As far as I can see this has always been like that -- /etc/init.d/rsyslog and the upstart job also only start at runlevels 2/5 (corresponding to multi-user.target) and thus don't cover early boot and late shutdown.
Please note, you can enable the persistent systemd journal to get logging that lasts much further into the shutdown sequence. See /usr/share/doc/systemd/README.Debian.gz ** Changed in: rsyslog (Ubuntu) Status: New => Triaged ** Changed in: rsyslog (Ubuntu) Importance: Undecided => Wishlist -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Touch seeded packages, which is subscribed to rsyslog in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1559924 Title: rsyslog shuts down too early, preventing logging of the other jobs shutting down Status in rsyslog package in Ubuntu: Triaged Bug description: upstart kills rsyslog as one of the first jobs. So after that no other jobs are logging that they are shutting down and what they are doing during shutdown. The default should be shutting down logging at the latest possible point in time when shutting down a machine. To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/rsyslog/+bug/1559924/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages Post to : touch-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp