Provided by: logrotate_3.8.7-1ubuntu1.2_amd64 bug

NAME

       logrotate ‐ rotates, compresses, and mails system logs

SYNOPSIS

       logrotate [-dv] [-f|--force] [-s|--state file] config_file ..

DESCRIPTION

       logrotate is designed to ease administration of systems that generate large numbers of log
       files.  It allows automatic rotation, compression, removal,  and  mailing  of  log  files.
       Each log file may be handled daily, weekly, monthly, or when it grows too large.

       Normally,  logrotate  is run as a daily cron job.  It will not modify a log more than once
       in one day unless the criterion for that log is based on the log's size and  logrotate  is
       being run more than once each day, or unless the -f or --force option is used.

       Any  number  of  config  files  may  be  given on the command line. Later config files may
       override the options given in earlier files, so the order in which  the  logrotate  config
       files  are  listed  is important.  Normally, a single config file which includes any other
       config files which are needed should be used.  See below for more information  on  how  to
       use  the  include  directive  to  accomplish this.  If a directory is given on the command
       line, every file in that directory is used as a config file.

       If no command line arguments  are  given,  logrotate  will  print  version  and  copyright
       information,  along  with a short usage summary.  If any errors occur while rotating logs,
       logrotate will exit with non-zero status.

OPTIONS

       -?, --help
              Prints help message.

       -d, --debug
              Turns on debug mode and implies -v.  In debug mode, no changes will be made to  the
              logs or to the logrotate state file.

       -f, --force
              Tells  logrotate to force the rotation, even if it doesn't think this is necessary.
              Sometimes this is useful after adding new entries to a logrotate config file, or if
              old  log  files  have  been  removed by hand, as the new files will be created, and
              logging will continue correctly.

       -m, --mail <command>
              Tells logrotate which command to use when mailing logs. This command should  accept
              two  arguments:  1)  the  subject of the message, and 2) the recipient. The command
              must then read a message on standard input  and  mail  it  to  the  recipient.  The
              default mail command is /usr/bin/mail -s.

       -s, --state <statefile>
              Tells  logrotate  to  use  an alternate state file.  This is useful if logrotate is
              being run as a different user for various sets of log  files.   The  default  state
              file is /var/lib/logrotate/status.

       --usage
              Prints a short usage message.

       -v, --verbose
              Turns on verbose mode, ie. display messages during rotation.

CONFIGURATION FILE

       logrotate  reads  everything  about the log files it should be handling from the series of
       configuration files specified on the command line.  Each configuration file can set global
       options  (local  definitions  override global ones, and later definitions override earlier
       ones) and specify logfiles to rotate. A simple configuration file looks like this:

       # sample logrotate configuration file
       compress

       /var/log/messages {
           rotate 5
           weekly
           postrotate
               /usr/bin/killall -HUP syslogd
           endscript
       }

       "/var/log/httpd/access.log" /var/log/httpd/error.log {
           rotate 5
           mail www@my.org
           size 100k
           sharedscripts
           postrotate
               /usr/bin/killall -HUP httpd
           endscript
       }

       /var/log/news/* {
           monthly
           rotate 2
           olddir /var/log/news/old
           missingok
           postrotate
               kill -HUP `cat /var/run/inn.pid`
           endscript
           nocompress
       }

       ~/log/*.log {}

       The first few lines set global options; in the example, logs are compressed after they are
       rotated.   Note  that comments may appear anywhere in the config file as long as the first
       non-whitespace character on the line is a #.

       The next section of the config file defines how to handle the log file  /var/log/messages.
       The log will go through five weekly rotations before being removed. After the log file has
       been rotated (but before the old version of the log  has  been  compressed),  the  command
       /sbin/killall -HUP syslogd will be executed.

       The   next   section   defines  the  parameters  for  both  /var/log/httpd/access.log  and
       /var/log/httpd/error.log.  Each is rotated whenever it grows over 100k in  size,  and  the
       old  logs  files  are mailed (uncompressed) to www@my.org after going through 5 rotations,
       rather than being removed. The sharedscripts means that the postrotate script will only be
       run  once  (after  the  old  logs  have  been  compressed), not once for each log which is
       rotated.  Note that log file names may be enclosed in quotes (and that quotes are required
       if  the  name  contains  spaces).   Normal  shell  quoting  rules  apply, with ', ", and \
       characters supported.

       The next section defines the parameters for all of the files in /var/log/news.  Each  file
       is  rotated  on  a  monthly  basis.  This is considered a single rotation directive and if
       errors occur for more than one file, the log files are not compressed.

