chore(ide): Delete notebook

docs(logwatch): Update readme
Update readme with changes for v3
2026-07-25 04:16:23 -06:00 · 2026-07-25 04:11:32 -06:00 · 2026-07-25 04:11:05 -06:00 · 2026-07-25 03:46:41 -06:00 · 2026-07-25 03:45:44 -06:00 · 2026-07-25 03:23:49 -06:00
14 changed files with 1092 additions and 821 deletions
@@ -55,6 +55,23 @@
 *.bat      text eol=crlf
 *.cmd      text eol=crlf

+# web frontend stack -- force LF so SRI hashes are always correct
+*.html     text eol=lf
+*.htm      text eol=lf
+*.css      text eol=lf
+*.min.css  text eol=lf
+*.js       text eol=lf
+*.min.js   text eol=lf
+*.php      text eol=lf
+
+# Visual Studio projects (Rider also)
+*.cs     diff=csharp
+*.sln    merge=union
+*.csproj merge=union
+*.vbproj merge=union
+*.fsproj merge=union
+*.dbproj merge=union
+
 # Serialisation
 *.json     text
 *.toml     text
@@ -76,6 +93,8 @@
 # Exclude files from exporting
 #

-.gitattributes export-ignore
-.gitignore     export-ignore
-.gitkeep       export-ignore
+.gitattributes  export-ignore
+.gitignore      export-ignore
+.gitkeep        export-ignore
+.idea           export-ignore
+.vscode         export-ignore
@@ -1 +1,35 @@
+#
+# JetBrains exclusions
+#
+
+riderModule.iml
+/_ReSharper.Caches/
+
+# User-specific stuff
+.idea/**/workspace.xml
+.idea/**/tasks.xml
+.idea/**/usage.statistics.xml
+.idea/**/dictionaries
+.idea/**/shelf
+
+# Generated files
+.idea/**/contentModel.xml
+.idea/**/GitCommitMessageStorage.xml
+
+# Sensitive or high-churn files
+.idea/**/dataSources/
+.idea/**/dataSources.ids
+.idea/**/dataSources.local.xml
+.idea/**/sqlDataSources.xml
+.idea/**/dynamic.xml
+.idea/**/uiDesigner.xml
+.idea/**/dbnavigator.xml
+
+# modules
+.idea_modules/
+
+# Editor-based Rest Client
+.idea/httpRequests
+
+# project-specific exclusions
 *.log
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<project version="4">
+  <component name="DeveloperToolsToolWindowSettingsV1" lastSelectedContentNodeId="base64-encoder-decoder" pluginVersion="9.0.0">
+    <developerToolsConfigurations />
+  </component>
+</project>
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<project version="4">
+  <component name="GitToolBoxProjectSettings">
+    <option name="commitMessageIssueKeyValidationOverride">
+      <BoolValueOverride>
+        <option name="enabled" value="true" />
+      </BoolValueOverride>
+    </option>
+    <option name="commitMessageValidationEnabledOverride">
+      <BoolValueOverride>
+        <option name="enabled" value="true" />
+      </BoolValueOverride>
+    </option>
+  </component>
+</project>
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<project version="4">
+  <component name="UserContentModel">
+    <attachedFolders />
+    <explicitIncludes />
+    <explicitExcludes />
+  </component>
+</project>
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<project version="4">
+  <component name="RiderProjectSettingsUpdater">
+    <option name="singleClickDiffPreview" value="1" />
+    <option name="unhandledExceptionsIgnoreList" value="1" />
+    <option name="vcsConfiguration" value="3" />
+  </component>
+</project>
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<project version="4">
+  <component name="VcsDirectoryMappings">
+    <mapping directory="" vcs="Git" />
+  </component>
+</project>
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+<wpf:ResourceDictionary xml:space="preserve" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" xmlns:s="clr-namespace:System;assembly=mscorlib" xmlns:ss="urn:shemas-jetbrains-com:settings-storage-xaml" xmlns:wpf="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation">
+	<s:Boolean x:Key="/Default/UserDictionary/Words/=cfddns/@EntryIndexedValue">True</s:Boolean>
+	<s:Boolean x:Key="/Default/UserDictionary/Words/=ddns/@EntryIndexedValue">True</s:Boolean>
+	<s:Boolean x:Key="/Default/UserDictionary/Words/=logwatch/@EntryIndexedValue">True</s:Boolean>
+	<s:Boolean x:Key="/Default/UserDictionary/Words/=mydomain/@EntryIndexedValue">True</s:Boolean>
+	<s:Boolean x:Key="/Default/UserDictionary/Words/=myserver/@EntryIndexedValue">True</s:Boolean></wpf:ResourceDictionary>
@@ -1,39 +1,73 @@
-# CloudflareDDNS <!-- omit in toc -->
+# CloudflareDDNS

-Update your CloudFlare DNS records with your current (dynamic) IP address via
-systemd timers and a bash script.
+Update your *existing* Cloudflare DNS records with your current (dynamic) IP address via systemd timers and a (POSIX)
+shell script.

-**NOTE: You can rename *cfddns.sh* to anything you want, the script will
-auto-update itself.  However, you MUST update the systemd service file
-*(cfddns.service)* *ExecStart* line manually as explained below.**
+## Contents

-## Contents <!-- omit in toc -->
+<!-- TOC -->

- [cfddns&#46;sh](#cfddns46sh)
-        - [Installation:](#installation)
-        - [Usage:](#usage)
- [cfddns.service](#cfddnsservice)
-        - [IP4 and/or IP6](#ip4-andor-ip6)
-                - [Examples](#examples)
- [cfddns.timer](#cfddnstimer)
-        - [Activation](#activation)
- [The log file](#the-log-file)
-        - [Using Logwatch to monitor this script](#using-logwatch-to-monitor-this-script)
-        - [Using Logrotate to control log file size](#using-logrotate-to-control-log-file-size)
- [Final thoughts](#final-thoughts)
+* [CloudflareDDNS](#cloudflareddns)
+    * [Contents](#contents)
+    * [Prerequisites](#prerequisites)
+    * [cfddns script](#cfddns-script)
+        * [Installation](#installation)
+        * [Usage](#usage)
+            * [Parameters](#parameters)
+    * [Cloudflare credentials file](#cloudflare-credentials-file)
+        * [File structure](#file-structure)
+        * [Bearer token](#bearer-token)
+        * [Zone ID](#zone-id)
+    * [cfddns systemd service unit](#cfddns-systemd-service-unit)
+        * [IP4 or IP6](#ip4-or-ip6)
+            * [Examples](#examples)
+    * [cfddns systemd timer unit](#cfddns-systemd-timer-unit)
+        * [Activation](#activation)
+    * [Logging](#logging)
+        * [JSON format](#json-format)
+        * [SYSLOG format](#syslog-format)
+        * [Systemd journal (journald)](#systemd-journal-journald)
+        * [Using Logwatch to monitor this script](#using-logwatch-to-monitor-this-script)
+        * [Using Logrotate to control log file size](#using-logrotate-to-control-log-file-size)
+    * [Final thoughts](#final-thoughts)

-## cfddns&#46;sh
+<!-- TOC -->

-### Installation:
+## Prerequisites

-I recommend putting this script in your */usr/local/bin* directory or somewhere
-else in your path so it's easy to run.
+This script requires that `curl` and `jq` are installed. `curl` is used to interact with the Cloudflare API and `jq` is
+used to efficiently and reliably construct/deconstruct the JSON strings and arrays returned by the Cloudflare API. If
+you want to log to the system journal (journald), then `logger` must also be installed. In most cases you can install
+these programs using your package manager running as root or via sudo:

-1. Copy the script file to your desired path and rename if you want.
+```sh
+# Debian/Ubuntu
+sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y curl jq bsdutils
+
+# Arch
+sudo pacman -Sy curl jq logger
+
+# Redhat/CentOS/Fedora
+sudo dnf install curl jq util-linux
+
+# Redhat/CentOS/Fedora (older versions)
+sudo yum install curl jq util-linux
+```
+
+> While the script does *not* require root privileges, you will need sudo/root access to install the *systemd* service
+> and timer.
+
+## cfddns script
+
+### Installation
+
+I recommend putting this script in your */usr/local/bin* directory or somewhere else in your path so it's easy to run.
+
+1. Copy the script file to your desired path and rename it if you want.

