The logrotate package allows automatic rotation, compression, removal, and mailing of log files.
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Download (HTTP): https://github.com/logrotate/logrotate/releases/download/3.22.0/logrotate-3.22.0.tar.xz
Download MD5 sum: 2386501a53ff086f44eeada2b27d50b8
Download size: 172 KB
Estimated disk space required: 2.6 MB (add 38 MB for tests)
Estimated build time: less than 0.1 SBU (add 0.1 SBU for tests)
Fcron-3.2.1 (runtime)
An MTA (runtime)
Install logrotate by running the following command:
./configure --prefix=/usr && make
To test the results, issue: make test. Two tests fail if an MTA is not installed.
Now, as the root
user:
make install
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 /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 664
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 /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 https://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 commands are only simulated and are not
actually run. As a result, errors about files not existing will
eventually appear because the files are not actually created.
To run the logrotate
command daily, if you've installed Fcron-3.2.1 and
completed the section on periodic jobs, execute the
following commands, as the root
user, to create a daily cron job:
cat > /etc/cron.daily/logrotate.sh << "EOF" &&
#!/bin/bash
/usr/sbin/logrotate /etc/logrotate.conf
EOF
chmod 754 /etc/cron.daily/logrotate.sh