Buy Percona ServicesBuy Now!

Audit Log Plugin

Percona Audit Log Plugin provides monitoring and logging of connection and query activity that were performed on specific server. Information about the activity will be stored in the XML log file where each event will have its NAME field, its own unique RECORD_ID field and a TIMESTAMP field. This implementation is alternative to the MySQL Enterprise Audit Log Plugin

Audit Log plugin produces the log of following events:

  • Audit - Audit event indicates that audit logging started or finished. NAME field will be Audit when logging started and NoAudit when logging finished. Audit record also includes server version and command-line arguments.

Example of the Audit event:

<AUDIT_RECORD
 "NAME"="Audit"
 "RECORD"="1_2014-04-29T09:29:40"
 "TIMESTAMP"="2014-04-29T09:29:40 UTC"
 "MYSQL_VERSION"="5.6.17-65.0-655.trusty"
 "STARTUP_OPTIONS"="--basedir=/usr --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --plugin-dir=/usr/lib/mysql/plugin --user=mysql --log-error=/var/log/mysql/error.log --pid-file=/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.pid --socket=/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock --port=3306"
 "OS_VERSION"="x86_64-debian-linux-gnu",
 />
  • Connect/Disconnect - Connect record event will have NAME field Connect when user logged in or login failed, or Quit when connection is closed. Additional fields for this event are CONNECTION_ID, STATUS, USER, PRIV_USER, OS_LOGIN, PROXY_USER, HOST, and IP. STATUS will be 0 for successful logins and non-zero for failed logins.

Example of the Disconnect event:

<AUDIT_RECORD
 "NAME"="Quit"
 "RECORD"="24_2014-04-29T09:29:40"
 "TIMESTAMP"="2014-04-29T10:20:13 UTC"
 "CONNECTION_ID"="49"
 "STATUS"="0"
 "USER"=""
 "PRIV_USER"=""
 "OS_LOGIN"=""
 "PROXY_USER"=""
 "HOST"=""
 "IP"=""
 "DB"=""
 />
  • Query - Additional fields for this event are: COMMAND_CLASS (values come from the com_status_vars array in the sql/mysqld.cc` file in a MySQL source distribution. Examples are select, alter_table, create_table, etc.), CONNECTION_ID, STATUS (indicates error when non-zero), SQLTEXT (text of SQL-statement), USER, HOST, OS_USER, IP. Possible values for the NAME name field for this event are Query, Prepare, Execute, Change user, etc.

Example of the Query event:

<AUDIT_RECORD
 "NAME"="Query"
 "RECORD"="23_2014-04-29T09:29:40"
 "TIMESTAMP"="2014-04-29T10:20:10 UTC"
 "COMMAND_CLASS"="select"
 "CONNECTION_ID"="49"
 "STATUS"="0"
 "SQLTEXT"="SELECT * from mysql.user"
 "USER"="root[root] @ localhost []"
 "HOST"="localhost"
 "OS_USER"=""
 "IP"=""
 />

Installation

Audit Log plugin is shipped with Percona Server, but it is not installed by default. To enable the plugin you must run the following command:

INSTALL PLUGIN audit_log SONAME 'audit_log.so';

You can check if the plugin is loaded correctly by running:

SHOW PLUGINS;

Audit log should be listed in the output:

+--------------------------------+----------+--------------------+--------------+---------+
| Name                           | Status   | Type               | Library      | License |
+--------------------------------+----------+--------------------+--------------+---------+
...
| audit_log                      | ACTIVE   | AUDIT              | audit_log.so | GPL     |
+--------------------------------+----------+--------------------+--------------+---------+

Log Format

The audit log plugin supports four log formats: OLD, NEW, JSON, and CSV. OLD and NEW formats are based on XML, where the former outputs log record properties as XML attributes and the latter as XML tags. Information logged is the same in all four formats. The log format choice is controlled by audit_log_format variable.