   ```Bash
   sudo cp cfddns.sh /usr/local/bin/   # just copy it
-   sudo cp cfddns.sh /usr/local/bin/myscript.sh   # copy and rename
+   sudo cp cfddns.sh /usr/local/bin/cloudflare-update.sh   # copy and rename (choose any name)
   ```

 2. Make it executable:
@@ -42,112 +76,112 @@ else in your path so it's easy to run.
   sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/cfddns.sh
   ```

-### Usage:
+> Note: You can rename *cfddns.sh* to anything you want, the script will automatically use its current name. However,
+> you **must** manually update the systemd service file (*cfddns.service*) `ExecStart` line
+> as [explained below](#cfddns-script).

-If you run the script with no parameters, it will display the help screen.  The
-script accepts several parameters with 2 being required.  The parameters are
-summarized here.  You can access the help screen and example usage screens by
-running:
+### Usage
+
+If you run the script with no parameters, it will display the help screen. The script accepts several parameters with
+only one (1) being required. The parameters are summarized below. You can access the help screen and example usage
+screens by running:

 ```Bash
-cfddns.sh -h   # display help screen
-cfddns.sh -x   # show script usage examples
+cfddns.sh --help   # display help screen
+cfddns.sh --examples   # show script usage examples
 ```

-**-f: full path and filename containing account details (REQUIRED)**
-This is the full path to a plain-text file containing your CloudFlare account
-details.  This file must contain 3 lines in the following order:
+#### Parameters

- authorized email address
-   This is an email address that is permitted to login to your CloudFlare account.
- global api-key
-   You can get your Global API-key by going to your CloudFlare dashboard,
-   clicking on your profile picture in the upper-right and opening your profile.
-   Scroll down to to the API Keys section.  Click on the 'View' button next to
-   Global API Key.
- zone identifier
-   You should be able to find this on the Overview page of your CloudFlare dashboard.
+| Parameter                                      | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            | Default                           | Required? |
+|------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|:---------:|
+| -r<br>--record<br>--records                    | The fully qualified hostname(s) that should be updated with new IP addresses. You can supply a comma-delimited list (no spaces) or just one. Note that the script can only update *either* A *or* AAAA records during a single run so you may need to batch your hostnames, depending on your set-up.<br>**N.B. This script will only update *existing* host records, it will _not_ create new ones!** | none                              |    YES    |
+| -c<br>--cred<br>--creds<br>--credentials<br>-f | Full path to your CloudFlare credentials file. This file contains your access token and zone id. See the [relevant section](#cloudflare-credentials-file) of this readme for more information.                                                                                                                                                                                                         | scriptPath/cloudflare.credentials |    NO     |
+| -i<br>--ip<br>--ip-address<br>-a<br>--address  | The IP address that should be used to update Host A/AAAA records. If you omit this value, the script will attempt to auto-detect your public IP4/IP6 address and use that as appropriate. Use this option to manually force a specific IP to be used or when auto-detection fails. Note that the script does *not* check your IP addresses for correctness or proper form!                             | IP4 auto-detect                   |    NO     |
+| -4<br>--ip4<br>--ipv4                          | Update Host A records only (IP4). The script can only update *either* A *or* AAAA records in a single run. If you specify this and also use the IP6 mode switch, the most recent one will take effect.                                                                                                                                                                                                 | Enabled, update A records         |    NO     |
+| -6<br>--ip6<br>--ipv6                          | Update Host AAAA records only (IP6). The script can only update *either* A *or* AAAA records in a single run. If you specify this and also use the IP4 mode switch, the most recent one will take effect.                                                                                                                                                                                              | Disabled, update A records        |    NO     |
+|                                                |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |                                   |           |
+| --log-file                                     | Generate a log file and save it in the specified location. Only specify this option if you want to save the log file in a non-default location. If you want to save the log in the default location, omit this option. Recommend */var/log/scriptName.log*                                                                                                                                             | scriptPath/scriptName.log         |    NO     |
+| --log-journal                                  | Log to the system journal (journald) instead of a log file. Log entries are automatically tagged 'CFDDNS' for easier filtering. Format tags do NOT apply when using this option. Use `json` or `pretty-json` with `journalctl` to see all logged properties.                                                                                                                                           | Disabled, write to log file       |    NO     |
+| --log-console                                  | Write log entries to the console (stdout) instead of a log file. Using `--fmt-syslog` with this option is strongly recommended since JSON is difficult to read on the console.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         | Disabled, write to log file       |    NO     |
+| --no-log                                       | Do *not* write a log file, write to the journal, or output to the console. You will not have **any** feedback from the script if you run in this mode so you will not know if updates were successful or not. I’m not really sure why you’d want this option, but it’s available.                                                                                                                      | Disabled, write to log file       |    NO     |
+|                                                |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |                                   |           |
+| --fmt-json                                     | Write the log file or console output in a structured *Compact Log Event Format (CLEF)* JSON format. You will probably need a log viewer to meaningfully parse the logs.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                | Enabled                           |    NO     |
+| --fmt-syslog                                   | Write the log file or console output in a modified plain-text *syslog* style. This option is recommended when using `--log-console` or if you need easily readable log files. While all log entries are *consistent* using this format, they are not *structured*.                                                                                                                                     | Disabled, just JSON format        |    NO     |
+|                                                |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |                                   |           |
+| -h<br>--help<br>-?                             | Display built-in help screen explaining these same parameters.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |                                   |           |
+| --examples                                     | Display some usage examples. Sometimes it's easier to understand by seeing rather than reading.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |                                   |           |

-Your completed file should look like (these are not real credentials):
+## Cloudflare credentials file
+
+This repo includes a sample credentials file (*cloudflare.credentials* at the root of the repo) with pretty
+self-explanatory variable names. The script reads this file to get the credentials it needs to connect to your
+Cloudflare account and update DNS entries. It should be noted that the script is designed to use a *bearer token* and
+**not** your username/password or your Global API token! Let’s break this down in case things are a little fuzzy
+still...
+
+### File structure
+
+The file is a basic shell script variables file. Make sure you **do not** put spaces between the variable name, equal
+sign and the value. Also, **do not** add any executable code since it will be run! The file should contain values for
+the following two variables:
+
+| Variable | Value                                                                                        |
+|----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
+| cfKey    | The bearer token granting access to *edit* the DNS records of the zone (domain) in question. |
+| cfZoneId | The Cloudflare Zone ID of the zone (domain) you wish to update.                              |
+
+You can add comments if you’d like since the script will ignore them. In the end, your file should look something like
+this, but obviously with your data instead of this nonsense sample information:
+
+```ini
+#
+# Cloudflare token for my.domain.tld
+#
+
+cfKey=_dLuyyRNaKN8SLG4-csmNYYfC39nnCmPVA7aYUJj
+cfZoneId=83d564234134513245311b23412331dd

