14 files changed, 296 insertions, 69 deletions
diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 5f8d7cc..8250a92 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,4 +1,23 @@
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Version 7.4.1  [v7.4-stable] 2013-06-17
+- imjournal: add ratelimiting capability
+  The original imjournal code did not support ratelimiting at all. We
+  now have our own ratelimiter. This can mitigate against journal
+  database corruption, when the journal re-sends old data. This is a
+  current bug in systemd journal, but we won't outrule this to happen
+  in the future again. So it is better to have a safeguard in place.
+  By default, we permit 20,000 messages witin 10 minutes. This may
+  be a bit restrictive, but given the risk potential it seems reasonable.
+  Users requiring larger traffic flows can always adjust the value.
+- bugfix: potential loop in rate limiting
+  if the message that tells about rate-limiting gets rate-limited itself,
+  it will potentially create and endless loop
+- bugfix: potential segfault in imjournal if journal DB is corrupted
+- bugfix: prevent a segfault in imjournal if state file is not defined
+- bugfix imzmq3: potential segfault on startup
+  if no problem happend at startup, everything went fine
+  Thanks to Hongfei Cheng and Brian Knox for the patch
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Version 7.4.0  [v7.4-stable] 2013-06-06
 This starts a new stable branch based on 7.3.15 plus the following changes:
 - add --enable-cached-man-pages ./configure option
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 53907ea..4f78940 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #! /bin/sh
 # Guess values for system-dependent variables and create Makefiles.
-# Generated by GNU Autoconf 2.69 for rsyslog 7.4.0.
+# Generated by GNU Autoconf 2.69 for rsyslog 7.4.1.
 #
 # Report bugs to <rsyslog@lists.adiscon.com>.
 #
@@ -590,8 +590,8 @@ MAKEFLAGS=
 # Identity of this package.
 PACKAGE_NAME='rsyslog'
 PACKAGE_TARNAME='rsyslog'
-PACKAGE_VERSION='7.4.0'
-PACKAGE_STRING='rsyslog 7.4.0'
+PACKAGE_VERSION='7.4.1'
+PACKAGE_STRING='rsyslog 7.4.1'
 PACKAGE_BUGREPORT='rsyslog@lists.adiscon.com'
 PACKAGE_URL=''
 
@@ -1612,7 +1612,7 @@ if test "$ac_init_help" = "long"; then
   # Omit some internal or obsolete options to make the list less imposing.
   # This message is too long to be a string in the A/UX 3.1 sh.
   cat <<_ACEOF
-\`configure' configures rsyslog 7.4.0 to adapt to many kinds of systems.
+\`configure' configures rsyslog 7.4.1 to adapt to many kinds of systems.
 
 Usage: $0 [OPTION]... [VAR=VALUE]...
 
@@ -1682,7 +1682,7 @@ fi
 
 if test -n "$ac_init_help"; then
   case $ac_init_help in
-     short | recursive ) echo "Configuration of rsyslog 7.4.0:";;
+     short | recursive ) echo "Configuration of rsyslog 7.4.1:";;
    esac
   cat <<\_ACEOF
 
@@ -1929,7 +1929,7 @@ fi
 test -n "$ac_init_help" && exit $ac_status
 if $ac_init_version; then
   cat <<\_ACEOF
-rsyslog configure 7.4.0
+rsyslog configure 7.4.1
 generated by GNU Autoconf 2.69
 
 Copyright (C) 2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@@ -2509,7 +2509,7 @@ cat >config.log <<_ACEOF
 This file contains any messages produced by compilers while
 running configure, to aid debugging if configure makes a mistake.
 
-It was created by rsyslog $as_me 7.4.0, which was
+It was created by rsyslog $as_me 7.4.1, which was
 generated by GNU Autoconf 2.69.  Invocation command line was
 
   $ $0 $@
@@ -3333,7 +3333,7 @@ fi
 
 # Define the identity of the package.
  PACKAGE='rsyslog'
- VERSION='7.4.0'
+ VERSION='7.4.1'
 
 
 cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
@@ -20624,7 +20624,7 @@ cat >>$CONFIG_STATUS <<\_ACEOF || ac_write_fail=1
 # report actual input values of CONFIG_FILES etc. instead of their
 # values after options handling.
 ac_log="
-This file was extended by rsyslog $as_me 7.4.0, which was
+This file was extended by rsyslog $as_me 7.4.1, which was
 generated by GNU Autoconf 2.69.  Invocation command line was
 
   CONFIG_FILES    = $CONFIG_FILES
@@ -20690,7 +20690,7 @@ _ACEOF
 cat >>$CONFIG_STATUS <<_ACEOF || ac_write_fail=1
 ac_cs_config="`$as_echo "$ac_configure_args" | sed 's/^ //; s/[\\""\`\$]/\\\\&/g'`"
 ac_cs_version="\\
-rsyslog config.status 7.4.0
+rsyslog config.status 7.4.1
 configured by $0, generated by GNU Autoconf 2.69,
   with options \\"\$ac_cs_config\\"
 
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index ce24f53..bb0de0c 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # Process this file with autoconf to produce a configure script.
 
