http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syslog
Severity levels
RFC 5424 defines eight severity levels:
Code | Severity | Keyword | Description | General Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
0 | Emergency | emerg (panic) | System is unusable. | A "panic" condition usually affecting multiple apps/servers/sites. At this level it would usually notify all tech staff on call. |
1 | Alert | alert | Action must be taken immediately. | Should be corrected immediately, therefore notify staff who can fix the problem. An example would be the loss of a primary ISP connection. |
2 | Critical | crit | Critical conditions. | Should be corrected immediately, but indicates failure in a primary system, an example is a loss of a backup ISP connection. |
3 | Error | err (error) | Error conditions. | Non-urgent failures, these should be relayed to developers or admins; each item must be resolved within a given time. |
4 | Warning | warning (warn) | Warning conditions. | Warning messages, not an error, but indication that an error will occur if action is not taken, e.g. file system 85% full - each item must be resolved within a given time. |
5 | Notice | notice | Normal but significant condition. | Events that are unusual but not error conditions - might be summarized in an email to developers or admins to spot potential problems - no immediate action required. |
6 | Informational | info | Informational messages. | Normal operational messages - may be harvested for reporting, measuring throughput, etc. - no action required. |
7 | Debug | debug | Debug-level messages. | Info useful to developers for debugging the application, not useful during operations. |