Example of the OLD format:

<AUDIT_RECORD
 "NAME"="Query"
 "RECORD"="2_2014-04-28T09:29:40"
 "TIMESTAMP"="2014-04-28T09:29:40 UTC"
 "COMMAND_CLASS"="install_plugin"
 "CONNECTION_ID"="47"
 "STATUS"="0"
 "SQLTEXT"="INSTALL PLUGIN audit_log SONAME 'audit_log.so'"
 "USER"="root[root] @ localhost []"
 "HOST"="localhost"
 "OS_USER"=""
 "IP"=""
/>

Example of the NEW format:

<AUDIT_RECORD>
 <NAME>Quit</NAME>
 <RECORD>10902_2014-04-28T11:02:54</RECORD>
 <TIMESTAMP>2014-04-28T11:02:59 UTC</TIMESTAMP>
 <CONNECTION_ID>36</CONNECTION_ID>
 <STATUS>0</STATUS>
 <USER></USER>
 <PRIV_USER></PRIV_USER>
 <OS_LOGIN></OS_LOGIN>
 <PROXY_USER></PROXY_USER>
 <HOST></HOST>
 <IP></IP>
 <DB></DB>
</AUDIT_RECORD>

Example of the JSON format:

{"audit_record":{"name":"Query","record":"4707_2014-08-27T10:43:52","timestamp":"2014-08-27T10:44:19 UTC","command_class":"show_databases","connection_id":"37","status":0,"sqltext":"show databases","user":"root[root] @ localhost []","host":"localhost","os_user":"","ip":""}}

Example of the CSV format:

"Query","49284_2014-08-27T10:47:11","2014-08-27T10:47:23 UTC","show_databases","37",0,"show databases","root[root] @ localhost []","localhost","",""

Streaming the audit log to syslog

To stream the audit log to syslog you’ll need to set audit_log_handler variable to SYSLOG. To control the syslog file handler, the following variables can be used: audit_log_syslog_ident, audit_log_syslog_facility, and audit_log_syslog_priority These variables have the same meaning as appropriate parameters described in the syslog(3) manual.

Note

Variables: audit_log_strategy, audit_log_buffer_size, audit_log_rotate_on_size, audit_log_rotations have effect only with FILE handler.

Filtering by user

In 5.7.14-7 Percona Server has implemented filtering by user. This was implemented by adding two new global variables: audit_log_include_accounts and audit_log_exclude_accounts to specify which user accounts should be included or excluded from audit logging.

Warning

Only one of these variables can contain a list of users to be either included or excluded, while the other needs to be NULL. If one of the variables is set to be not NULL (contains a list of users), the attempt to set another one will fail. Empty string means an empty list.

Note

Changes of audit_log_include_accounts and audit_log_exclude_accounts do not apply to existing server connections.

Example

Following example shows adding users who will be monitored:

mysql> SET GLOBAL audit_log_include_accounts = 'user1@localhost,root@localhost';
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

If you you try to add users to both include and exclude lists server will show you the following error:

mysql> SET GLOBAL audit_log_exclude_accounts = 'user1@localhost,root@localhost';
ERROR 1231 (42000): Variable 'audit_log_exclude_accounts' can't be set to the value of 'user1@localhost,root@localhost'

To switch from filtering by included user list to the excluded one or back, first set the currently active filtering variable to NULL:

mysql> SET GLOBAL audit_log_include_accounts = NULL;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

mysql> SET GLOBAL audit_log_exclude_accounts = 'user1@localhost,root@localhost';
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

mysql> SET GLOBAL audit_log_exclude_accounts = "'user'@'host'";
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

mysql> SET GLOBAL audit_log_exclude_accounts = '''user''@''host''';
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

mysql> SET GLOBAL audit_log_exclude_accounts = '\'user\'@\'host\'';
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