 AC_PREREQ(2.61)
-AC_INIT([rsyslog],[7.4.0],[rsyslog@lists.adiscon.com])
+AC_INIT([rsyslog],[7.4.1],[rsyslog@lists.adiscon.com])
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE
 
 m4_ifdef([AM_SILENT_RULES], [AM_SILENT_RULES([yes])])
diff --git a/doc/imjournal.html b/doc/imjournal.html
index e3f6450..28b4701 100644
--- a/doc/imjournal.html
+++ b/doc/imjournal.html
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
 <html><head>
-<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en"><title>Text File Input Monitor</title></head>
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en"><title>Systemd Journal Input Module</title></head>
 <body>
 <a href="rsyslog_conf_modules.html">back</a>
 
@@ -11,35 +11,101 @@
 <p><b>Description</b>:</p>
 <p>Provides the ability to import structured log messages from systemd journal
 to syslog.</p>
+<p>Note that this module reads the journal database, what is considered a
+relativly performance-intense operation. As such, the performance of a 
+configuration utilizing this
+module may be notably slower then when using
+<a href="imuxsock.html">imuxsock</a>. The journal provides imuxsock with a
+copy of all "classical" syslog messages, however, it does not provide
+structured data. If the latter is needed, imjournal must be used. Otherwise,
+imjournal may be simply replaced by imuxsock.
+<p>We suggest to check out our short presentation on
+<a href="http://youtu.be/GTS7EuSdFKE">rsyslog journal integration</a> to
+learn more details of anticipated use cases.
+
+<p><b>Warning:</b> Some versions of systemd journal have problems with database
+corruption, which leads to the journal to return the same data endlessly
+in a thight loop. This results in massive message duplication inside rsyslog
+probably resulting in a denial-of-service when the system ressouces get
+exhausted. This can be somewhat mitigated by using proper rate-limiters, but
+even then there are spikes of old data which are endlessly repeated. By default,
+ratelimiting is activated and permits to process 20,000 messages within 10
+seconds, what should be well enough for most use cases. If insufficient, use
+the parameters described below to adjust the permitted volume.
+<b>It is strongly recommended to use this plugin only if there
+is hard need to do so.</b>
 
 <p><b>Configuration Directives</b>:</p>
 <p><b>Module Directives</b></p>
 <ul>
-<li><span style="font-weight: bold;">PersistStateInterval
-messages</span><br>
+<li><b>PersistStateInterval</b> number-of-messages<br>
 This is a global setting. It specifies how often should the journal state be persisted.
+The persists happens after each <i>number-of-messages</i>.
 This option is useful for rsyslog to start reding from the last journal message it read.
 
-<li><span style="font-weight: bold;">StateFile
-/path/to/file</span><br>
+<li><b>StateFile</b> /path/to/file<br>
 This is a global setting. It specifies where the state file for persisting
 journal state is located.
+
+<li><b>ratelimit.interval</b> seconds (default: 600)<br>
+Specifies the interval in seconds onto which rate-limiting is to be applied.
+If more than ratelimit.burst messages are read during that interval, further
+messages up to the end of the interval are discarded. The number of messages
+discarded is emitted at the end of the interval (if there were any discards).
+<br>Setting this to value zero turns off ratelimiting. Note that it is
+<b>not recommended to turn of ratelimiting</b>, except that you know for
+sure journal database entries will never be corrupted. Without ratelimiting,
+a corrupted systemd journal database may cause a kind of denial of service (we
+are stressing this point as multiple users have reported us such problems
+with the journal database - information current as of June 2013).
+
+<li><b>ratelimit.burst</b> messages (default: 20000)<br>
+Specifies the maximum number of messages that can be emitted within the
+ratelimit.interval interval. For futher information, see description there.
+
+<li><b>IgnorePreviousMessages</b> [<b>off</b>/on]<br>
+This option specifies whether imjournal should ignore messages currently in
+journal and read only new messages. This option is only used when there is
+no StateFile to avoid message loss.
 </ul>
+
 <b>Caveats/Known Bugs:</b>
 <p>
+<ul>
+<li>As stated above, a corrupted systemd journal database can cause major
+problems, depending on what the corruption results in. This is beyond the
+control of the rsyslog team.
+</ul>
 </p>
 <p><b>Sample:</b></p>
 <p>
-The following example shows pulling structured imjournal messages and saving them into /var/log/ceelog
+The following example shows pulling structured imjournal messages and saving them into /var/log/ceelog.
 </p>
-<textarea rows="15" cols="60">
+<textarea rows="11" cols="80">
 module(load="imjournal" PersistStateInterval="100" StateFile="/path/to/file") #load imjournal module
 module(load="mmjsonparse") #load mmjsonparse module for structured logs
 
