Rsyslog keeps writing to /var/log/messages and subfolders

Question

I have a rsyslog on CentOS 8 where I configured several systems to subfolders with this part of config

$template RemoteLogs,"/var/log/hosts/%HOSTNAME%/%$YEAR%/%$MONTH%/%$DAY%/syslog.log"
*.* ?RemoteLogs

This works fine but all logs from remote systems are being written to /var/log/messages. How could I have remote logs in their own subfolders and not being written to /var/log/messages?

Here is my config file.

# rsyslog configuration file

# For more information see /usr/share/doc/rsyslog-*/rsyslog_conf.html
# or latest version online at http://www.rsyslog.com/doc/rsyslog_conf.html
# If you experience problems, see http://www.rsyslog.com/doc/troubleshoot.html

#### MODULES ####

module(load="imuxsock"    # provides support for local system logging (e.g. via logger command)
       SysSock.Use="off") # Turn off message reception via local log socket;
              # local messages are retrieved through imjournal now.
module(load="imjournal"         # provides access to the systemd journal
       StateFile="imjournal.state") # File to store the position in the journal
module(load="imklog") # reads kernel messages (the same are read from journald)
#module(load"immark") # provides --MARK-- message capability

# Provides UDP syslog reception
# for parameters see http://www.rsyslog.com/doc/imudp.html
module(load="imudp") # needs to be done just once
input(type="imudp" port="514")

# Provides TCP syslog reception
# for parameters see http://www.rsyslog.com/doc/imtcp.html
#module(load="imtcp") # needs to be done just once
#input(type="imtcp" port="514")

$template RemoteLogs,"/var/log/hosts/%HOSTNAME%/%$YEAR%/%$MONTH%/%$DAY%/syslog.log"
*.* ?RemoteLogs

#
# Set the default permissions for all log files.
#
$FileCreateMode 0640
$DirCreateMode 0755
$Umask 0022

# These may require root
$FileOwner syslog
$FileGroup syslog
$PrivDropToUser syslog
$PrivDropToGroup syslog

#### GLOBAL DIRECTIVES ####

# Where to place auxiliary files
global(workDirectory="/var/lib/rsyslog")

# Use default timestamp format
module(load="builtin:omfile" Template="RSYSLOG_TraditionalFileFormat")

# Include all config files in /etc/rsyslog.d/
include(file="/etc/rsyslog.d/*.conf" mode="optional")

#### RULES ####

# Log all kernel messages to the console.
# Logging much else clutters up the screen.
kern.*                                                 /var/log/messages

# Log anything (except mail) of level info or higher.
# Don't log private authentication messages!
*.info;mail.none;authpriv.none;cron.none                /var/log/messages

# The authpriv file has restricted access.
authpriv.*                                              /var/log/secure

# Log all the mail messages in one place.
mail.*                                                  -/var/log/maillog


# Log cron stuff
cron.*                                                  /var/log/cron

# Everybody gets emergency messages
*.emerg                                                 :omusrmsg:*

# Save news errors of level crit and higher in a special file.
uucp,news.crit                                          /var/log/spooler

# Save boot messages also to boot.log
local7.*                                                /var/log/boot.log


# ### sample forwarding rule ###
#action(type="omfwd"
# An on-disk queue is created for this action. If the remote host is
# down, messages are spooled to disk and sent when it is up again.
#queue.filename="fwdRule1"       # unique name prefix for spool files
#queue.maxdiskspace="1g"         # 1gb space limit (use as much as possible)
#queue.saveonshutdown="on"       # save messages to disk on shutdown
#queue.type="LinkedList"         # run asynchronously
#action.resumeRetryCount="-1"    # infinite retries if host is down
# Remote Logging (we use TCP for reliable delivery)
# remote_host is: name/ip, e.g. 192.168.0.1, port optional e.g. 10514
#Target="remote_host" Port="XXX" Protocol="tcp")
[root@rsyslog log]#
[root@rsyslog log]# cat /etc/rsyslog.conf
# rsyslog configuration file