To see what users are currently in the on the list you can run:

mysql> SELECT @@audit_log_exclude_accounts;
+------------------------------+
| @@audit_log_exclude_accounts |
+------------------------------+
| 'user'@'host'                |
+------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Account names from mysql.user table are the one that are logged in the audit log. For example when you create a user:

mysql> CREATE USER 'user1'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY '111';
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

This is what you’ll see when user1 connected from localhost:

<AUDIT_RECORD
  NAME="Connect"
  RECORD="4971917_2016-08-22T09:09:10"
  TIMESTAMP="2016-08-22T09:12:21 UTC"
  CONNECTION_ID="6"
  STATUS="0"
  USER="user1" ;; this is a 'user' part of account in 5.7
  PRIV_USER="user1"
  OS_LOGIN=""
  PROXY_USER=""
  HOST="localhost" ;; this is a 'host' part of account in 5.7
  IP=""
  DB=""
/>

To exclude user1 from logging in Percona Server 5.7 you must set:

SET GLOBAL audit_log_exclude_accounts = 'user1@%';

The value can be NULL or comma separated list of accounts in form user@host or 'user'@'host' (if user or host contains comma).

Filtering by SQL command type

In 5.7.14-7 Percona Server has implemented filtering by SQL command type. This was implemented by adding two new global variables: audit_log_include_commands and audit_log_exclude_commands to specify which command types should be included or excluded from audit logging.

Warning

Only one of these variables can contain a list of command types to be either included or excluded, while the other needs to be NULL. If one of the variables is set to be not NULL (contains a list of command types), the attempt to set another one will fail. Empty string means an empty list.

Note

If both audit_log_exclude_commands and audit_log_include_commands are NULL all commands will be logged.

Example

The available command types can be listed by running:

mysql> SELECT name FROM performance_schema.setup_instruments WHERE name LIKE "statement/sql/%" ORDER BY name;
+------------------------------------------+
| name                                     |
+------------------------------------------+
| statement/sql/alter_db                   |
| statement/sql/alter_db_upgrade           |
| statement/sql/alter_event                |
| statement/sql/alter_function             |
| statement/sql/alter_procedure            |
| statement/sql/alter_server               |
| statement/sql/alter_table                |
| statement/sql/alter_tablespace           |
| statement/sql/alter_user                 |
| statement/sql/analyze                    |
| statement/sql/assign_to_keycache         |
| statement/sql/begin                      |
| statement/sql/binlog                     |
| statement/sql/call_procedure             |
| statement/sql/change_db                  |
| statement/sql/change_master              |
...
| statement/sql/xa_rollback                |
| statement/sql/xa_start                   |
+------------------------------------------+
145 rows in set (0.00 sec)

You can add commands to the include filter by running:

mysql> SET GLOBAL audit_log_include_commands= 'set_option,create_db';

If you now create a database:

mysql> CREATE DATABASE world;

You’ll see it the audit log:

<AUDIT_RECORD
  NAME="Query"
  RECORD="10724_2016-08-18T12:34:22"
  TIMESTAMP="2016-08-18T15:10:47 UTC"
  COMMAND_CLASS="create_db"
  CONNECTION_ID="61"
  STATUS="0"
  SQLTEXT="create database world"
  USER="root[root] @ localhost []"
  HOST="localhost"
  OS_USER=""
  IP=""
  DB=""
/>

To switch command type filtering type from included type list to excluded one or back, first reset the currently-active list to NULL:

mysql> SET GLOBAL audit_log_include_commands = NULL;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

mysql> SET GLOBAL audit_log_exclude_commands= 'set_option,create_db';
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

Note

Invocation of stored procedures have command type call_procedure, and all the statements executed within the procedure have the same type call_procedure as well.

Filtering by database

In 5.7.14-7 Percona Server has implemented filtering by SQL database. This was implemented by adding two new global variables: audit_log_include_databases and audit_log_exclude_databases to specify which databases should be included or excluded from audit logging.