-$template CEETemplate,"%TIMESTAMP% %HOSTNAME% %syslogtag% @cee: %$!all-json%\n" #template for messages
+template(name="CEETemplate" type="string"
+         string="%TIMESTAMP% %HOSTNAME% %syslogtag% @cee: %$!all-json%\n"
+	) #template for messages
 
-*.* :mmjsonparse:
-*.* /var/log/ceelog;CEETemplate
+action(type="mmjsonparse")
+action(type="omfile" file="/var/log/ceelog" template="CEETemplate")
 </textarea>
+
+<p><b>Legacy Configuration Directives</b>:</p>
+<ul>
+<li><b>$imjournalPersistStateInterval</b><br>
+Equivalent to: PersistStateInterval</li>
+<li><b>$imjournalStateFile</b><br>
+Equivalent to: StateFile</li>
+<li><b>$imjournalRatelimitInterval</b><br>
+Equivalent to: ratelimit.interval</li>
+<li><b>$imjournalRatelimitBurst</b><br>
+Equivalent to: ratelimit.burst</li>
+<li><strong>$ImjournalIgnorePreviousMessages</strong><br>
+Equivalent to: ignorePreviousMessages</li>
+</ul>
+
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/doc/imrelp.html b/doc/imrelp.html
index 9f3e487..f7fcc4b 100644
--- a/doc/imrelp.html
+++ b/doc/imrelp.html
@@ -30,14 +30,12 @@ Clients send messages to the RELP server via omrelp.</p>
 
 <p><b>Configuration Directives</b>:</p>
 <ul>
-<li><b>Ruleset</b> &lt;name&gt;</br>
-Binds the specified ruleset to all RELP listeners.
 <li><b>Port</b> &lt;port&gt;<br>
 Starts a RELP server on selected port</li>
 </ul>
 <b>Caveats/Known Bugs:</b>
 <ul>
-<li>see description</li>
+<li>ruleset can only be bound via legacy configuration format</li>
 <li>To obtain the remote system's IP address, you need to have at least
 librelp 1.0.0 installed. Versions below it return the hostname instead
 of the IP address.</li>
@@ -54,7 +52,7 @@ input(type="imrelp" port="20514")
 <p><b>Legacy Configuration Directives</b>:</p>
 <ul>
 <li>InputRELPServerBindRuleset &lt;name&gt; (available in 6.3.6+)</br>
-equivalent to: RuleSet
+Binds the specified ruleset to all RELP listeners.
 <li>InputRELPServerRun &lt;port&gt;<br>
 equivalent to: Port</li>
 </ul>
diff --git a/doc/manual.html b/doc/manual.html
index dea0b82..bc57c13 100644
--- a/doc/manual.html
+++ b/doc/manual.html
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ professional services</a> available directly from the source!</p>
 <p><b>Please visit the <a href="http://www.rsyslog.com/sponsors">rsyslog sponsor's page</a>
 to honor the project sponsors or become one yourself!</b> We are very grateful for any help towards the
 project goals.</p>
-<p><b>This documentation is for version 7.4.0 (v7.4-stable branch) of rsyslog.</b>
+<p><b>This documentation is for version 7.4.1 (v7.4-stable branch) of rsyslog.</b>
 Visit the <i><a href="http://www.rsyslog.com/status">rsyslog status page</a></i></b>
 to obtain current version information and project status.
 </p><p><b>If you like rsyslog, you might
diff --git a/doc/omfile.html b/doc/omfile.html
index a5c3bb3..438d694 100644
--- a/doc/omfile.html
+++ b/doc/omfile.html
@@ -111,8 +111,12 @@ File="/var/log/messages")
 