       The last section uses tilde expansion to rotate log files in the  home  directory  of  the
       current  user.  This is only available, if your glob library supports tilde expansion. GNU
       glob does support this.

       Please use wildcards with caution.  If you specify *, logrotate  will  rotate  all  files,
       including  previously rotated ones.  A way around this is to use the olddir directive or a
       more exact wildcard (such as *.log).

       If the directory /var/log/news does not exist, this will  cause  logrotate  to  report  an
       error. This error cannot be stopped with the missingok directive.

       Here  is  more  information  on  the  directives  which  may  be  included  in a logrotate
       configuration file:

       compress
              Old versions of log  files  are  compressed  with  gzip(1)  by  default.  See  also
              nocompress.

       compresscmd
              Specifies which command to use to compress log files.  The default is gzip(1).  See
              also compress.

       uncompresscmd
              Specifies which command to use to uncompress log files.  The default is gunzip(1).

       compressext
              Specifies which extension to use on compressed logfiles, if compression is enabled.
              The default follows that of the configured compression command.

       compressoptions
              Command  line  options  may be passed to the compression program, if one is in use.
              The default, for gzip(1), is "-6" (biased towards high compression at  the  expense
              of  speed).  If you use a different compression command, you may need to change the
              compressoptions to match.

       copy   Make a copy of the log file, but don't change the original at all.  This option can
              be  used,  for  instance,  to make a snapshot of the current log file, or when some
              other utility needs to truncate or parse the file.  When this option is  used,  the
              create option will have no effect, as the old log file stays in place.

       copytruncate
              Truncate the original log file to zero size in place after creating a copy, instead
              of moving the old log file and optionally creating a new one.  It can be used  when
              some  program  cannot  be told to close its logfile and thus might continue writing
              (appending) to the previous log file forever.  Note that there is a very small time
              slice  between  copying  the  file and truncating it, so some logging data might be
              lost.  When this option is used, the create option will have no effect, as the  old
              log file stays in place.

       create mode owner group, create owner group
              Immediately  after  rotation  (before the postrotate script is run) the log file is
              created (with the same name as the log file just rotated).  mode specifies the mode
              for the log file in octal (the same as chmod(2)), owner specifies the user name who
              will own the log file, and group specifies the group the log file will  belong  to.
              Any  of  the log file attributes may be omitted, in which case those attributes for
              the new file will use the same values as the original  log  file  for  the  omitted
              attributes. This option can be disabled using the nocreate option.

       daily  Log files are rotated every day.

       dateext
              Archive  old versions of log files adding a date extension like YYYYMMDD instead of
              simply adding a number. The extension may be configured using  the  dateformat  and
              dateyesterday options.

       dateformat format_string
              Specify  the  extension  for  dateext  using  the  notation  similar to strftime(3)
              function. Only %Y %m %d and %s  specifiers  are  allowed.   The  default  value  is
              -%Y%m%d.  Note  that  also  the character separating log name from the extension is
              part of the dateformat string. The system clock must be set past Sep 9th  2001  for
              %s  to  work  correctly.  Note that the datestamps generated by this format must be
              lexically sortable (i.e., first the year,  then  the  month  then  the  day.  e.g.,
              2001/12/01 is ok, but 01/12/2001 is not, since 01/11/2002 would sort lower while it
              is later).  This is because when using  the  rotate  option,  logrotate  sorts  all
              rotated filenames to find out which logfiles are older and should be removed.

       dateyesterday
              Use  yesterday's  instead  of today's date to create the dateext extension, so that
              the rotated log file has a date in its name that is  the  same  as  the  timestamps
              within it.

       delaycompress
              Postpone  compression  of  the  previous log file to the next rotation cycle.  This
              only has effect when used in combination with compress.  It can be used  when  some
              program  cannot be told to close its logfile and thus might continue writing to the
              previous log file for some time.

       extension ext
              Log files with ext extension can keep it after the rotation.   If  compression   is
              used,   the compression extension (normally .gz) appears after ext. For example you
              have a logfile named mylog.foo and want to rotate it to mylog.1.foo.gz  instead  of
              mylog.foo.1.gz.

       hourly Log  files  are rotated every hour. Note that usually logrotate is configured to be
              run by cron daily. You have to change this configuration and run  logrotate  hourly
              to be able to really rotate logs hourly.

       ifempty
              Rotate  the log file even if it is empty, overriding the notifempty option (ifempty
              is the default).

