ausearch_next_event - Linux

Overview

ausearch_next_event is a command-line utility used to search for audit events stored in the Linux Audit Framework (auditd) event queue. It retrieves and prints information about the next queued event. This command is particularly useful for analyzing audit events in real-time or in a continuous monitoring context.

Syntax

ausearch_next_event [-h] [-f FIELD]

Options/Flags

• -h, –help: Display help information about the command.
• -f, –field FIELD: Specify the audit event field to print. By default, the entire event is printed.

Examples

Retrieve the next queued event

ausearch_next_event

Retrieve the next queued event and print only the timestamp field

ausearch_next_event -f timestamp

Common Issues

No events found

If ausearch_next_event returns no events, it means the auditd event queue is empty. Verify that auditd is running and collecting events.

Integration

ausearch_next_event can be integrated with other Linux commands and tools to automate event analysis and alerting. For example, it can be combined with grep to filter events based on specific criteria:

ausearch_next_event | grep -E "type=LOGIN|type=AUTHENTICATION"

Related Commands

• auditctl: Controls and configures auditd settings.
• ausearch: Searches for audit events in the audit log.