 ```
-johndoe@example.com
-e7882db52804aca6fab22780e055b97056466
-492af8aa69f8c44baf043342c74319fd
+
+You can save the file as anything you like and anywhere you’d like as long as you inform the script of its location
+using the `--credentials` parameter. By default, the script will look for a file named *cloudflare.credentials* at the
+same path as the script.
+
+Please remember that this file basically contains a password! As a result, it should be protected and access limited to
+the root account:
+
+```bash
+chown root:root /path/to/cloudflare.credentials
+chmod 600 /path/to/cloudflare.credentials
 ```

-Your global API-key is equivalent to your account password, so you should
-secure this file by changing the owner of the file to root
+### Bearer token

-```Bash
-chown root:root path/to/filename
-```
+I chose to use an API bearer token instead of a username/password or Global API token for security reasons. Your
+username/password and Global API token provide unfettered access to your account, so if anyone gets hold of them, they
+can do anything to your account. An API bearer token, by contrast, only permits actions you explicitly authorize when
+you create it, and you can revoke it at any time. Therefore, I suggest making a bearer token that is based on the
+“Edit zone DNS” template and restricted to the specific domain/zone you wish to update. Cloudflare provides
+an [excellent article](https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/en-us/articles/200167836-Managing-API-Tokens-and-Keys) on how
+to generate this token.

-and then restricting access to only the root user
+> N.B. This is a breaking change from previous versions of this script!

-```Bash
-chmod 600 path/to/filename
-```
+### Zone ID

-**-r: target DNS entry to update (REQUIRED)**
-At least one entry here is *required*.  This is the A or AAAA record you want to
-update the IP address for in your DNS zone file.  If you have multiple A or AAAA
-records you want to update, simply specifiy multiple -r parameters.
+This is required by the Cloudflare API so it knows which zone you are editing and can check the permissions of the
+bearer token. This script only caters to one zone, so likely only one domain per configuration file. If you need to
+update multiple zones, you can have multiple configuration files and call them as required on separate invocations of
+the script.

-*Note: You can only specify *either* A records *or* AAAA records.  You have to
-update IP4 and IP6 records separately by running this script multiple times
-(once for A records, once for AAAA records even if the hostname is the same).*
+To get your Zone ID, log into your Cloudflare account and open the domain in question. On the overview page, scroll down
+a bit and look to the right. You will see your Zone ID listed there. Copy that string into your configuration file.

-**-4 or -6: type of record to update**
-The default option is -4 and it does not need to be specified.  This will update
-*A records* specified by the -r parameter(s).  If you specify -6, then *AAAA
-records* will updated as specified by the -r parameter(s).
+## cfddns systemd service unit

-**-i: use the specified IP address**
-The script will auto-detect the IP address of the machine it's being run on by
-accessing an external service and asking for that service to echo the machine's
-IP address.  If running with -4, then the IP4 will be requested for echo.  If
-running with -6, then the IP6 address will be requested for echo.
-
-This parameter let's you bypass auto-detection and specify a particular address
-to be used instead.  This parameter is most useful if running the script
-manually to update a particular DNS record.  In most cases, you'd want your
-current IP address auto-detected (i.e. omit this parameter).
-
-*NOTE: The address you supply is NOT checked for correctness.  Ensure you're
-supplying a valid address of the correct type based on your choice of -4 or -6
-parameter!*
-
-**-l (lower-case L): specify where the log file should be written**
-The script will default to writing it's log file in the same directory as the
-script is located.  It will use it's own name and append a *.log* extension.
-So, the default name for the log file is *cfddns.log*.  If you rename the script
-*something&#46;sh* then the generated log file name will be *something.log*.
-
-This can be messy if you store the script in /usr/local/bin/ as recommended.
-Therefore, it's recommended you choose a different location for
-the log file (*/var/log/cfddns.log* is recommended).
-
-```Ini
-[Service]
-...
-ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/cfddns.sh -l /var/log/cfddns.log ...
-```
-
-**-h: display help**
-Displays the help screen, which is an abbreviated version of this section you
-are currently reading.
-
-**-x: display examples**
-This is the best way to learn how this script works.  Several examples are
-provided
-
-## cfddns.service
-
-This file **must** be copied to your */etc/systemd/system* directory (or
-equivalent directory if you're not running debian/ubuntu).  If you change the
-name of the cfddns&#46;sh file, you must update the filename in the *ExecStart*
-line as shown below:
+For the easiest implementation, this file should be copied to your */etc/systemd/system* directory. If you change the
+name of the *cfddns.sh* file, you must update the filename in the `ExecStart` line as shown below:

 ````Ini
 ...
@@ -157,66 +191,68 @@ ExecStart=/full/path/to/your/renamed.file -parameter1 -parameter2 -parameter...
 ...
 ````

-### IP4 and/or IP6
+### IP4 or IP6

-The cfddns.service file includes two *ExecStart* lines, one without a specified
-IP-protocol parameter (default IP4) and the other with the -6 (IP6) parameter.
-The service will run the cfddns&#46;sh script in default (IP4) mode with specified
-parameters first and then will run the script again in IP6 mode with specified
-parameters.
+The cfddns.service file includes two *ExecStart* lines, one without a specified IP-protocol parameter (default IP4) and
+the other with the -6 (IP6) parameter. The service will run the cfddns&#46;sh script in default (IP4) mode with
+specified parameters first and then will run the script again in IP6 mode with specified parameters.

 *Note: The parameters *can be different* in each case.*

+> **N.B.** This is a `oneshot` type systemd unit-file, so we can have multiple `ExecStart` lines.
+
 #### Examples

 1. **Only update A records**
-  Update *mail<span>.example.com* A record with the current IP of this machine and log
-  results to */var/log/cfddns.log*.
+   Update the `A` record for *mail.example.com* with the current auto-detected public IP4 address of this machine and
+   log in JSON format (default) to */var/log/cfddns.log*. Note our Cloudflare credentials file is located in the *root
+   user's home* directory.

-   ```Ini
+    ```Ini
   [Service]
   Type=oneshot
-   ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/cfddns.sh -f /root/accountDetails.cloudflare -r mail.example.com -l /var/log/cfddns.log
+   ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/cfddns.sh -c /root/cloudflare.credentials -r mail.example.com --log-file /var/log/cfddns.log
   ...
   ```

 2. **Only update AAAA records**
-  Update *git<span>.example.com* and *mail<span>.example.com* AAAA records with the current
-  IP6 address of this machine. Log will be stored in the same directory as the
-  script file (/usr/local/bin).
+   Update `AAAA` records for *git.example.com* and *mail.example.com* with the current auto-detected public IP6 address
+   of this machine. The log will be stored in the same directory as the script file (default) and will be
+   JSON-formatted (default). In this case, the Cloudflare credentials file is located in */home/johndoe*.

-   ```Ini
-   [Service]
-   Type=oneshot
-   ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/cfddns.sh -6 -f /home/johndoe/account.details -r git.example.com -r mail.example.com
-   ...
-   ```
+    ```Ini
+    [Service]
+    Type=oneshot
+    ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/cfddns.sh -6 -c /home/johndoe/cloudflare.credentials -r git.example.com,mail.example.com
+    ...
+    ```

 3. **Update A records then AAAA records**
-   Update *mail<span>.example.com* A record with current IP address of this machine and
-   write to log file stored at */var/log/DDNS_IP4.log*.  Then, update both
-   *mail<span>.example.com* and *git<span>.example.com* AAAA records with current IP address
-   of this machine and write to log file at */var/log/DDNS_IP6.log*.
+   Update the `A` record for *mail.example.com* with the auto-detected public IP4 address of this machine. Then, update
+   `AAAA` records for both *mail.example.com* and *git.example.com* with the *specified IP6 address*. In both cases, we
+   are logging to the system journal (journald). Also notice that the Cloudflare credentials file is located in
+   different
+   places for each script call.

   ```Ini
   [Service]
   Type=oneshot
-   ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/cfddns.sh -f /dir1/account.cf -r mail.example.com -l /var/log/DDNS_IP4.log
-   ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/cfddns.sh -6 -f /dir2/cloudflare.details -r mail.example.com -r git.example.com -l /var/log/DDNS_IP6.log
+   # update IP4 addresses
+   ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/cfddns.sh -c /dir1/account.cf -r mail.example.com --log-journal
+   # update IP6 addresses
+   ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/cfddns.sh -6 -c /dir2/cloudflare.details -r mail.example.com,git.example.com --ip fd3f:e6db:9817:df84::a001 --log-journal
   ...
   ```

-## cfddns.timer
+## cfddns systemd timer unit

-This is the timer file that tells your system how often to call the
-cfddns.service file which runs the cfddns&#46;sh script.  By default, the timer is
-set for 5 minutes after the system boots up (to allow for other processes to
-initialize even on slower systems like a RasPi) and is then run every 15
-minutes thereafter.  Remember when setting your timer that CloudFlare limits
-API calls to 1200 every 5 minutes.
+Again, for the easiest configuration, this file should be copied to your */etc/systemd/system* directory. This timer
+file unit tells your system how often to call the *cfddns.service* file which runs the *cfddns.sh* script. By default,
+the timer is set for 5 minutes after the system boots up (to allow for other processes to initialize even on slower
+systems like a RasPi) and is then run every 15 minutes thereafter. Remember when setting your timer that Cloudflare
+limits API calls to 1200 every 5 minutes.

