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NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | OPTIONS | CONFIGURATION FILE | FILES | SEE ALSO | AUTHORS | COLOPHON |
LOGROTATE(8) System Administrator's Manual LOGROTATE(8)
logrotate ‐ rotates, compresses, and mails system logs
logrotate [--debug] [--verbose] [--log file] [--force] [--state file]
[--mail command] config_file [config_file2 ...]
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.
-?, --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
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, --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, for example to display messages during
rotation.
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 recipient@example.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
/usr/bin/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 recipient@example.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:
DIRECTIVES
These directives 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
(that is first the year, then the month then the day. For
example 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, that is 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 ,v, .cfsaved, .disabled, .dpkg-dist,
.dpkg-new, .dpkg-old, .rhn-cfg-tmp-*, .rpmnew, .rpmorig,
.rpmsave, .swp, .ucf-dist, .ucf-new, .ucf-old, ~
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 [weekday]
Log files are rotated once each weekday, or if the date is
advanced by at least 7 days since the last rotation (while
ignoring the exact time). The weekday intepretation is
following: 0 means Sunday, 1 means Monday, ..., 6 means
Saturday; the special value 7 means each 7 days,
irrespectively of weekday. Defaults to 0 if the weekday
argument is omitted.
yearly Log files are rotated if the current year is not the same as
the last rotation.
/var/lib/logrotate.status Default state file.
/etc/logrotate.conf Configuration options.
chmod(2), gunzip(1), gzip(1), mail(1), shred(1), strftime(3),
strtoul(3), <https://github.com/logrotate/logrotate>
Erik Troan, Preston Brown, Jan Kaluza.
<https://github.com/logrotate/logrotate>
This page is part of the logrotate (simplify the administration of
log files) project. Information about the project can be found at
⟨https://github.com/logrotate/logrotate⟩. If you have a bug report
for this manual page, see
⟨https://github.com/logrotate/logrotate/issues⟩. This page was
obtained from the project's upstream Git repository
⟨https://github.com/logrotate/logrotate.git⟩ on 2017-07-05. If you
discover any rendering problems in this HTML version of the page, or
you believe there is a better or more up-to-date source for the page,
or you have corrections or improvements to the information in this
COLOPHON (which is not part of the original manual page), send a mail
to man-pages@man7.org
Linux 3.12.2.1_05e2 LOGROTATE(8)