       include file_or_directory
              Reads the file given as an argument as if it was included inline where the  include
              directive appears. If a directory is given, most of the files in that directory are
              read in alphabetic order before processing of the  including  file  continues.  The
              only  files  which  are  ignored  are  files  which  are not regular files (such as
              directories and named pipes) and files whose  names  end  with  one  of  the  taboo
              extensions, as specified by the tabooext directive.

       mail address
              When  a log is rotated out of existence, it is mailed to address. If no mail should
              be generated by a particular log, the nomail directive may be used.

       mailfirst
              When using the mail command, mail the just-rotated file, instead of  the  about-to-
              expire file.

       maillast
              When  using  the  mail command, mail the about-to-expire file, instead of the just-
              rotated file (this is the default).

       maxage count
              Remove rotated logs older than <count> days. The age is only checked if the logfile
              is  to  be  rotated. The files are mailed to the configured address if maillast and
              mail are configured.

       maxsize size
              Log files are rotated when they  grow  bigger  than  size  bytes  even  before  the
              additionally  specified  time  interval  (daily,  weekly, monthly, or yearly).  The
              related size option is similar except that it is mutually exclusive with  the  time
              interval options, and it causes log files to be rotated without regard for the last
              rotation time.  When maxsize is used, both the size and timestamp of a log file are
              considered.

       minsize  size
              Log  files  are  rotated  when they grow bigger than size bytes, but not before the
              additionally specified time interval (daily,  weekly,  monthly,  or  yearly).   The
              related  size  option is similar except that it is mutually exclusive with the time
              interval options, and it causes log files to be rotated without regard for the last
              rotation time.  When minsize is used, both the size and timestamp of a log file are
              considered.

       missingok
              If the log file is missing, go on to the next one without issuing an error message.
              See also nomissingok.

       monthly
              Log  files are rotated the first time logrotate is run in a month (this is normally
              on the first day of the month).

       nocompress
              Old versions of log files are not compressed. See also compress.

       nocopy Do not copy the original log file and leave it in place.  (this overrides the  copy
              option).

       nocopytruncate
              Do  not  truncate  the  original  log  file  in  place  after creating a copy (this
              overrides the copytruncate option).

       nocreate
              New log files are not created (this overrides the create option).

       nodelaycompress
              Do not postpone compression of the previous log file to  the  next  rotation  cycle
              (this overrides the delaycompress option).

       nodateext
              Do  not  archive  old versions of log files with date extension (this overrides the
              dateext option).

       nomail Do not mail old log files to any address.

       nomissingok
              If a log file does not exist, issue an error. This is the default.

       noolddir
              Logs are rotated in the directory they  normally  reside  in  (this  overrides  the
              olddir option).

       nosharedscripts
              Run  prerotate  and postrotate scripts for every log file which is rotated (this is
              the default, and overrides the sharedscripts option). The absolute path to the  log
              file is passed as first argument to the script. If the scripts exit with error, the
              remaining actions will not be executed for the affected log only.

       noshred
              Do not use shred when deleting old log files. See also shred.

       notifempty
              Do not rotate the log if it is empty (this overrides the ifempty option).

       olddir directory
              Logs are moved into directory for rotation. The  directory  must  be  on  the  same
              physical device as the log file being rotated, and is assumed to be relative to the
              directory holding the log file unless an absolute path name is specified. When this
              option is used all old versions of the log end up in directory.  This option may be
              overridden by the noolddir option.

       postrotate/endscript
              The lines between postrotate and endscript (both of which must appear on  lines  by
              themselves)  are  executed  (using  /bin/sh)  after  the log file is rotated. These
              directives may only appear inside a log file  definition.  Normally,  the  absolute
              path to the log file is passed as first argument to the script. If sharedscripts is
              specified, whole pattern  is  passed  to  the  script.   See  also  prerotate.  See
              sharedscripts and nosharedscripts for error handling.

       prerotate/endscript
              The  lines  between  prerotate and endscript (both of which must appear on lines by
              themselves) are executed (using /bin/sh) before the log file is rotated and only if
              the  log  will  actually  be rotated. These directives may only appear inside a log
              file definition. Normally, the absolute path to the log file  is  passed  as  first
              argument to the script.  If  sharedscripts is specified, whole pattern is passed to
              the script.  See also postrotate.  See sharedscripts and nosharedscripts for  error
              handling.