-You can change the timer by modifying the relevant section of the cfddns.timer
-file:
+You can change the timer by modifying the relevant section of the *cfddns.timer* file:

 ```Ini
 [Timer]
@@ -224,22 +260,27 @@ OnBootSec=5min
 OnUnitActiveSec=15min
 ```

-*OnBootSec* is how long to wait after the system boots up before executing
-the cfddns.service.  *OnUnitActiveSec* will then wait the specified time from that
-first (after boot) call or after the timer is explicitly started before calling
-cfddns.service again.  I recommend setting OnUnitActiveSec to a low value (like
-2 minutes) for testing then setting it to a more reasonable time (like 15
-minutes) after everything is working.
+*OnBootSec* is how long to wait after the system boots up before executing the *cfddns.service*.  *OnUnitActiveSec* will
+then wait the specified time from that first (after boot) call or after the timer is explicitly started before calling
+*cfddns.service* again. I recommend setting OnUnitActiveSec to a low value (like 2 minutes) for testing, then setting it
+to a more reasonable time (like 15 minutes) after everything is working.
+
+Remember to reload `systemd` after you’ve copied both the systemd unit and this timer unit. Run the following as root or
+via sudo:
+
+```sh
+systemctl daemon-reload
+```

 ### Activation

-You can start the timer system immediately via systemctl
+You can start the timer system immediately via *systemctl*

 ```Bash
 systemctl start cfddns.timer
 ```

-and can enable it to start automatically on system start up by typing
+and can enable it to start automatically on boot by typing

 ```Bash
 systemctl enable cfddns.timer
@@ -251,55 +292,80 @@ You can check the status of the timer via systemctl also
 systemctl status cfddns.timer
 ```

-It is NOT necessary to enable/start the *cfddns.service*, only the timer needs
-to be active.
+It is NOT necessary to enable/start the *cfddns.service*, only the timer needs to be active.

-## The log file
+Also remember that if you make changes to settings like `OnUnitActiveSec` while testing, or after testing is complete,
+you *must* reload the systemd daemon! It will restart the appropriate units for you, and your new settings will take
+effect immediately.

-The script logs every major action it takes and provides details on any errors
-it encounters in the log file (see the above section for details on log file
-location and name).  If errors are encountered, they are colour coded red and
-an explanation of the error code is provided.
+## Logging

-While the log file is as terse as I felt reasonable, you may still want to
-configure any log-watch programs to further filter things for you so you don't
-have to review this log as part of your daily routine.  To make that easier, the
-following conventions are observed in the log file and can be used to program
-your log-watch system:
+The script logs every major action it takes and provides details on any errors it encounters in the log file. Refer
+to the [parameters section](#parameters) for details about setting log location and name. Starting in version 3.0, the
+entire logging system outputs structured **JSON** by default.

- Errors always appear as **-- [ERROR] text and error code here --**
- Errors are followed by an explanation of the specific error code on a new line
- A clean exit appears as **-- [SUCCESS] some text here --**
- The script always starts a new set of log entries with **-- Start CloudFlare
-  DDNS script execution --**
- All log file entries start with a time-stamp in **[square brackets]**
+> PLEASE remember to review your current log review/parsing system if upgrading from previous versions since this is a
+> **major** change to how logging works.
+
+**IMPORTANT:** This script uses the same log file for its output (unless you specify a different log file each time it
+is run) therefore, you should avoid switiching formats within existing log files. For example, if you are using the
+default log file, and run the script once with `--fmt-syslog` then switch to the default `--fmt-json`, parsing your log
+will become very difficult. If you are switching log formats, it is best to start with a fresh log file.
+
+### JSON format
+
+This is the default logging format since it allows for easy parsing and filtering of log entries while still retaining a
+structured format. I chose to implement a modified [Compact Log Event Format (CLEF)](https://clef-json.org) with the
+following format for every message (expanded for readability, the log file is not 'pretty-printed'):
+
+```json
+{
+  "@t": "ISO-8601 timestamp",
+  "@m": "message describing the event",
+  "@l": "log level",
+  "hostname": "hostname of the machine executing the script",
+  "programName": "CFDDNS",
+  "pid": "PID of the process executing the script",
+  "status": "status of the operation being logged",
+  "operation": "short-name of the operation being logged",
+  "code": "numeric 'exit code' of the operation being logged"
+}
+```
+
+### SYSLOG format
+
+The SYSLOG format (`--fmt-syslog`) is a modified version of the typical plain-text *nix syslog format. This format is
+useful when outputting the log to the console or when you need a very human-friendly format for the log files since you
+will be manually parsing them. While the plain-text format is not *structured*, it is *consistent*:
+
+```text
+ISO-8601 timestamp hostname CFDDNS[pid]: LOG_LEVEL STATUS MESSAGE (OPERATION:CODE)
+```
+
+### Systemd journal (journald)
+
+When using the `--log-journal` option, all logging will be sent to `journald` using its format. All log messages are
+tagged `CFDDNS` to make filtering easier. Additional information logged with each entry can be exposed using the `json`
+or `json-pretty` output options for `journalctl`.

 ### Using Logwatch to monitor this script

-If you are using the Logwatch package to monitor your system, **see the README
-in the /etc/logwatch folder** for details about the pre-configured service files
-already done for you :-)
+If you are using the Logwatch package to monitor your system, see the README in the */etc/logwatch* folder for details
+about the pre-configured service files already done for you :-)

 ### Using Logrotate to control log file size

-Logrotate is pre-installed on standard Debian/Ubuntu distributions and is a great
-way to automatically rotate your log files and control how many old logs you
-keep on your system so they don't accumulate and eat up your disk space.
-
-I've included a sample configuration file you can copy to your
-*/etc/logrotate.d/* folder.  This file is set up to rotate your logs once a
-week, keep 3 weeks worth of history (compressed) and delete all logs older than
-that.  The configuration file is located in this git archive at
-*/etc/logrotate.d/cfddns* and is fully commented to help you customize it to
-suit your needs.
+Logrotate is pre-installed on most linux distributions and is a great way to automatically rotate your log
+files and control how many old logs you keep on your system so they don't accumulate and eat up your disk space. I've
+included a sample configuration file you can copy to your */etc/logrotate.d/* folder. This file is set up to rotate your
+logs once a week, keep 3 weeks worth of history (compressed) and delete all logs older than that. The configuration file
+is located in this git archive at */etc/logrotate.d/cfddns* and is fully commented to help you customize it to suit your
+needs.

 ## Final thoughts

-I'm by no means an expert in BASH scripting and I only program/script as a hobby
-when I find stuff that irritates me and no other good solutions seem easily
-available.  So, by all means, please comment, provide feedback and suggestions
-to make this script better!  Thanks, I hope this helps someone else out!
+Hopefully, this helps you with an easy and reliable way to update your Cloudflare DNS entries with a dynamic IP address.
+Please feel free to comment and provide feedback and suggestions to make this script better!

-Please check out my blog at
-[https://mytechiethoughts.com](https://mytechiethoughts.com) where I tackle
-problems like this all the time and find free/cheap solutions to tech problems.
+Please check out my blog at [https://mytechiethoughts.com](https://mytechiethoughts.com) where I tackle problems like
+this all the time and find free/inexpensive solutions to tech problems.
@@ -1,45 +1,66 @@
-# Using Logwatch to monitor Cloudflare DDNS updater script <!-- omit in toc -->
+# Using Logwatch to monitor the Cloudflare DDNS updater script

-The Cloudflare DDNS update script's log file has been set up so that utilities
-like Logwatch can easily parse it.  In order to make that happen, a LogFile
-Group file, Service and Script have to be created for Logwatch to generate
-reports.  The correct (general) directory structure has been created in this git
-archive already.  Below are the details of each file.
+The Cloudflare DDNS update script's log file has been set up so that utilities like Logwatch can easily parse it. To
+make that happen, a LogFile Group file, Service and Script have to be created for Logwatch to generate reports.
+The correct (general) directory structure has been created in this git archive already. Below are the details of each
+file.

-## Contents <!-- omit in toc -->
+You can implement this setup easily by copying it into your */etc/logwatch* directory and then modifying the files as
+necessary:

- [LogFile Group file (/etc/logwatch/conf/logfiles/cfddns.conf)](#logfile-group-file-etclogwatchconflogfilescfddnsconf)
-    - [Log file location](#log-file-location)
-    - [Archive location and name format](#archive-location-and-name-format)
-    - [External script for timestamp processing](#external-script-for-timestamp-processing)
- [Service definition file (/etc/logwatch/conf/services/cfddns.conf)](#service-definition-file-etclogwatchconfservicescfddnsconf)
-    - [LogFile Group file definition](#logfile-group-file-definition)
-    - [Report title](#report-title)
-    - [Detail level](#detail-level)
- [Service script (/etc/logwatch/scripts/services/cfddns)](#service-script-etclogwatchscriptsservicescfddns)
-    - [Detail levels](#detail-levels)
- [Timestamp processing script (/etc/logwatch/scripts/shared/sqfullstampanywhere)](#timestamp-processing-script-etclogwatchscriptssharedsqfullstampanywhere)
-    - [The time format specification](#the-time-format-specification)
-    - [The search REGEX](#the-search-regex)
- [Testing](#testing)
- [Final thoughts](#final-thoughts)
+```bash
+cd /etc/logwatch
+cp -R /path/to/CloudflareDDNS_repo/etc/logwatch/* ./
+```