 <p><b>Legacy Configuration Directives</b>:</p>
 <ul>
-	<li><strong>$DynaFileCacheSize </strong>(not mandatory, default will be used)<br>
-	Defines a template to be used for the output. <br></li><br>
+	<li><strong>$DynaFileCacheSize </strong>(not mandatory, default 10)<br>
+	defines the maximum size of the dynafile cache for <b>this</b>
+	action. Cache size greatly affects performance and should be
+	set so that it matches the actual need. Note that files
+	inside the cache are kept open until either rsyslogd
+	is HUPed or the file is evicted from the cache.<br></li><br>
 
 	<li><strong>$OMFileZipLevel </strong>0..9 [default 0]<br>
 	if greater 0, turns on gzip compression of the output file. The higher the number, the better the compression, but also the more CPU is required for zipping.<br></li><br>
diff --git a/doc/omjournal.html b/doc/omjournal.html
index c42d984..6124e40 100644
--- a/doc/omjournal.html
+++ b/doc/omjournal.html
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ and processed by its tools.
 <p>A typical use case we had on our mind is a SOHO environment, where the
 user wants to include syslog data obtained from the local router to be
 part of the journal data.
+<p>We suggest to check out our short presentation on
+<a href="http://youtu.be/GTS7EuSdFKE">rsyslog journal integration</a> to
+learn more details of anticipated use cases.
 <p>&nbsp;</p>
 
 <p><b>Module Configuration Parameters</b>:</p>
diff --git a/plugins/imjournal/imjournal.c b/plugins/imjournal/imjournal.c
index ae29154..36c7e04 100755
--- a/plugins/imjournal/imjournal.c
+++ b/plugins/imjournal/imjournal.c
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
  * To test under Linux:
  * emmit log message into systemd journal
  *
- * Copyright (C) 2008-2012 Adiscon GmbH
+ * Copyright (C) 2008-2013 Adiscon GmbH
  *
  * This file is part of rsyslog.
  *
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #include <sys/poll.h>
 #include <sys/socket.h>
 #include <errno.h>
+#include <systemd/sd-journal.h>
 
 #include "dirty.h"
 #include "cfsysline.h"
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@
 #include "errmsg.h"
 #include "srUtils.h"
 #include "unicode-helper.h"
-#include <systemd/sd-journal.h>
+#include "ratelimit.h"
 
 MODULE_TYPE_INPUT
 MODULE_TYPE_NOKEEP
@@ -64,12 +65,18 @@ DEFobjCurrIf(errmsg)
 static struct configSettings_s {
 	char *stateFile;
 	int iPersistStateInterval;
+	int ratelimitInterval;
+	int ratelimitBurst;
+	int bIgnorePrevious;
 } cs;
 
-/* module-gloval parameters */
+/* module-global parameters */
 static struct cnfparamdescr modpdescr[] = {
 	{ "statefile", eCmdHdlrGetWord, 0 },
-	{ "persiststateinterval", eCmdHdlrInt, 0 }
+	{ "ratelimit.interval", eCmdHdlrInt, 0 },
+	{ "ratelimit.burst", eCmdHdlrInt, 0 },
+	{ "persiststateinterval", eCmdHdlrInt, 0 },
+	{ "ignorepreviousmessages", eCmdHdlrBinary, 0 }
 };
 static struct cnfparamblk modpblk =
 	{ CNFPARAMBLK_VERSION,
@@ -79,11 +86,12 @@ static struct cnfparamblk modpblk =
 
 #define DFLT_persiststateinterval 10
 
-static int bLegacyCnfModGlobalsPermitted = 0;/* are legacy module-global config parameters permitted? */
+static int bLegacyCnfModGlobalsPermitted = 1;/* are legacy module-global config parameters permitted? */
 
 static prop_t *pInputName = NULL;	/* there is only one global inputName for all messages generated by this module */
 static prop_t *pLocalHostIP = NULL;	/* a pseudo-constant propterty for 127.0.0.1 */
 
+static ratelimit_t *ratelimiter = NULL;
 static sd_journal *j;
 
 /* enqueue the the journal message into the message queue.
@@ -121,7 +129,7 @@ enqMsg(uchar *msg, uchar *pszTag, int iFacility, int iSeverity, struct timeval *
 		msgAddJSON(pMsg, (uchar*)"!", json);
 	}
 
-	CHKiRet(submitMsg2(pMsg));
+	CHKiRet(ratelimitAddMsg(ratelimiter, NULL, pMsg));
 
 finalize_it:
 	RETiRet;
@@ -244,7 +252,13 @@ readjournal() {
 	SD_JOURNAL_FOREACH_DATA(j, get, l) {
 		/* locate equal sign, this is always present */
 		equal_sign = memchr(get, '=', l);
-		assert (equal_sign != NULL);
+
+		/* ... but we know better than to trust the specs */
+		if (equal_sign == NULL) {
+			errmsg.LogError(0, RS_RET_ERR, "SD_JOURNAL_FOREACH_DATA()"
+				"returned a malformed field (has no '='): '%s'", get);
+			continue; /* skip the entry */
+		}
 
