python · serhiy-storchaka · Jul 23, 2026
@@ -626,13 +626,17 @@

 .. class:: SysLogHandler(address=('localhost', SYSLOG_UDP_PORT), facility=LOG_USER, socktype=socket.SOCK_DGRAM, timeout=None)

   Returns a new instance of the :class:`SysLogHandler` class intended to
   communicate with a remote Unix machine whose address is given by *address* in
   the form of a ``(host, port)`` tuple.  If *address* is not specified,
    ``('localhost', 514)`` is used.  The address is used to open a socket.  An
    alternative to providing a ``(host, port)`` tuple is providing an address as a
    string, for example '/dev/log'. In this case, a Unix domain socket is used to
-   send the message to the syslog. If *facility* is not specified,
+   send the message to the syslog.
+   If *address* is ``None``, the :mod:`syslog` module is used to log to the
+   local system logger; this works even where there is no syslog socket, such
+   as on recent versions of macOS.
+   If *facility* is not specified,
    :const:`LOG_USER` is used. The type of socket opened depends on the
    *socktype* argument, which defaults to :const:`socket.SOCK_DGRAM` and thus
    opens a UDP socket. To open a TCP socket (for use with the newer syslog
@@ -654,7 +658,8 @@
 
    .. note:: On macOS 12.x (Monterey), Apple has changed the behaviour of their
       syslog daemon - it no longer listens on a domain socket. Therefore, you cannot
-      expect :class:`SysLogHandler` to work on this system.
+      expect :class:`SysLogHandler` to work on this system with the default
+      *address*.  Pass ``address=None`` to use the :mod:`syslog` module instead.
 
       See :gh:`91070` for more information.
 
@@ -664,6 +669,9 @@
    .. versionchanged:: 3.14
       *timeout* was added.
 
+   .. versionchanged:: next
+      *address* can now be ``None`` to use the :mod:`syslog` module.
+
    .. method:: close()
 
       Closes the socket to the remote host.

@@ -349,6 +349,11 @@ logging
   before the rotation interval expires.
   (Contributed by Iván Márton and Serhiy Storchaka in :gh:`84649`.)
 
+* :class:`~logging.handlers.SysLogHandler` now accepts ``address=None`` to log
+  to the local system logger via the :mod:`syslog` module, which works even
+  where there is no syslog socket, such as on recent versions of macOS.
+  (Contributed by Serhiy Storchaka in :gh:`96339`.)
+
 
 lzma
 ----

@@ -888,6 +888,9 @@ def __init__(self, address=('localhost', SYSLOG_UDP_PORT),
 
         If address is specified as a string, a UNIX socket is used. To log to a
         local syslogd, "SysLogHandler(address="/dev/log")" can be used.
+        If address is None, the syslog module is used to log to the local
+        system logger; this works even where there is no syslog socket, such
+        as on recent versions of macOS.
         If facility is not specified, LOG_USER is used. If socktype is
         specified as socket.SOCK_DGRAM or socket.SOCK_STREAM, that specific
         socket type will be used. For Unix sockets, you can also specify a
@@ -901,7 +904,12 @@ def __init__(self, address=('localhost', SYSLOG_UDP_PORT),
         self.socktype = socktype
         self.timeout = timeout
         self.socket = None
-        self.createSocket()
+        if address is None:
+            # Use the syslog module to log to the local system logger.
+            import syslog
+            self.syslog = syslog
+        else:
+            self.createSocket()
 
     def _connect_unixsocket(self, address):
         use_socktype = self.socktype
@@ -1023,13 +1031,18 @@ def emit(self, record):
             msg = self.format(record)
             if self.ident:
                 msg = self.ident + msg
-            if self.append_nul:
-                msg += '\000'
 
             # We need to convert record level to lowercase, maybe this will
             # change in the future.
-            prio = '<%d>' % self.encodePriority(self.facility,
-                                                self.mapPriority(record.levelname))
+            prio = self.encodePriority(self.facility,
+                                       self.mapPriority(record.levelname))
+            if self.address is None:
+                self.syslog.syslog(prio, msg)
+                return
+
+            if self.append_nul:
+                msg += '\000'
+            prio = '<%d>' % prio
             prio = prio.encode('utf-8')
             # Message is a string. Convert to bytes as required by RFC 5424
             msg = msg.encode('utf-8')

@@ -72,6 +72,11 @@
 except ImportError:
     win32evtlog = win32evtlogutil = pywintypes = None
 
+try:
+    import syslog
+except ImportError:
+    syslog = None
+
 try:
     import zlib
 except ImportError:
@@ -2155,6 +2160,23 @@ def tearDown(self):
         self.server_class.address_family = socket.AF_INET
         super(IPv6SysLogHandlerTest, self).tearDown()
 
+@unittest.skipUnless(syslog, 'syslog module required')
+class LocalSysLogHandlerTest(BaseTest):
+
+    """Test for SysLogHandler using the syslog module (address=None)."""
+
+    def test_emit(self):
+        h = logging.handlers.SysLogHandler(address=None)
+        self.addCleanup(h.close)
+        h.setFormatter(logging.Formatter('%(message)s'))
+        record = self.next_message()
+        logrec = logging.makeLogRecord({'msg': record, 'levelname': 'WARNING',
+                                        'levelno': logging.WARNING})
+        with patch.object(syslog, 'syslog') as mock_syslog:
+            h.emit(logrec)
+        mock_syslog.assert_called_once_with(
+            syslog.LOG_USER | syslog.LOG_WARNING, record)
+
 @support.requires_working_socket()
 @threading_helper.requires_working_threading()
 class HTTPHandlerTest(BaseTest):

diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-07-23-15-50-43.gh-issue-96339.rs3Pr1.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-07-23-15-50-43.gh-issue-96339.rs3Pr1.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+:class:`logging.handlers.SysLogHandler` now accepts ``address=None`` to log to
+the local system logger via the :mod:`syslog` module.  This works even where
+there is no syslog socket, such as on recent versions of macOS.