-## LogFile Group file (/etc/logwatch/conf/logfiles/cfddns.conf)
+If you need help getting logwatch installed and set-up,
+please [check out my blog post](#https://mytechiethoughts.com/linux/easily-monitor-your-logs-using-logwatch/).
+
+> **IMPORTANT:** Starting with version 3.0 of the `cfddns` script, you *MUST* use the `--fmt-syslog` parameter when
+> running the `cfddns` script. Otherwise, your log file will be in JSON format, and the supplied templates will not
+> work.
+
+## Contents
+
+<!-- TOC -->
+
+* [Using Logwatch to monitor the Cloudflare DDNS updater script](#using-logwatch-to-monitor-the-cloudflare-ddns-updater-script)
+    * [Contents](#contents)
+    * [LogFile Group file](#logfile-group-file)
+        * [Log file location](#log-file-location)
+        * [Archive location and name format](#archive-location-and-name-format)
+        * [External script for timestamp processing](#external-script-for-timestamp-processing)
+    * [Service definition file](#service-definition-file)
+        * [LogFile Group file definition](#logfile-group-file-definition)
+        * [Report title](#report-title)
+        * [Detail level](#detail-level)
+    * [Service script](#service-script)
+        * [Detail levels](#detail-levels)
+    * [Timestamp processing script](#timestamp-processing-script)
+        * [The time format specification](#the-time-format-specification)
+        * [The search REGEX](#the-search-regex)
+    * [Testing](#testing)
+    * [Final thoughts](#final-thoughts)
+
+<!-- TOC -->
+
+## LogFile Group file
+
+> This file is located within the repo at */etc/logwatch/conf/logfiles/cfddns.conf*

 ### Log file location

-Update this as needed to point to the location and name of the log file
-generated by the updater script.  Remember, by default, the log file is created
-in the same directory as the script itself.
+Update this as needed to point to the location and name of the log file generated by the updater script. Remember, by
+default, the log file is created in the same directory as the script itself.

 ```Ini
 LogFile = /path/to/your/cfddns.log
 ...
 ```

-Best practices suggest you use the *-l*
-flag to change this location to something like */var/log/cfddns.log*, for
-example.  In that case, the entry would look like:
+Best practices suggest you use the `--log-file` flag to change this location to something like */var/log/cfddns.log*,
+for
+example. In that case, the entry would look like:

 ```Ini
 LogFile = /var/log/cfddns.log
@@ -48,12 +69,10 @@ LogFile = /var/log/cfddns.log

 ### Archive location and name format

-If you want Logwatch to process old (archived) log files generated by something
-like *Logrotate*, then you have to specify the location and file name format of
-those files.  I've included the generalized compressed format of such rotated
-files as the default in the script.  Suppose you store your log files in the
-recommended location (*/var/log/*) and are using *Logrotate* with compression
-enabled, the archive line would look like:
+If you want Logwatch to process old (archived) log files generated by something like *Logrotate*, then you have to
+specify the location and file name format of those files. I've included the generalized compressed format of such
+rotated files as the default in the script. Suppose you store your log files in the recommended location (*/var/log/*)
+and are using *Logrotate* with compression enabled, the archive line would look like:

 ```Ini
 ...
@@ -61,64 +80,61 @@ Archive = /var/log/cfddns.log.?.gz
 ...
 ```

-This would tell Logwatch, when the archive option is set to true, that your
-*cfddns.log* files are archived as: *cfddns.log.1.gz*, *cfddns.log.2.gz*, etc.
-and are all located in */var/log/*.
+This would tell Logwatch, when the archive option is set to true, that your *cfddns.log* files are archived as:
+*cfddns.log.1.gz*, *cfddns.log.2.gz*, etc. and are all located in */var/log/*.

-**Note: This line is totally optional and only used if you set the archive
-option in Logwatch to true.  You can comment/delete this line if you wish.**
+> Note: This line is totally optional and only used if you set the archive option in Logwatch to true. You can
+> comment/delete this line if you wish.

 ### External script for timestamp processing

-Since the log file uses a non-standard (according to Logwatch) method of
-datestamping, a custom filter had to be created.  See the
-[relevant](#timestamp-processing-script-etclogwatchscriptssharedsqfullstampanywhere)
-section of this document for more information.
+Since the log file uses a non-standard (according to Logwatch) method of date-stamping, a custom filter had to be
+created. See the [relevant](#timestamp-processing-script) section of this
+document for more information.

-The script file is called with an *\** before the filename.
+The script file is called with an asterisk (*) before the filename.

 ```Ini
 ...
-*sqFullStampAnywhere
+*iso8601timestamp
 ...
 ```

-If you change the name of this file, you will have to change this line.
-Remember that whatever you type here as a name is converted to all-lowercase
-so your filename should be all lowercase also.
+If you change the name of this file, you will have to change this line. Remember that whatever you type here as a name
+is converted to all-lowercase so your filename should be all lowercase also.

-## Service definition file (/etc/logwatch/conf/services/cfddns.conf)
+## Service definition file
+
+> This file is located within the repo at */etc/logwatch/conf/services/cfddns.conf*

 ### LogFile Group file definition

-The service file needs to know what group of log files it is responsible for
-processing.  This MUST match the name of your *LogFile Group file*:
+The service file needs to know what group of log files it is responsible for processing. This MUST match the name of
+your *LogFile Group file*:

 ```Ini
 LogFile = cfddns
 ...
 ```

-If you change your LogFile Group filename, then update it here too without the
-*.conf* extension.
+If you change your LogFile Group filename, then update it here also without the *.conf* extension.

 ### Report title

-The Logwatch output file (html or text) is divided into sections.  You can
-define the title to be anything that has meaning for you.  I have arbitrarily
-chosen *"CloudFlare DDNS update"* but you can change it to anything you want by
+The Logwatch output file (HTML or text) is divided into sections. You can define the title to be anything that has
+meaning for you. I have arbitrarily chosen *"CloudFlare DDNS update"* but you can change it to anything you want by
 modifying the line:

 ```Ini
 ...
 Title = "CloudFlare DDNS update"
 ```
+
 ### Detail level

-If you want to set the *detail* level of this service differently from your
-other services (which will use the *--detail* switch value or the value in your
-*logwatch.conf*), then you can define that level here.  By default, it appears
-like this in the service configuration file:
+If you want to set the *detail* level of this service differently from your other services (which will use the
+*--detail* switch value or the value in your *logwatch.conf*), then you can define that level here. By default, it
+appears like this in the service configuration file:

 ```Ini
 ...
@@ -127,8 +143,8 @@ like this in the service configuration file:
 # Detail = 0
 ```

-Simply change it to the value you want enforced.  For example, here I'm setting
-it to output level 5 regardless of whatever settings everything else is using.
+Simply change it to the value you want enforced. For example, here I'm setting it to output level 5 regardless of
+whatever settings everything else is using.