 		/* get length of journal data prefix */
 		prefixlen = ((char *)equal_sign - (char *)get);
@@ -427,12 +441,13 @@ finalize_it:
 }
 
 
-BEGINrunInput
-CODESTARTrunInput
-	/* this is an endless loop - it is terminated when the thread is
-	 * signalled to do so. This, however, is handled by the framework,
-	 * right into the sleep below.
-	 */
+/* This function loads a journal cursor from the state file.
+ */
+static rsRetVal
+loadJournalState()
+{
+	DEFiRet;
+
 	if (cs.stateFile[0] != '/') {
 		char *new_stateFile;
 
@@ -470,8 +485,48 @@ CODESTARTrunInput
 			errmsg.LogError(0, RS_RET_FOPEN_FAILURE, "imjournal: "
 					"open on state file `%s' failed\n", cs.stateFile);
 		}
+	} else {
+		/* when IgnorePrevious, seek to the end of journal */
+		if (cs.bIgnorePrevious) {
+			if (sd_journal_seek_tail(j) < 0) {
+				char errStr[256];
+
+				rs_strerror_r(errno, errStr, sizeof(errStr));
+				errmsg.LogError(0, RS_RET_ERR,
+					"sd_journal_seek_tail() failed: '%s'", errStr);
+				ABORT_FINALIZE(RS_RET_ERR);
+			}
+
+			if (sd_journal_previous(j) < 0) {
+				char errStr[256];
+
+				rs_strerror_r(errno, errStr, sizeof(errStr));
+				errmsg.LogError(0, RS_RET_ERR,
+					"sd_journal_previous() failed: '%s'", errStr);
+				ABORT_FINALIZE(RS_RET_ERR);
+			}
+		}
+	} 
+
+finalize_it:
+	RETiRet;
+}
+
+BEGINrunInput
+CODESTARTrunInput
+	CHKiRet(ratelimitNew(&ratelimiter, "imjournal", NULL));
+	dbgprintf("imjournal: ratelimiting burst %d, interval %d\n", cs.ratelimitBurst,
+		  cs.ratelimitInterval);
+	ratelimitSetLinuxLike(ratelimiter, cs.ratelimitInterval, cs.ratelimitBurst);
+	ratelimitSetNoTimeCache(ratelimiter);
+
+	if (cs.stateFile) {
+		CHKiRet(loadJournalState());
 	}
 
+	/* this is an endless loop - it is terminated when the thread is
+	 * signalled to do so. This, however, is handled by the framework.
+	 */
 	while (glbl.GetGlobalInputTermState() == 0) {
 		int count = 0, r;
 
@@ -492,11 +547,13 @@ CODESTARTrunInput
 		}
 
 		CHKiRet(readjournal());
-		/* TODO: This could use some finer metric. */
-		count++;
-		if (count == cs.iPersistStateInterval) {
-			count = 0;
-			persistJournalState();
+		if (cs.stateFile) { /* can't persist without a state file */
+			/* TODO: This could use some finer metric. */
+			count++;
+			if (count == cs.iPersistStateInterval) {
+				count = 0;
+				persistJournalState();
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -510,6 +567,8 @@ CODESTARTbeginCnfLoad
 
 	cs.iPersistStateInterval = DFLT_persiststateinterval;
 	cs.stateFile = NULL;
+	cs.ratelimitBurst = 20000;
+	cs.ratelimitInterval = 600;
 ENDbeginCnfLoad
 
 
@@ -545,8 +604,11 @@ ENDwillRun
 /* close journal */
 BEGINafterRun
 CODESTARTafterRun
-	persistJournalState();
+	if (cs.stateFile) { /* can't persist without a state file */
+		persistJournalState();
+	}
 	sd_journal_close(j);
+	ratelimitDestruct(ratelimiter);
 ENDafterRun
 
