The SP uses the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) syslog subsystem.
The SP install process configures the BSD syslog subsystem on the control workstation only to write all syslog messages for its daemons to the daemon.notice facility. All kernel error messages are logged via the AIX Error Log Facility. If the control workstation already has the daemon.notice facility configured, it does not change that configuration.
The BSD syslog facility is not configured on the SP nodes when it is installed. By default, AIX does not configure the BSD syslog. The configuration file for BSD syslog is /etc/syslog.conf. Configure the syslog on all nodes where you want entries made. Note also that any SP error logs are also written to the AIX Error Log and usually contain more information about probable cause and possible recovery or diagnostic actions. In AIX, the predominant error logging facility is the AIX error log and only application software that was ported from 'other sources' contains the calls to syslog and logger. The AIX kernel does not use syslog for error logging.
The File Collections facilities can be used to manage the /etc/syslog.conf file if all the nodes have the same configuration file. Administrators should be aware that the amount of information that syslog collects may consume network resources on an SP system if they are forwarded to a single node. Additionally, the SP multiplexes the /dev/console tty cables onto a single cable per frame. If /dev/console is used for syslog messages performance problems might occur. If you want syslog messages, IBM recommends that they be logged on a per-node basis, and that you use tools such as dsh and sysctl to view and manage them.
See the PSSP: Diagnosis Guide for more information about error logging.