 ```Ini
 # Override the detail level for this service
@@ -136,86 +152,90 @@ it to output level 5 regardless of whatever settings everything else is using.
 Detail = 5
 ```

-## Service script (/etc/logwatch/scripts/services/cfddns)
+## Service script

-Logwatch calls any script with a name that **matches the service name**.  You'll
-notice that I just named everything *cfddns* to keep things simple.  You can
-change this to whatever you want, however.  If you changed the service name to
-*"cloudflare*.conf", for example, you would have to rename this script file to
-"*cloudflare*" with no extension.  Note: The script is a PERL file (note the
-shebang) but it can be written in any language.
+> This file is located within the repo at */etc/logwatch/scripts/services/cfddns*

-In essence, Logwatch just spits out the log file(s) defined in the LogFile Group
-file as standard input (STDIN) for the script and then takes whatever is output
-(STDOUT) from the script to assemble into it's report.
+Logwatch calls any script with a name that **matches the service name**. You'll notice that I just named everything
+*cfddns* to keep things simple. You can change this to whatever you want. If you changed the service name to
+"*cloudflare*.conf", for example, you would have to rename this script file to "*cloudflare*" with no extension.
+Note: The script is a PERL file (note the shebang), but it can be written in any language.
+
+In essence, Logwatch just spits out the log file(s) defined in the LogFile Group file as standard input (STDIN) for the
+script and then takes whatever is output (STDOUT) from the script to assemble into its report.

 ### Detail levels

 The script supports four (4) detail levels as follows:

 - **Level 0: Summary output only**
-  - This will display an aggregate total of certain logged elements.  It will
-    display the total number of hostnames (A and AAAA) that are already
-    up-to-date, those that needed updating, those successfully updated and the
-    total number of errors (of any type) encountered by the script.  All totals
-    are relative to the reporting period Logwatch is using (--range parameter).
+    - This will display a simple aggregate of status message categories over the reporting period:
+        - Entries successfully updated
+        - Entries already up to date
+        - Hosts failed to update
+        - Undefined hosts (i.e. requested to update but record doesn’t exist)
+        - Total warning messages
+        - Total errors

-    **This is the recommended reporting level.**  It does not take up much space
-    and is quick to read.  If you see successful updates match the number of
-    needed updates and no errors logged, then things are working properly.  If
-    you notice errors, you should consult the full logs.
+    - **This is the recommended reporting level.**  It does not take up much space and is quick to read. If you see
+      successful updates and/or up-to-date numbers match what you expect and no errors logged, then you can assume
+      things are working properly. If the numbers aren’t right or you see errors/warnings, then you can investigate the
+      situation by consulting the actual logs or increasing the detail level in logwatch.
+
+    - For example, let’s suppose you are running an update every 15 minutes. Doing the math...
+      $$
+      (update_{success}) + (update_{up-to-date}) = (24h \times 60min)/15min = 96
+      $$
+      Therefore, you expect to see ‘Entries successfully updated’ and ‘Entries already up to date’ total *96*. If that’s
+      the case and no errors or warnings are logged, things are ok. Pretty easy, right? That’s why this is the
+      recommended filter setting.
 - **Levels 1-4: Critical messages**
-  - This uses the data which is summarized by Level 0 but outputs the actual
-    messages in the log file.  For example, you will see the actual text of the
-    errors logged instead of just a total number of errors.  This level of
-    reporting is useful when *initially* monitoring the script's operation since
-    you can see the actual text of any generated errors.
- **Level 5: Verbose (debugging) output**
-  - Like the previous level, this outputs the actual messages found in the log
-    file.  However, it also includes *[INFO] tags* which contain logged messages
-    such as the detected IP address and the specific names of any hostnames not
-    found in your Cloudflare account, etc.  This level of reporting is useful in
-    diagnosing why errors are occurring or if you just want more insight into
-    how the script works.

-    **This level of output will make your Logwatch reports longer and consume
-    more of your time to review. You should not use this level day-to-day.**
+    - This uses the data which is summarized by Level 0 but outputs the *actual messages* in the log file. For example,
+      you will see the actual text of the errors logged instead of just a total number of errors. This level of
+      reporting is useful when *initially* monitoring the script's operation since you can see the text of any generated
+      errors.
+    - Levels 1, 2, 3 & 4 are identical, so pick your favourite number.
+- **Level 5: Verbose output**
+    - Like the previous level, this outputs the actual messages found in the log file. However, it also includes
+      *CF-ERR* tags and tally count messages. This can help you pinpoint why the Cloudflare API is rejecting your
+      requests by letting you see things like authentication errors or malformed addresses, etc.
+    - Honestly, this is not much more information than L1-L4 and is often a better choice while debugging any issues
+      since you get the Cloudflare API messages.
+    - This level of output is much more verbose than the summary report. It also takes *much* more time and patience to
+      review, so it is only recommended when you’re dealing with issues.
+    - This is *not* recommended for day-to-day or routine reports.
 - **Levels 6+: Complete log file dump**
-  - Any number greater than 5 passed as a detail level will trigger the script
-    to dump the entire log file out to Logwatch line-by-line.  This is useful
-    only if you are debugging an issue and cannot get access to the actual raw
-    log file itself.  The actual log file is colour-coded which makes it much
-    easier to read for debugging purposes.
+    - Any number greater than 5 passed as a detail level will trigger the script to dump the entire log file out to
+      Logwatch line-by-line. This is really only useful during debugging or dealing with serious issues where you do not
+      have access to the actual log file.
+    - **Use this detail level only when you need to see the entire log file and cannot otherwise access the log file.**

-    **Use this detail level only when you need to see the entire log file and
-    cannot otherwise access the log file.**
+## Timestamp processing script

-## Timestamp processing script (/etc/logwatch/scripts/shared/sqfullstampanywhere)
+> This file is located within the repo at */etc/logwatch/scripts/shared/iso8601timestamp*

-This is basically a modified version of the '*applyeurodate*' script that comes
-with Logwatch.  It had to be modified to search within [square brackets] and to
-accept characters coming before the stamp (i.e. ANSI colour codes).  If you
-change the '**stamp**' variable in the updater script to update the timestamp to
-your liking (which to totally fine!) then you'll probably have to update this
-file.  There are two lines you need to modify to suit your new '**stamp**'
-variable.
+This is a modified version of the '*applyeurodate*' script that comes with Logwatch. If you change
+the '**stamp**' variable in the `cfddns` script to modify the timestamp to your liking (which is totally fine!) then
+you'll probably have to update this file. There are two lines you need to modify to suit your new '**stamp**' variable.
+
+> This entire section is only applicable if you are an inquisitive person or if you change the hard-coded ‘stamp’
+> function in the script. If you did not make any changes and you like a little mystery in your life, you can safely
+> skip this entire section.

 ### The time format specification

-'*$SearchDate*' is the variable used in the PERL script to do exactly what it
-says, search for the date stamp.  I have it set up to look for the format
-'*year-month-date hour:minute:second*'.  Note, we don't care about brackets or
-anything here, we're just defining the format of the date/time stamp.
+'*$SearchDate*' is the variable used in the PERL script to do exactly what it says, search for the date stamp. I have it
+set up to look for the format '*year-month-dateThour:minute:secondZ*', which is the ISO-8601 format.

 ```Perl
 ...
-$SearchDate = TimeFilter('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S');
+$SearchDate = TimeFilter('%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ');
 ...
 ```

-If you changed the '**stamp**' variable so it was formatted as '*month/day/year
-hour:minute*' (ex: '*[09/27/2018 18:38]*') then you'd update the **$SearchDate**
-variable as follows (note: no mention of the square brackets!):
+If you changed the '**stamp**' variable so it was formatted as '*month/day/year hour:minute*'
+(ex: '*09/27/2018 18:38*') then you'd update the **$SearchDate** variable as follows:

 ```Perl
 ...
@@ -225,37 +245,8 @@ $SearchDate = TimeFilter('%m/%d/%Y %H:%M');

 ### The search REGEX

-The PERL script uses a '*regular expression*' (REGEX) to search within the log file for
-'*$SearchDate*'.  For the default datestamp, this specification looks like:
-
-```Perl
-...
-if ($ThisLine =~ m/\[$SearchDate\] /o) {
-...
-```
-
-The REGEX appears between '*m/*' and '*/o*'.  In this case, it searches for
-'*$SearchDate*' inside [square brackets] appearing anywhere on the line.  This
-is because ANSI colour-codes often appear before the datestamp in the default
-log file.  If you have modified this so that your datestamp appears at the
-beginning of the line and in the example format in the section above (using
-slashes instead of dashes) then you'd rewrite this REGEX as follows:
-
-```Perl
-...
-if ($ThisLine =~ m/^\[$SearchDate\] /o) {
-...
-```
-
-or using regular brackets anywhere on the line:
-
-```Perl
-...
-if ($ThisLine =~ m/\($SearchDate\) /o) {
-...
-```
-
-or without any brackets but appearing at the beginning of the line:
+The PERL script uses a '*regular expression*' (REGEX) to search within the log file for '*$SearchDate*'. For the default
+date stamp, this specification looks like:

 ```Perl
 ...
@@ -263,18 +254,34 @@ if ($ThisLine =~ m/^$SearchDate /o) {
 ...
 ```

+The REGEX appears between '*m/*' and '*/o*'. In this case, it searches for '*$SearchDate*' appearing at the
+beginning (^) of the line. If you want to search anywhere in the line instead of the beginning, remove the caret (^):
+
+```Perl
+...
+if ($ThisLine =~ m/$SearchDate /o) {
+...
+```
+
+or maybe you changed the date stamp to appear in square brackets at the start of the line:
+
+```Perl
+...
+if ($ThisLine =~ m/^\[$SearchDate\] /o) {
+...
+```
+
 ## Testing