Warning

Only one of these variables can contain a list of databases to be either included or excluded, while the other needs to be NULL. If one of the variables is set to be not NULL (contains a list of databases), the attempt to set another one will fail. Empty string means an empty list.

If query is accessing any of databases listed in audit_log_include_databases, the query will be logged. If query is accessing only databases listed in audit_log_exclude_databases, the query will not be logged. CREATE TABLE statements are logged unconditionally.

Note

Changes of audit_log_include_databases and audit_log_exclude_databases do not apply to existing server connections.

Example

To add databases to be monitored you should run:

mysql> SET GLOBAL audit_log_include_databases = 'test,mysql,db1';
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

mysql> SET GLOBAL audit_log_include_databases= 'db1,```db3"`';
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

If you you try to add databases to both include and exclude lists server will show you the following error:

mysql> SET GLOBAL audit_log_exclude_databases = 'test,mysql,db1';
ERROR 1231 (42000): Variable 'audit_log_exclude_databases can't be set to the value of 'test,mysql,db1'

To switch from filtering by included database list to the excluded one or back, first set the currently active filtering variable to NULL:

mysql> SET GLOBAL audit_log_include_databases = NULL;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

mysql> SET GLOBAL audit_log_exclude_databases = 'test,mysql,db1';
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

System Variables

variable audit_log_strategy
Command Line:Yes
Scope:Global
Dynamic:No
Variable Type:String
Default Value:ASYNCHRONOUS
Allowed values:ASYNCHRONOUS, PERFORMANCE, SEMISYNCHRONOUS, SYNCHRONOUS

This variable is used to specify the audit log strategy, possible values are:

  • ASYNCHRONOUS - (default) log using memory buffer, do not drop messages if buffer is full
  • PERFORMANCE - log using memory buffer, drop messages if buffer is full
  • SEMISYNCHRONOUS - log directly to file, do not flush and sync every event
  • SYNCHRONOUS - log directly to file, flush and sync every event

This variable has effect only when audit_log_handler is set to FILE.

variable audit_log_file
Command Line:Yes
Scope:Global
Dynamic:No
Variable Type:String
Default Value:audit.log

This variable is used to specify the filename that’s going to store the audit log. It can contain the path relative to the datadir or absolute path.

variable audit_log_flush
Command Line:Yes
Scope:Global
Dynamic:Yes
Variable Type:String
Default Value:OFF

When this variable is set to ON log file will be closed and reopened. This can be used for manual log rotation.

variable audit_log_buffer_size
Command Line:Yes
Scope:Global
Dynamic:No
Variable Type:Numeric
Default Value:4096

This variable can be used to specify the size of memory buffer used for logging, used when audit_log_strategy variable is set to ASYNCHRONOUS or PERFORMANCE values. This variable has effect only when audit_log_handler is set to FILE.

variable audit_log_exclude_accounts
Version Info:
Command Line:

Yes
Scope:

Global
Dynamic:

Yes
Variable Type:

String

This variable is used to specify the list of users for which Filtering by user is applied. The value can be NULL or comma separated list of accounts in form user@host or 'user'@'host' (if user or host contains comma). If this variable is set, then audit_log_include_accounts must be unset, and vice versa.

variable audit_log_exclude_commands
Version Info:
Command Line:

Yes
Scope:

Global
Dynamic:

Yes
Variable Type:

String

This variable is used to specify the list of commands for which Filtering by SQL command type is applied. The value can be NULL or comma separated list of commands. If this variable is set, then audit_log_include_commands must be unset, and vice versa.

variable audit_log_exclude_databases
Version Info:
Command Line:

Yes
Scope:

Global
Dynamic:

Yes
Variable Type:

String

This variable is used to specify the list of commands for which Filtering by database is applied. The value can be NULL or comma separated list of commands. If this variable is set, then audit_log_include_databases must be unset, and vice versa.

