Configuration

By default, after installation the AUDIT Plugin doesn't log activity. You must explicitly enable the type of logging desired. Configuration is done through the use of MySQL system variables. AUDIT Plugin system variables can be set at server startup using options on the command line or in the MySQL option file (my.cnf at the [mysqld] section). Additionally, most AUDIT Plugin system variables can be changed dynamically while the server is running by means of the SET statement.

Available AUDIT Plugin system variables:

• audit_json_log_file: json log file name. If audit_json_file option is enabled will write audit trail to this file. Value may be either an absolute path or relative to the MySQL datadir. Default value: mysql-audit.json.
• audit_json_file: json log file ON|OFF.
• audit_json_file_sync: json log file sync period. If the value of this variable is greater than 0, audit log will sync to disk after every audit_json_file_sync writes. Default value: 0.
• audit_json_file_flush: Calling set global audit_json_file_flush=on will cause a flush of the log file (close and reopen of the log). This can be used to rotate logs similarly to how MySQL manages its log files. See: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/log-file-maintenance.html . For further clarification, see issue #140.
• audit_json_socket_name: json UNIX socket name. If audit_json_socket option is enabled will write audit trail to this UNIX socket.
• audit_json_socket: json UNIX socket ON|OFF.
• audit_uninstall_plugin: AUDIT uninstall plugin ON|OFF (command line/conf file only). If disabled attempts to uninstall the AUDIT plugin via the sql UNINSTALL command will fail. Provides added security from uninstalling the plugin. Also protection from CVE-2010-1621 affecting versions up to 5.1.46.
• audit_validate_checksum: mysqld binary checksum validation ON|OFF. See Troubleshooting section in Installation page.
• audit_checksum: Checksum for mysqld to validate (command line/conf file only). Used when audit_offsets are present. The plugin will not load if the specified checksum doesn't match the calculated one. This is useful when offsets have been set manually and you want to avoid using the manual offsets without validation after an upgrade of mysqld.
• audit_record_cmds: Comma separated list of commands to log to the audit trail. For example: insert,update,delete.
• audit_record_objs: Comma separated list of objects (tables) to log to the audit trail. Table name should be specified as: database.table. Wild cards are supported and it is possible to specify: *.mytable or mydb.*. Specify: {} as part of the list to include the empty set to catch also cases where an activity has no objects (for example connect and quit).
• audit_whitelist_users: Comma separated list of white-listed users whose queries are not recorded. Specify: {} as part of the list to include the empty user.
• audit_whitelist_cmds: Comma separated list of white-listed cmds whose queries are not recorded. Introduced at version 1.0.6.
• audit_force_record_logins: Force logging: Connect, Quit and Failed Login commands, regardless of the settings in audit_record_cmds and audit_record_objs variables. ON|OFF. Default value: OFF. Introduced at version 1.0.8.
• audit_header_msg: Header message logging ON|OFF. Default value: ON. Introduced at version 1.0.6.
• audit_password_masking_cmds: Comma separated list of commands for which the password masking regex will be applied. Default value includes MySQL commands that may include a password clause: CREATE_USER,GRANT,SET_OPTION,SLAVE_START,CREATE_SERVER,ALTER_SERVER,CHANGE_MASTER. Introduced at version 1.0.6.
• audit_password_masking_regex: PCRE complaint regular expression used for password masking. Regex will be applied only to statements with command type as specified at: audit_password_masking_cmds. Introduced at version 1.0.6.
• audit_json_file_retry: json log file retry interval. If the plugin fails to open/write to the json log file, will retry to open every specified interval in seconds. Set for 0 to disable retrying. Defaults to 60 seconds. Introduced at version 1.0.6.
• audit_json_socket_retry: json socket retry interval. If the plugin fails to connect/write to the json audit socket, will retry to connect every specified interval in seconds. Set for 0 to disable retrying. Defaults to 10 seconds. Introduced at version 1.0.6.
• audit_json_file_bufsize: json file buffer size in bytes used for logging. Value of 0 means default size, value of 1 means no buffering. Max value: 262144 (256KB). A larger value may improve performance when logging large statements (log entries larger than 4KB). Defaults to 0. If changed during run-time need, to perform a flush for the new value to take affect. Introduced in version 1.0.8.

Notes:

• When configuring boolean variables (enable/disable) in MySQL 5.1 via a configuration file (my.cnf) use 0/1 as values. For example: audit_json_file=1. There seems to be an issue with MySQL 5.1 where boolean configurations with ON/OFF values in my.cnf don't work.
• The Audit Plugin will log all activity performed by the SQL thread of a slave server. To turn it off, whitelist the empty user by setting: audit_whitelist_users='{}'.
• The above list may be incomplete. To view all available AUDIT system variables run: mysqld --help --verbose