       firstaction/endscript
              The  lines between firstaction and endscript (both of which must appear on lines by
              themselves) are executed (using /bin/sh) once before all log files that  match  the
              wildcarded pattern are rotated, before prerotate script is run and only if at least
              one log will actually be rotated.  These directives may only appear  inside  a  log
              file  definition.  Whole  pattern is passed to the script as first argument. If the
              script exits with error, no further processing is done. See also lastaction.

       lastaction/endscript
              The lines between lastaction and endscript (both of which must appear on  lines  by
              themselves)  are  executed  (using /bin/sh) once after all log files that match the
              wildcarded pattern are rotated, after postrotate script is run and only if at least
              one  log is rotated. These directives may only appear inside a log file definition.
              Whole pattern is passed to the script as first argument. If the script  exits  with
              error,  just  an  error  message  is  shown  (as this is the last action). See also
              firstaction.

       preremove/endscript
              The lines between preremove and endscript (both of which must appear  on  lines  by
              themselves)  are  executed  (using /bin/sh) once just before removal of a log file.
              The logrotate will pass the name of file which is soon  to  be  removed.  See  also
              firstaction.

       rotate count
              Log  files  are  rotated  count times before being removed or mailed to the address
              specified in a mail directive. If count is 0, old versions are removed rather  than
              rotated.

       size size
              Log files are rotated only if they grow bigger then size bytes. If size is followed
              by k, the size is assumed to be in kilobytes.  If the M is used,  the  size  is  in
              megabytes, and if G is used, the size is in gigabytes. So size 100, size 100k, size
              100M and size 100G are all valid.

       sharedscripts
              Normally, prerotate and postrotate scripts are run for each log  which  is  rotated
              and  the  absolute  path to the log file is passed as first argument to the script.
              That means a single script may be run multiple times for  log  file  entries  which
              match  multiple  files  (such  as the /var/log/news/* example). If sharedscripts is
              specified, the scripts are only run  once,  no  matter  how  many  logs  match  the
              wildcarded  pattern,  and whole pattern is passed to them.  However, if none of the
              logs in the pattern require rotating, the scripts will not be run at  all.  If  the
              scripts  exit  with error, the remaining actions will not be executed for any logs.
              This option overrides the nosharedscripts option and implies create option.

       shred  Delete log files using shred -u instead of unlink().  This should ensure that  logs
              are  not readable after their scheduled deletion; this is off by default.  See also
              noshred.

       shredcycles count
              Asks GNU shred(1) to overwrite log files count times before deletion.  Without this
              option, shred's default will be used.

       start count
              This  is the number to use as the base for rotation. For example, if you specify 0,
              the logs will be created with a .0 extension as they are rotated from the  original
              log  files.   If  you specify 9, log files will be created with a .9, skipping 0-8.
              Files will still  be  rotated  the  number  of  times  specified  with  the  rotate
              directive.

       su user group
              Rotate  log files set under this user and group instead of using default user/group
              (usually root). user specifies the user name used for rotation and group  specifies
              the  group  used  for  rotation.  If  the user/group you specify here does not have
              sufficient privilege to make files with the ownership you've specified in a  create
              instruction, it will cause an error.

       tabooext [+] list
              The  current  taboo  extension  list  is  changed  (see  the  include directive for
              information on the taboo extensions). If a + precedes the list of  extensions,  the
              current  taboo  extension  list is augmented, otherwise it is replaced. At startup,
              the taboo extension list contains  .rpmsave,  .rpmorig,  ~,  .disabled,  .dpkg-old,
              .dpkg-dist,  .dpkg-new,  .cfsaved,  .ucf-old,  .ucf-dist,  .ucf-new, .rpmnew, .swp,
              .cfsaved, .rhn-cfg-tmp-*

       weekly Log files are rotated if the current weekday is less than the weekday of  the  last
              rotation  or  if  more  than  a  week  has  passed since the last rotation. This is
              normally the same as rotating logs on the first day  of  the  week,  but  it  works
              better if logrotate is not run every night.

       yearly Log files are rotated if the current year is not the same as the last rotation.

FILES

       /var/lib/logrotate.status  Default state file.
       /etc/logrotate.conf        Configuration options.

SEE ALSO

       gzip(1)

NOTES

       The killall(1) program in Debian is found in the psmisc package.

AUTHORS

       Erik Troan, Preston Brown, Jan Kaluza.

       <logrotate-owner@fedoraproject.org>
       <http://fedorahosted.org/logrotate/>

       Corrections and changes for Debian by Paul Martin <pm@debian.org>