.0 of syslog-ng is now available. Among others it adds: support for file size based logrotation a filter that test if a value is blank updated MongoDB driver support For more details check the syslog-ng release notes at https://github.com/syslog-ng/syslog-ng/releases/tag/syslog-ng-4.10.0 This release fixes several bugs introduced in syslog-ng version 4.9.0, which is the syslog-ng version available in openSUSE Leap 16.0 and Fedora 43. It’s feature freeze (and thus package version freeze) for both distros, but do not worry: bug fixes are back ported.