Troubleshooting¶

Common issues and how to resolve them.

Service Won't Start¶

Symptoms: The LuceDev Syslog service shows "Stopped" in Services, or fails to start after installation.

Possible causes:

Port already in use¶

Another application may be using port 514 or 5000.

# Check what's using port 5000
netstat -ano | findstr :5000

# Check what's using port 514
netstat -ano | findstr :514

If another process is using the port, either stop that process or change the LuceDev Syslog port in settings.json.

Permission issues¶

The service runs as Local System by default. If you've moved the install directory or changed file permissions, the service may not have access to its data files.

Corrupted settings¶

If settings.json has invalid values, the service may crash on startup. Check the application logs:

C:\Program Files\LuceDev Syslog\logs\

To reset settings, delete settings.json and restart the service — a new default configuration will be created.

Dashboard Won't Load¶

Symptoms: Browser shows "connection refused" or times out when accessing http://localhost:5000.

1. Verify the service is running: sc query LuceDevSyslog
2. Check the configured port in settings.json — it may not be 5000
3. Try the Start Menu shortcut, which reads the correct port automatically
4. Check Windows Firewall isn't blocking the connection
5. If accessing from another machine, use the server's IP address, not localhost

Not Receiving Syslog Messages¶

Symptoms: The dashboard loads but shows no logs.

1. Check the listener — The status indicator in the top-right of the dashboard shows the listening address and port
2. Verify the source — Ensure your devices are configured to send to the correct IP and port
3. Test locally:

   $udp = New-Object System.Net.Sockets.UdpClient
   $bytes = [Text.Encoding]::ASCII.GetBytes("<14>Test message")
   $udp.Send($bytes, $bytes.Length, "127.0.0.1", 514)
   $udp.Close()
   

4. Check firewall — Both Windows Firewall and any network firewalls between source and server
5. Check binding — If the host is set to 127.0.0.1, only local traffic is received. Set it to 0.0.0.0 to receive from all interfaces.

Slow Dashboard Performance¶

Symptoms: Pages take a long time to load, especially with many logs.

1. Upgrade to v1.1.0 — Major performance improvements for large databases
2. Use an SSD — Spinning disks are the #1 cause of slow queries on large databases
3. Run maintenance — VACUUM and ANALYZE can improve query performance
4. Reduce retention — Fewer days means a smaller, faster database

Service Restart Doesn't Work¶

Symptoms: Clicking "Restart Service" in Settings doesn't restart, or the page hangs.

The restart mechanism uses Windows Task Scheduler. Ensure:

1. The Task Scheduler service is running: sc query Schedule
2. The application is running as a Windows service (not python main.py directly)
3. The service account has permission to create scheduled tasks

SmartScreen Warning During Installation¶

Symptoms: Windows shows "Windows protected your PC" when running the installer.

This is because the installer is new and hasn't built download reputation yet. Click More info → Run anyway to proceed. The application is safe.

Logs¶

Application logs are stored in:

C:\Program Files\LuceDev Syslog\logs\

Check these logs for detailed error messages when troubleshooting any issue. They include startup messages, syslog receiver status, web server errors, and more.