-Run *logwatch --help* and note the options.  You can test just this service
-locally on your screen with the following command (assuming you kept default
-names for everything):
+Run *logwatch --help* and note the options. You can test just this service locally on your screen with the following
+command (assuming you kept default names for everything):

 ```Bash
-# Summary output, entire duration of log file
+# Summary output, entire duration of the log file
 logwatch --service cfddns --output stdout --format text --range all --detail 0

 # Minimal detail, yesterday only
-logwatch --service cfddns --output stdout --format text --range yesterday --detail 3
+logwatch --service cfddns --output stdout --format text --range yesterday --detail 1

 # Verbose output, today only
 logwatch --service cfddns --output stdout --format text --range today --detail 5
@@ -282,7 +289,6 @@ logwatch --service cfddns --output stdout --format text --range today --detail 5

 ## Final thoughts

-That's it!  I'm a horrible PERL programmer so if anyone can optimize/improve the
-script file used for Logwatch then please do it!  Otherwise, I hope this made
-sense and helped you integrate the updater script with Logwatch for easy
+That's it!  I'm a horrible PERL programmer, so if anyone can optimize/improve the script file used for Logwatch, then
+please do it!  Otherwise, I hope this made sense and helped you integrate the updater script with Logwatch for easy
 monitoring :-)
@@ -10,4 +10,4 @@ Archive = /path/to/your/logfile.ext.?.gz
 # You don't need to change this unless you have altered the 'stamp' variable in
 # the script in which case you will want to update the regex in the custom pl
 # script below
-*sqFullStampAnywhere
+*iso8601timestamp
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 # $Id$
 #############################################################################
 # Log: CloudFlare updater script (cfddns)
-# Revision 2.1  2021/05/08
+# Revision 3.0  2026/07/25
 # Written by Asif Bacchus
 #############################################################################

@@ -31,22 +31,22 @@ my $key;
 if ($detailLevel == 0) {
    ### process logfile and summarize message types
    while (defined(my $ThisLine = <STDIN>)) {
-        if ($ThisLine =~ /ERR: Unable to update IP address/) {
+        if ($ThisLine =~ /[FAIL] Unable to update the IP address for/) {
            $summaryFailedUpdate++;
        }
-        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /ERROR: /) {
+        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /[FAIL] /) {
            $summaryErr++;
        }
-        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /WARN: Cannot find existing record/) {
+        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /[WARN] Cannot find an existing record matching/) {
            $summaryInvalidHost++;
        }
-        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /WARNING: /){
+        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /[WARN] /){
            $summaryWarning++;
        }
-        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /SUCCESS: /) {
+        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /[SUCCESS] /) {
            $summaryUpdated++;
        }
-        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /already up-to-date/) {
+        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /already up to date/) {
            $summaryUpToDate++;
        }
    }
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ if ($detailLevel == 0) {
        $reportHash{"Entries successfully updated"} = $summaryUpdated;
    }
    if ($summaryUpToDate > 0) {
-        $reportHash{"Entries already up-to-date"} = $summaryUpToDate;
+        $reportHash{"Entries already up to date"} = $summaryUpToDate;
    }
    if ($summaryFailedUpdate > 0) {
        $reportHash{"Hosts failed to update"} = $summaryFailedUpdate;
@@ -80,16 +80,16 @@ if ($detailLevel == 0) {
 ### a summary count
 elsif ($detailLevel >= 1 && $detailLevel <= 4) {
    while (defined(my $ThisLine = <STDIN>)) {
-        if ($ThisLine =~ /ERR: /) {
+        if ($ThisLine =~ /[ERR] /) {
            print $ThisLine;
        }
-        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /WARN: /) {
+        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /[WARN] /) {
            print $ThisLine;
        }
-        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /SUCCESS: /) {
+        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /[SUCCESS] /) {
            print $ThisLine;
        }
-        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /already up-to-date/) {
+        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /already up to date/) {
            print $ThisLine;
        }
    }
@@ -98,25 +98,19 @@ elsif ($detailLevel >= 1 && $detailLevel <= 4) {
 ### debugging messages
 elsif ($detailLevel == 5) {
    while (defined(my $ThisLine = <STDIN>)) {
-        if ($ThisLine =~ /ERR: /) {
-            print $ThisLine;
-        }
-        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /ERROR: /) {
+        if ($ThisLine =~ /[ERR] /) {
            print $ThisLine;
        }
        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /CF-ERR: /) {
            print $ThisLine;
        }
-        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /WARN: /) {
+        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /[WARN] /) {
            print $ThisLine;
        }
-        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /WARNING: /) {
+        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /[SUCCESS] /) {
            print $ThisLine;
        }
-        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /SUCCESS: /) {
-            print $ThisLine;
-        }
-        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /already up-to-date/) {
+        elsif ($ThisLine =~ /already up to date/) {
            print $ThisLine;
        }
    }
@@ -5,9 +5,8 @@
 ##########################################################################

 ###############################################################################
-## Filter dates in full-date-time international format, surrounded by square
-## brackets located anywhere on a given line
-## Format: '[%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S]'
+## Filter dates in ISO-8601 format located at the start of a given line
+## Format: '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ'
 ###############################################################################

 use Logwatch ':dates';
@@ -15,7 +14,7 @@ use Logwatch ':dates';
 my $Debug = $ENV{'LOGWATCH_DEBUG'} || 0;

 ### Specify the format of the date/time stamp itself
-$SearchDate = TimeFilter('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S');
+$SearchDate = TimeFilter('%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ');

 if ( $Debug > 5 ) {
   print STDERR "DEBUG: Inside FullDateTime...\n";
@@ -24,7 +23,7 @@ if ( $Debug > 5 ) {

 while (defined($ThisLine = <STDIN>)) {
   ### specify the regex that defines how to find 'SearchDate'
-   if ($ThisLine =~ m/\[$SearchDate\] /o) {
+   if ($ThisLine =~ m/^$SearchDate /o) {
      print $ThisLine;
   }
 }
Author	SHA1	Message	Date
asif	0fe3535328	chore(ide): Delete notebook	2026-07-25 04:16:23 -06:00
asif	30bd4d230d	docs(logwatch): Update readme Update readme with changes for v3	2026-07-25 04:11:32 -06:00
asif	2d0188949b	chore(ide): Update dictionary	2026-07-25 04:11:05 -06:00
asif	c53b89667f	feat(logwatch): Update logwatch files for v3 Add new timestamp template and delete the old one. Update report script file to use new 'status' tags to generate logwatch reports.	2026-07-25 03:46:41 -06:00
asif	9654bf7472	feat(log): Add 'SUCCESS' status Tag successfully updated entries with a 'SUCCESS' tag instead of 'OK' for better log filtering and to allow for logwatch reporting.	2026-07-25 03:45:44 -06:00
asif	d20be3e602	docs(readme): Update readme with v3 changes	2026-07-25 03:23:49 -06:00
asif	563ded005f	docs(script): Fix script examples Script examples referenced old log-file switches.	2026-07-25 01:52:27 -06:00
asif	977827b92d	feat(logger): Remove unneeded file This file was a test-file while testing different methods of writing to the journal. No longer needed.	2026-07-25 01:50:22 -06:00
asif	9ed3d1adc1	docs(script): Update embedded script examples Proofreading. Add examples of using new log backends and formats.	2026-07-25 01:28:47 -06:00
