Graylog: A Flexible and User-Friendly Log Management Solution

We’ve already covered ELK Stack and OpenSearch — powerful logging tools with scalable architectures. Now let’s take a look at Graylog — a dedicated log management platform offering convenience, powerful processing, and flexible alerting.

What Is Graylog and How Does It Work?

Graylog is a centralized log management system designed for ease of use and rich capabilities. Unlike the ELK Stack, Graylog was built from the ground up as a unified platform.

Core Components of Graylog:

1. Graylog Server — the central component responsible for log processing, UI, users, streams, pipelines, and alerts.
2. MongoDB — stores configuration data, user settings, etc., but not the logs themselves.
3. Elasticsearch (or OpenSearch) — used to store and search log events.
4. Graylog Sidecar — an optional companion for managing host-side agents (Filebeat, nxlog, etc.) via the Graylog UI.

How Does Log Flow Work in Graylog?

1. Log Collection: via Beats, syslog, HTTP API, or GELF format.
2. Delivery to Graylog Server: agents or apps send data to Graylog.
3. Processing: handled via the Pipeline Processor — parsing, filtering, and enrichment.
4. Storage: log events are indexed and stored in Elasticsearch.
5. Analysis: users search, filter, build dashboards, and configure alerts via the web interface.

Advantages of Graylog

• ✅ Simple and intuitive interface — easy to learn, quick results.
• ✅ Pipeline Processor — powerful engine for parsing and enriching logs.
• ✅ Flexible alerting system — based on log content, regex, and conditions.
• ✅ Streams — log routing by type, source, or application.
• ✅ Agent control via Sidecar — centralized management of Filebeat/nxlog.
• ✅ Archiving — offload old logs to S3 or other storage systems.
• ✅ Content Packs — ready-made dashboards and settings for popular systems.

Drawbacks of Graylog

• ⚠️ Three dependencies: MongoDB, Elasticsearch, and Graylog Server — all need maintenance.
• ⚠️ Limited visualizations: charting and dashboards are not as advanced as Kibana or OpenSearch Dashboards.
• ⚠️ Some features in the Enterprise edition: scaling, audit logging, and cluster monitoring require a license.
• ⚠️ Scaling nuances: each component must be scaled properly and independently.

Who Should Use Graylog?

• Teams looking for a ready-to-use log solution, not a custom stack.
• DevOps and sysadmins who value processing, alerts, and ease of use.
• Organizations needing log stream separation and flexible access control.

Unique Features of Graylog

• GELF (Graylog Extended Log Format) — structured log format with metadata.
• Pipeline Processor — configurable pre-storage log processing.
• Streams — rule-based log routing.
• Content Packs — prebuilt configurations for popular applications.

Conclusion

Graylog is a powerful yet easy-to-use centralized logging solution. It meets the needs of most teams without requiring deep knowledge of Elasticsearch, Logstash, or complex visualization setups. Thanks to its intuitive UI and extensible architecture, Graylog is especially well-suited for small to medium-sized teams looking to quickly set up effective log management.

In the final article of this logging series, we’ll explore Loki + Grafana — a lightweight, scalable alternative inspired by Prometheus and built for modern cloud-native environments.