The logrotate package allows automatic rotation, compression, removal, and mailing of log files.
This package is known to build and work properly using an LFS-7.6 platform.
Download (HTTP): http://fedorahosted.org/releases/l/o/logrotate/logrotate-3.8.7.tar.gz
Download MD5 sum: 99e08503ef24c3e2e3ff74cc5f3be213
Download size: 64 KB
Estimated disk space required: 1.3 MB
Estimated build time: less than 0.1 SBU
Fcron-3.2.0 (runtime)
An MTA (runtime)
User Notes: http://wiki.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/wiki/logrotate
Install logrotate by running the following command:
make
To test the results, issue: make test.
Now, as the root
user:
make MANDIR=/usr/share/man install
MANDIR=/usr/share/man
: Ensure the man
pages are installed in the correct location.
Logrotate needs a configuration
file, which must be passed as an argument to the command when
executed. Create the file as the root
user:
cat > /etc/logrotate.conf << EOF # Begin of /etc/logrotate.conf # Rotate log files weekly weekly # Don't mail logs to anybody nomail # If the log file is empty, it will not be rotated notifempty # Number of backups that will be kept # This will keep the 2 newest backups only rotate 2 # Create new empty files after rotating old ones # This will create empty log files, with owner # set to root, group set to sys, and permissions 644 create 0664 root sys # Compress the backups with gzip compress # No packages own lastlog or wtmp -- rotate them here /var/log/wtmp { monthly create 0664 root utmp rotate 1 } /var/log/lastlog { monthly rotate 1 } # Some packages drop log rotation info in this directory # so we include any file in it. include /etc/logrotate.d # End of /etc/logrotate.conf EOF chmod -v 0644 /etc/logrotate.conf
Now create the /etc/logrotate.d
directory as the root
user:
mkdir -p /etc/logrotate.d
At this point additional log rotation commands can be entered,
typically in the /etc/logrotate.d
directory. For example:
cat > /etc/logrotate.d/sys.log << EOF /var/log/sys.log { # If the log file is larger than 100kb, rotate it size 100k rotate 5 weekly postrotate /bin/killall -HUP syslogd endscript } EOF chmod -v 0644 /etc/logrotate.d/sys.log
You can designate multiple files in one entry:
cat > /etc/logrotate.d/example.log << EOF file1 file2 file3 { ... postrotate ... endscript } EOF chmod -v 0644 /etc/logrotate.d/example.log
You can use in the same line the list of files: file1 file2 file3. See the logrotate man page or http://www.techrepublic.com/article/manage-linux-log-files-with-logrotate/ for more examples.
The command logrotate
/etc/logrotate.conf can be run manually, however,
the command should be run daily. Other useful commands are
logrotate -d
/etc/logrotate.conf for debugging purposes and
logrotate -f
/etc/logrotate.conf forcing the logrotate commands
to be run immediately. Combining the previous options -df
, you can debug the effect of the force command.
When debugging, the command is only simulated, not really run,
thus, eventual non-existing errors appear, when some intermediate
files are expected, because they are not actually created.
To set up Fcron-3.2.0 to run logrotate ... at 3AM daily, root's crontab should be edited to add:
0 3 * * * /usr/sbin/logrotate /etc/logrotate.conf
Last updated on 2014-09-16 16:24:33 -0700