asif	8540fe16b2	fix(log): Disallow multi-logging Make logging options mutually-exclusive to avoid confusion.	2026-07-25 01:10:48 -06:00
asif	1fb44db8df	chore(ide): Update notebook settings	2026-07-25 01:10:16 -06:00
asif	1144156613	feat(func): Write to journald Function to write log entries to journald. Update writeLog steering function to use this new backend.	2026-07-25 00:45:18 -06:00
asif	45e5e17513	feat(func): Translate standardized log levels to journald	2026-07-25 00:42:06 -06:00
asif	a92b341bc3	feat(log): merge feat/structured-logging Merge structured logging feature branch into main. Closes 2	2026-07-25 00:20:04 -06:00
asif	08a5c823d5	refactor(log): Use CLEF for JSON logs Use Compact Log Event Format (CLEF) for JSON logs along with custom properties.	2026-07-24 04:41:23 -06:00
asif	eafba0d67d	perf(log): Use compact JSON for logging	2026-07-24 04:36:26 -06:00
asif	e25bd9fb4d	feat(func): Add JSON logging func Update central logging steering function to reference this new JSON logging backend function.	2026-07-24 04:02:21 -06:00
asif	bff59f5c1f	chore(ide): Save custom dictionary	2026-07-24 04:01:35 -06:00
asif	539b80e4ec	feat(script): Use HTTPS ip discovery links	2026-07-24 03:52:30 -06:00
asif	58520b3567	refactor(log): Remove redundant debug log handling Debug-level logging is handled by the central logging steering function. Remove redundant code in backend plaint-text logging function.	2026-07-24 03:28:49 -06:00
asif	51bd6160f3	feat(func): Use centralized log func Create single logging function that can be called and then forwards the request to the appropriate logging backend function for completion.	2026-07-24 03:25:29 -06:00
asif	8d3489ba00	fix(vars): Add missing LOG_PROGRAM_NAME var	2026-07-24 02:48:26 -06:00
asif	3b97d112ad	feat(log): Add CF-ERR to operation attr Update 'listCFErrors' function so that 'CF-ERR' is appended to the 'operation' field of the error log.	2026-07-24 02:44:22 -06:00
asif	1506d77ee9	refactor(func): Remove no-colourize functions	2026-07-24 02:17:06 -06:00
asif	e4e967e227	feat(params): Cleanup journald pre-req fail msg	2026-07-24 02:16:08 -06:00
asif	aebf8042e3	feat(params): Use badparam func to manage logging	2026-07-24 02:15:14 -06:00
asif	02e3e8d391	feat(log): Log parameter errors	2026-07-24 01:59:10 -06:00
asif	95682314de	fix(params): Fix pre-flight console log dedup	2026-07-24 01:46:51 -06:00
asif	5bc3e7d587	feat(log): Enable debug level filtering	2026-07-24 01:18:16 -06:00
asif	fca36ac119	feat(params): Add debug logging toggle	2026-07-24 01:13:40 -06:00
asif	2b0128d0c1	fix(log): Prevent preflight duplicate logging Prevent writing preflight error messages to the console twice when using console logging mode.	2026-07-24 01:08:54 -06:00
asif	c792ec8a0a	feat(params): Add log type, fmt params Add log type and format parameters. Update defaults. Update help script.	2026-07-24 01:03:28 -06:00
asif	1732de343d	refactor(func): Remove unused functions Remvoe the logging functions replaced by the new structured implementation.	2026-07-23 23:22:17 -06:00
asif	51b2b455a2	feat(log): Use plain-text logging for all messages Convert all logging output to plain-text structured messages using new function.	2026-07-23 23:16:12 -06:00
asif	f8f3bf1539	refactor(func): Change default err code to 0	2026-07-23 22:17:15 -06:00
asif	f8908d7830	feat(func): Write modified syslog fmt msg Take input parameters and generate a modified syslog-style log entry.	2026-07-23 21:59:58 -06:00
asif	8a5a72e15a	feat(func): Convert to uniform log levels Take input text with various references to log levels and return a standardized uppercase log level name.	2026-07-23 21:57:30 -06:00
asif	1da49b06db	feat(func): Convert text ucase, lcase	2026-07-23 21:56:19 -06:00
asif	1336c8e63b	feat(func): Retrieve machine host name	2026-07-23 21:55:56 -06:00
asif	450733a8d5	feat(func): Generate ISO-8601 timestamp	2026-07-23 21:55:25 -06:00
asif	92e69d1b85	fix(logger): Fix JournalD log levels Log levels were reversed in the translation function.	2026-07-23 00:20:30 -06:00
asif	00ea88780d	feat(logger): Echo vs return values from Translate func	2026-07-23 00:18:03 -06:00
asif	d9aa8973a3	fix(logger): Perform cmd subst outside heredoc Perform function and command value substitution outside the heredoc forwarded to logger for JournalD entries.	2026-07-23 00:17:42 -06:00
asif	ec75cffbf1	fix(logger): Ensure log levels are lcase before standardization	2026-07-23 00:16:19 -06:00
asif	b8fb744623	fix(logger): Fix error in json logger Assignment to 'pid' argument was incorrect.	2026-07-22 23:50:33 -06:00
asif	d0b2c781bf	feat(logger): Update test cases Update JSON and JOURNALD tests to match text tests and use new functions.	2026-07-22 23:48:16 -06:00
asif	c4d28d1f8c	fix(logger): Fix default subst Default parameter substitution in all functions was incorrect.	2026-07-22 23:44:08 -06:00
asif	f085838781	feat(logger): Add test with operation, error code	2026-07-22 23:42:52 -06:00
asif	4a6c339a07	fix(logger): Fix default subst Default variable substitution in plain-text function was incorrect.	2026-07-22 23:42:33 -06:00
asif	c94f12e976	fix(logger): Fix error in uppercase func 'upper' and 'lower' translate strings were not supplied separately.	2026-07-22 23:38:45 -06:00
asif	5443612381	feat(logger): Add plain-text test output	2026-07-22 23:35:08 -06:00
asif	df144a5211	fix(logger): Remove errant 'fi' statements Remove 'fi' statements left over from previous logic checks.	2026-07-22 23:33:49 -06:00
asif	04811805c3	feat(logger): Remove unused global vars	2026-07-22 23:25:28 -06:00
asif	aa446c00e6	feat(logger): Update journal logging function Use new standardized format fields.	2026-07-22 23:24:52 -06:00
asif	56a5ad59fe	refactor(logger): Rename writeJournalLog function Rename from 'writeJournalLog' to 'writeJournalDLog' for specificity.	2026-07-22 23:19:51 -06:00
asif	ce1ab86d22	fix(logger): Fix JSON logger Level and status were swapped. JSON output was missing new prefix information (timestamp, hostname, etc.)	2026-07-22 23:18:36 -06:00
asif	cae57ccf6b	feat(logger): Use standardized log levels for JSON	2026-07-22 23:15:44 -06:00
asif	0fcd0d9c13	refactor(logger): Use standardized log levels for plain-text	2026-07-22 23:15:11 -06:00
asif	e411a35b93	feat(logger): Add log level translator functions	2026-07-22 23:13:58 -06:00
asif	0e787be456	feat(logger): Add lowercase function	2026-07-22 23:06:34 -06:00
asif	17c33d237f	fix(logger): Ensure plain-text status is uppercase	2026-07-22 22:54:25 -06:00
asif	5b55ac95a3	feat(logger): Update JSON logger Require message, level, and status. Reorganize JSON output to mirror modified syslog-style structure.	2026-07-22 22:53:38 -06:00
asif	f4dc8f44b1	feat(logger): Handle plain-text insufficient information Return without logging if message, level and/or status is not supplied.	2026-07-22 22:49:13 -06:00
asif	3792881529	feature(logger): Add plain-text logger function	2026-07-22 22:42:49 -06:00
asif	c1f54a619c	refactor(logger): Use ISO8601 timestamp	2026-07-22 21:52:53 -06:00
asif	4c997a6b7d	feature [logger] add status logging param	2026-07-22 18:34:14 -06:00
asif	1824d9f139	feat(logger): Framework test file	2026-07-22 17:33:46 -06:00
asif	50b4cf105f	chore(ide): Update IDE settings	2026-07-22 17:33:36 -06:00
asif	1e3b545a23	chore(ide): JetBrains IDE configuration files	2026-07-19 23:37:13 -06:00
asif	380509c966	chore(git): Update git control files	2026-07-19 23:36:58 -06:00
asif	71da487aa8	style(fmt): Reformat shell script	2026-07-19 23:33:56 -06:00
asif	3be6eaee0c	[preflight] Add check for logger dependency 'logger' is required to facilitate logging to the journaling system.	2026-07-19 18:52:34 -06:00
asif	5c6c8ec4ea	[params] Create journal logging switch Create boolean variable to store journal logging preference. Set to 'false' by default. Add parameter to activate this preference. Update help to include this new parameter.	2026-07-19 18:49:34 -06:00
asif	c7297a512c	[version] Update version, modified date	2026-07-19 15:44:40 -06:00
Asif Bacchus	fddb406717	fix error in hyperlink	2021-05-10 03:22:22 -06:00
Asif Bacchus	4ec190af47	update readme	2021-05-10 03:18:49 -06:00
Asif Bacchus	57ce2d1ac3	fixed headings so TOC links work	2021-05-10 03:09:30 -06:00
Asif Bacchus	1ffd374a4f	fix: set TERM for tput if not set - stop warning messages in syslog from systemd invocation	2021-05-10 02:55:16 -06:00
Asif Bacchus	0cd84a3711	update logwatch readme	2021-05-09 23:43:41 -06:00
Asif Bacchus	d8fe395a19	update readme files	2021-05-09 14:39:28 -06:00