variable audit_log_format
Command Line:Yes
Scope:Global
Dynamic:No
Variable Type:String
Default Value:OLD
Allowed values:OLD, NEW, CSV, JSON

This variable is used to specify the audit log format. The audit log plugin supports four log formats: OLD, NEW, JSON, and CSV. OLD and NEW formats are based on XML, where the former outputs log record properties as XML attributes and the latter as XML tags. Information logged is the same in all four formats.

variable audit_log_include_accounts
Version Info:
Command Line:

Yes
Scope:

Global
Dynamic:

Yes
Variable Type:

String

This variable is used to specify the list of users for which Filtering by user is applied. The value can be NULL or comma separated list of accounts in form user@host or 'user'@'host' (if user or host contains comma). If this variable is set, then audit_log_exclude_accounts must be unset, and vice versa.

variable audit_log_include_commands
Version Info:
Command Line:

Yes
Scope:

Global
Dynamic:

Yes
Variable Type:

String

This variable is used to specify the list of commands for which Filtering by SQL command type is applied. The value can be NULL or comma separated list of commands. If this variable is set, then audit_log_exclude_commands must be unset, and vice versa.

variable audit_log_include_databases
Version Info:
Command Line:

Yes
Scope:

Global
Dynamic:

Yes
Variable Type:

String

This variable is used to specify the list of commands for which Filtering by database is applied. The value can be NULL or comma separated list of commands. If this variable is set, then audit_log_exclude_databases must be unset, and vice versa.

variable audit_log_policy
Command Line:Yes
Scope:Global
Dynamic:Yes
Variable Type:String
Default Value:ALL
Allowed values:ALL, LOGINS, QUERIES, NONE

This variable is used to specify which events should be logged. Possible values are:

  • ALL - all events will be logged
  • LOGINS - only logins will be logged
  • QUERIES - only queries will be logged
  • NONE - no events will be logged
variable audit_log_rotate_on_size
Command Line:Yes
Scope:Global
Dynamic:No
Variable Type:Numeric
Default Value:0 (don’t rotate the log file)

This variable is used to specify the maximum audit log file size. Upon reaching this size the log will be rotated. The rotated log files will be present in the same same directory as the current log file. A sequence number will be appended to the log file name upon rotation. This variable has effect only when audit_log_handler is set to FILE.

variable audit_log_rotations
Command Line:Yes
Scope:Global
Dynamic:No
Variable Type:Numeric
Default Value:0

This variable is used to specify how many log files should be kept when audit_log_rotate_on_size variable is set to non-zero value. This variable has effect only when audit_log_handler is set to FILE.

variable audit_log_handler
Command Line:Yes
Scope:Global
Dynamic:No
Variable Type:String
Default Value:FILE
Allowed values:FILE, SYSLOG

This variable is used to configure where the audit log will be written. If it is set to FILE, the log will be written into a file specified by audit_log_file variable. If it is set to SYSLOG, the audit log will be written to syslog.

variable audit_log_syslog_ident
Command Line:Yes
Scope:Global
Dynamic:No
Variable Type:String
Default Value:percona-audit

This variable is used to specify the ident value for syslog. This variable has the same meaning as the appropriate parameter described in the syslog(3) manual.

variable audit_log_syslog_facility
Command Line:Yes
Scope:Global
Dynamic:No
Variable Type:String
Default Value:LOG_USER

This variable is used to specify the facility value for syslog. This variable has the same meaning as the appropriate parameter described in the syslog(3) manual.

variable audit_log_syslog_priority
Command Line:Yes
Scope:Global
Dynamic:No
Variable Type:String
Default Value:LOG_INFO

This variable is used to specify the priority value for syslog. This variable has the same meaning as the appropriate parameter described in the syslog(3) manual.

Version Specific Information

Download PDF Manual

Table Of Contents

This Page

Percona Server Series

Visit Percona Store

General Inquiries

For general inquiries, please send us your question and someone will contact you.


Ask Me!