# For more information see /usr/share/doc/rsyslog-*/rsyslog_conf.html
# or latest version online at http://www.rsyslog.com/doc/rsyslog_conf.html
# If you experience problems, see http://www.rsyslog.com/doc/troubleshoot.html

#### MODULES ####

module(load="imuxsock"    # provides support for local system logging (e.g. via logger command)
       SysSock.Use="off") # Turn off message reception via local log socket;
              # local messages are retrieved through imjournal now.
module(load="imjournal"         # provides access to the systemd journal
       StateFile="imjournal.state") # File to store the position in the journal
module(load="imklog") # reads kernel messages (the same are read from journald)
#module(load"immark") # provides --MARK-- message capability

# Provides UDP syslog reception
# for parameters see http://www.rsyslog.com/doc/imudp.html
module(load="imudp") # needs to be done just once
input(type="imudp" port="514")

# Provides TCP syslog reception
# for parameters see http://www.rsyslog.com/doc/imtcp.html
#module(load="imtcp") # needs to be done just once
#input(type="imtcp" port="514")

$template RemoteLogs,"/var/log/hosts/%HOSTNAME%/%$YEAR%/%$MONTH%/%$DAY%/syslog.log"
*.* ?RemoteLogs

#
# Set the default permissions for all log files.
#
$FileCreateMode 0640
$DirCreateMode 0755
$Umask 0022

# These may require root
$FileOwner syslog
$FileGroup syslog
$PrivDropToUser syslog
$PrivDropToGroup syslog

#### GLOBAL DIRECTIVES ####

# Where to place auxiliary files
global(workDirectory="/var/lib/rsyslog")

# Use default timestamp format
module(load="builtin:omfile" Template="RSYSLOG_TraditionalFileFormat")

# Include all config files in /etc/rsyslog.d/
include(file="/etc/rsyslog.d/*.conf" mode="optional")

#### RULES ####

# Log all kernel messages to the console.
# Logging much else clutters up the screen.
kern.*                                                 /var/log/messages

# Log anything (except mail) of level info or higher.
# Don't log private authentication messages!
*.info;mail.none;authpriv.none;cron.none                /var/log/messages

# The authpriv file has restricted access.
authpriv.*                                              /var/log/secure

# Log all the mail messages in one place.
mail.*                                                  -/var/log/maillog


# Log cron stuff
cron.*                                                  /var/log/cron

# Everybody gets emergency messages
*.emerg                                                 :omusrmsg:*

# Save news errors of level crit and higher in a special file.
uucp,news.crit                                          /var/log/spooler

# Save boot messages also to boot.log
local7.*                                                /var/log/boot.log


# ### sample forwarding rule ###
#action(type="omfwd"
# An on-disk queue is created for this action. If the remote host is
# down, messages are spooled to disk and sent when it is up again.
#queue.filename="fwdRule1"       # unique name prefix for spool files
#queue.maxdiskspace="1g"         # 1gb space limit (use as much as possible)
#queue.saveonshutdown="on"       # save messages to disk on shutdown
#queue.type="LinkedList"         # run asynchronously
#action.resumeRetryCount="-1"    # infinite retries if host is down
# Remote Logging (we use TCP for reliable delivery)
# remote_host is: name/ip, e.g. 192.168.0.1, port optional e.g. 10514
#Target="remote_host" Port="XXX" Protocol="tcp")

Answer 1

You are defining the specification to store the external logs without using a stop. So, the external log is stored in your template, and in the local syslog too. To use the template only for external logs, I use :

*.* ?RemoteLogs
if $fromhost-ip != '127.0.0.1' then  stop

Then the external logs are stored in the template and as the IP is not 127.0.0.1, the process is stopped. It means that the local logs are also logged in RemoteLogs template. Of course, the position of the stop line must be just after the Template usage !