bionic (8) logrotate.8.gz

Provided by: logrotate_3.11.0-0.1ubuntu1_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.

       -l <log_file>
              Tells logrotate to log verbose output into the log_file. The verbose output logged to that file is
              the  same as when running logrotate with -v switch. The log file is overwritten on every logrotate
              execution.

       -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 /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 #.

       Values  are separated from directives by whitespace and/or an optional =.  Numbers must be specified in a
       format understood by strtoul(3).

       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).

       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.

       createolddir mode owner group
              If the directory specified by olddir directive does not exist, it is created. mode  specifies  the
              mode  for  the olddir directory in octal (the same as chmod(2)), owner specifies the user name who
              will own the olddir directory, and group specifies the group the olddir directory will belong  to.
              This option can be disabled using the nocreateolddir 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  %H  %M %S %V and %s specifiers are allowed.  The default value is -%Y%m%d except hourly, which
              uses -%Y%m%d%H as default value.  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.

       addextension ext
              Log files are given the final extension ext after rotation. If the original file already ends with
              ext, the extension is not duplicated, but  merely  moved  to  the  end,  i.e.  both  filename  and
              filenameext  would get rotated to filename.1ext. If compression is used, the compression extension
              (normally .gz) appears after ext.

       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  or patterns, as specified by the tabooext or taboopat directives,
              respectively.

       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).

       minage count
              Do not rotate logs which are less than <count> days old.

       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).

       nocreateolddir
              olddir directory is not created by logrotate when it does not exist.

       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, unless copy, copytruncate or renamecopy option is used. The directory
              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. Default is 0.

       renamecopy
              Log file is renamed to temporary filename in the same directory by adding ".tmp" extension to  it.
              After  that,  postrotate  script  is  run  and log file is copied from temporary filename to final
              filename. This allows storing rotated log files on the different devices using  olddir  directive.
              In the end, temporary filename is removed.

       size size
              Log files are rotated only if they grow bigger than 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-*

       taboopat [+] list
              The current taboo glob pattern list is changed (see the include directive for information  on  the
              taboo  extensions  and  patterns). If a + precedes the list of patterns, the current taboo pattern
              list is augmented, otherwise it is replaced. At startup, the taboo pattern list is empty.

       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)

       <https://github.com/logrotate/logrotate>

AUTHORS

       Erik Troan, Preston Brown, Jan Kaluza.

       <https://github.com/logrotate/logrotate>