 
@@ -589,6 +651,12 @@ CODESTARTsetModCnf
 			cs.iPersistStateInterval = (int) pvals[i].val.d.n;
 		} else if (!strcmp(modpblk.descr[i].name, "statefile")) {
 			cs.stateFile = (char *)es_str2cstr(pvals[i].val.d.estr, NULL);
+		} else if(!strcmp(modpblk.descr[i].name, "ratelimit.burst")) {
+			cs.ratelimitBurst = (int) pvals[i].val.d.n;
+		} else if(!strcmp(modpblk.descr[i].name, "ratelimit.interval")) {
+			cs.ratelimitInterval = (int) pvals[i].val.d.n;
+		} else if (!strcmp(modpblk.descr[i].name, "ignorepreviousmessages")) {
+			cs.bIgnorePrevious = (int) pvals[i].val.d.n; 
 		} else {
 			dbgprintf("imjournal: program error, non-handled "
 				"param '%s' in beginCnfLoad\n", modpblk.descr[i].name);
@@ -632,10 +700,16 @@ CODEmodInit_QueryRegCFSLineHdlr
 	CHKiRet(prop.CreateStringProp(&pInputName, UCHAR_CONSTANT("imjournal"), sizeof("imjournal") - 1));
 	CHKiRet(prop.CreateStringProp(&pLocalHostIP, UCHAR_CONSTANT("127.0.0.1"), sizeof("127.0.0.1") - 1));
 
-	CHKiRet(omsdRegCFSLineHdlr((uchar *)"persiststateinterval", 0, eCmdHdlrInt,
+	CHKiRet(omsdRegCFSLineHdlr((uchar *)"imjournalpersiststateinterval", 0, eCmdHdlrInt,
 		NULL, &cs.iPersistStateInterval, STD_LOADABLE_MODULE_ID));
-	CHKiRet(omsdRegCFSLineHdlr((uchar *)"statefile", 0, eCmdHdlrGetWord,
+	CHKiRet(omsdRegCFSLineHdlr((uchar *)"imjournalratelimitinterval", 0, eCmdHdlrInt,
+		NULL, &cs.ratelimitInterval, STD_LOADABLE_MODULE_ID));
+	CHKiRet(omsdRegCFSLineHdlr((uchar *)"imjournalratelimitburst", 0, eCmdHdlrInt,
+		NULL, &cs.ratelimitBurst, STD_LOADABLE_MODULE_ID));
+	CHKiRet(omsdRegCFSLineHdlr((uchar *)"imjournalstatefile", 0, eCmdHdlrGetWord,
 		NULL, &cs.stateFile, STD_LOADABLE_MODULE_ID));
+	CHKiRet(omsdRegCFSLineHdlr((uchar *)"imjournalignorepreviousmessages", 0, eCmdHdlrBinary,
+		NULL, &cs.bIgnorePrevious, STD_LOADABLE_MODULE_ID)); 
 
 
 ENDmodInit
diff --git a/plugins/imzmq3/imzmq3.c b/plugins/imzmq3/imzmq3.c
index 52ca5eb..08b1dbe 100644
--- a/plugins/imzmq3/imzmq3.c
+++ b/plugins/imzmq3/imzmq3.c
@@ -135,7 +135,6 @@ struct lstn_s {
 /* ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  *  Static definitions/initializations.
  */
-static modConfData_t*       loadModConf     = NULL;
 static modConfData_t*       runModConf      = NULL;
 static struct lstn_s*       lcnfRoot        = NULL;
 static struct lstn_s*       lcnfLast        = NULL;
@@ -268,7 +267,7 @@ static void setDefaults(instanceConf_t* info) {
     info->reconnectIVLMax = -1;
     info->ipv4Only        = -1;
     info->affinity        = -1;
-
+    info->next            = NULL;
 };
 
 /* given a comma separated list of subscriptions, create a char* array of them
@@ -442,11 +441,11 @@ static rsRetVal createInstance(instanceConf_t** pinst) {
     setDefaults(inst);
     
     /* add this to the config */
-    if(loadModConf->tail == NULL) {
-        loadModConf->tail = loadModConf->root = inst;
+    if (runModConf->root == NULL || runModConf->tail == NULL) {
+        runModConf->tail = runModConf->root = inst;
     } else {
-        loadModConf->tail->next = inst;
-        loadModConf->tail       = inst;
+        runModConf->tail->next = inst;
+        runModConf->tail       = inst;
     }
     *pinst = inst;
 finalize_it:
@@ -696,10 +695,14 @@ ENDisCompatibleWithFeature
 
 BEGINbeginCnfLoad
 CODESTARTbeginCnfLoad
-    loadModConf = pModConf;
-    pModConf->pConf = pConf;
+    /* After endCnfLoad() (BEGINendCnfLoad...ENDendCnfLoad) is called,
+     * the pModConf pointer must not be used to change the in-memory
+     * config object. It's safe to use the same pointer for accessing
+     * the config object until freeCnf() (BEGINfreeCnf...ENDfreeCnf). */
+    runModConf = pModConf;
+    runModConf->pConf = pConf;
     /* init module config */
-    loadModConf->io_threads = 0; /* 0 means don't set it */
+    runModConf->io_threads = 0; /* 0 means don't set it */
 ENDbeginCnfLoad
 
 
@@ -718,7 +721,7 @@ CODESTARTsetModCnf
         if (!pvals[i].bUsed)
             continue;
         if (!strcmp(modpblk.descr[i].name, "ioThreads")) {
-            loadModConf->io_threads = (int)pvals[i].val.d.n;
+            runModConf->io_threads = (int)pvals[i].val.d.n;
         } else {
             errmsg.LogError(0, RS_RET_INVALID_PARAMS, 
                            "imzmq3: config error, unknown "
@@ -735,7 +738,14 @@ ENDsetModCnf
 
 BEGINendCnfLoad
 CODESTARTendCnfLoad
-    loadModConf = NULL; /* done loading, so it becomes NULL */
+    /* Last chance to make changes to the in-memory config object for this
+     * input module. After this call, the config object must no longer be
+     * changed. */
+    if (pModConf != runModConf) {
+        errmsg.LogError(0, NO_ERRCODE, "imzmq3: pointer of in-memory config object has "
+                        "changed - pModConf=%p, runModConf=%p", pModConf, runModConf);
+    }
+    assert(pModConf == runModConf);
 ENDendCnfLoad
 
 
@@ -764,7 +774,12 @@ ENDcheckCnf
 
 BEGINactivateCnfPrePrivDrop
 CODESTARTactivateCnfPrePrivDrop
-    runModConf = pModConf;
+    if (pModConf != runModConf) {
+        errmsg.LogError(0, NO_ERRCODE, "imzmq3: pointer of in-memory config object has "
+                        "changed - pModConf=%p, runModConf=%p", pModConf, runModConf);
+    }
+    assert(pModConf == runModConf);
+
     /* first create the context */
     createContext();
 
@@ -775,12 +790,41 @@ ENDactivateCnfPrePrivDrop
 
 BEGINactivateCnf
 CODESTARTactivateCnf
+    if (pModConf != runModConf) {
+        errmsg.LogError(0, NO_ERRCODE, "imzmq3: pointer of in-memory config object has "
+                        "changed - pModConf=%p, runModConf=%p", pModConf, runModConf);
+    }
+    assert(pModConf == runModConf);
 ENDactivateCnf
 
 
-/*TODO: Fill this in! */
 BEGINfreeCnf
+    struct lstn_s *lstn, *lstn_r;
+    instanceConf_t *inst, *inst_r;
+    sublist *sub, *sub_r;
 CODESTARTfreeCnf
+    DBGPRINTF("imzmq3: BEGINfreeCnf ...\n");
+    if (pModConf != runModConf) {
+        errmsg.LogError(0, NO_ERRCODE, "imzmq3: pointer of in-memory config object has "
+                        "changed - pModConf=%p, runModConf=%p", pModConf, runModConf);
+    }
+    for (lstn = lcnfRoot; lstn != NULL; ) {
+        lstn_r = lstn;
+        lstn = lstn_r->next;
+        free(lstn_r);
+    }
+    for (inst = pModConf->root ; inst != NULL ; ) {
+        for (sub = inst->subscriptions; sub != NULL; ) {
+            free(sub->subscribe);
+            sub_r = sub;
+            sub = sub_r->next;
+            free(sub_r);
+        }
+        free(inst->pszBindRuleset);
+        inst_r = inst;
+        inst = inst->next;
+        free(inst_r);
+    }
 ENDfreeCnf
 
 
diff --git a/rsyslog.service.in b/rsyslog.service.in
index 08a4870..8e2d64c 100644
--- a/rsyslog.service.in
+++ b/rsyslog.service.in
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 [Unit]
 Description=System Logging Service
+Requires=syslog.socket
 
 [Service]
+Type=notify
 ExecStart=@sbindir@/rsyslogd -n
-Sockets=syslog.socket
 StandardOutput=null
 
 [Install]
diff --git a/runtime/ratelimit.c b/runtime/ratelimit.c
index d83da2d..a808e04 100644
--- a/runtime/ratelimit.c
+++ b/runtime/ratelimit.c
@@ -128,8 +128,8 @@ tellLostCnt(ratelimit_t *ratelimit)
 		snprintf((char*)msgbuf, sizeof(msgbuf),
 			 "%s: %u messages lost due to rate-limiting",
 			 ratelimit->name, ratelimit->missed);
-		logmsgInternal(RS_RET_RATE_LIMITED, LOG_SYSLOG|LOG_INFO, msgbuf, 0);
 		ratelimit->missed = 0;
+		logmsgInternal(RS_RET_RATE_LIMITED, LOG_SYSLOG|LOG_INFO, msgbuf, 0);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -150,16 +150,25 @@ withinRatelimit(ratelimit_t *ratelimit, time_t tt)
 		goto finalize_it;
 	}
 
+	/* we primarily need "NoTimeCache" mode for imjournal, as it
+	 * sets the message generation time to the journal timestamp.
+	 * As such, we do not get a proper indication of the actual
+	 * message rate. To prevent this, we need to query local
+	 * system time ourselvs.
+	 */
+	if(ratelimit->bNoTimeCache)
+		tt = time(NULL);
+
 	assert(ratelimit->burst != 0);
 
 	if(ratelimit->begin == 0)
 		ratelimit->begin = tt;
 
-	/* resume if we go out of out time window */
+	/* resume if we go out of time window */
 	if(tt > ratelimit->begin + ratelimit->interval) {
-		tellLostCnt(ratelimit);
 		ratelimit->begin = 0;
 		ratelimit->done = 0;
+		tellLostCnt(ratelimit);
 	}
 
 	/* do actual limit check */
@@ -167,13 +176,13 @@ withinRatelimit(ratelimit_t *ratelimit, time_t tt)
 		ratelimit->done++;
 		ret = 1;
 	} else {
-		if(ratelimit->missed == 0) {
+		ratelimit->missed++;
+		if(ratelimit->missed == 1) {
 			snprintf((char*)msgbuf, sizeof(msgbuf),
 			         "%s: begin to drop messages due to rate-limiting",
 				 ratelimit->name);
 			logmsgInternal(RS_RET_RATE_LIMITED, LOG_SYSLOG|LOG_INFO, msgbuf, 0);
 		}
-		ratelimit->missed++;
 		ret = 0;
 	}
 
@@ -318,6 +327,12 @@ ratelimitSetThreadSafe(ratelimit_t *ratelimit)
 	ratelimit->bThreadSafe = 1;
 	pthread_mutex_init(&ratelimit->mut, NULL);
 }
+void
+ratelimitSetNoTimeCache(ratelimit_t *ratelimit)
+{
+	ratelimit->bNoTimeCache = 1;
+	pthread_mutex_init(&ratelimit->mut, NULL);
+}
 
 /* Severity level determines which messages are subject to
  * ratelimiting. Default (no value set) is all messages.
@@ -368,4 +383,3 @@ ratelimitModInit(void)
 finalize_it:
 	RETiRet;
 }
-
diff --git a/runtime/ratelimit.h b/runtime/ratelimit.h
index a058b06..563777f 100644
--- a/runtime/ratelimit.h
+++ b/runtime/ratelimit.h
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ struct ratelimit_s {
 	unsigned nsupp;		/**< nbr of msgs suppressed */
 	msg_t *pMsg;
 	sbool bThreadSafe;	/**< do we need to operate in Thread-Safe mode? */
+	sbool bNoTimeCache;	/**< if we shall not used cached reception time */
 	pthread_mutex_t mut;	/**< mutex if thread-safe operation desired */
 };
 
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ struct ratelimit_s {
 rsRetVal ratelimitNew(ratelimit_t **ppThis, char *modname, char *dynname);
 void ratelimitSetThreadSafe(ratelimit_t *ratelimit);
 void ratelimitSetLinuxLike(ratelimit_t *ratelimit, unsigned short interval, unsigned short burst);
+void ratelimitSetNoTimeCache(ratelimit_t *ratelimit);
 void ratelimitSetSeverity(ratelimit_t *ratelimit, intTiny severity);
 rsRetVal ratelimitMsg(ratelimit_t *ratelimit, msg_t *pMsg, msg_t **ppRep);
 rsRetVal ratelimitAddMsg(ratelimit_t *ratelimit, multi_submit_t *pMultiSub, msg_t *pMsg);
diff --git a/tools/syslogd.c b/tools/syslogd.c
index 7a8e21c..a8a733d 100644
--- a/tools/syslogd.c
+++ b/tools/syslogd.c
@@ -2033,6 +2033,8 @@ int realMain(int argc, char **argv)
 		ourConf->globals.bErrMsgToStderr = 0;
 	}
 
+	sd_notify(0, "READY=1");
+
 	mainloop();
 
 	/* do any de-init's that need to be done AFTER this comment */