LOGROTATE(8)						   System Administrator's Manual					      LOGROTATE(8)

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, compres-
       sion, 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 multiple times in one day unless the criterion for  that  log	is
       based on the log's size and logrotate is being run multiple times 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
	      /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.

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 files defined 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.  They are 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 the double quotes around the first filename at the beginning  of  this  section  allows  logrotate	to
       rotate logs with spaces in the name. 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.  See also compress.

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

       compressext
	      Specifies which extension to use on compressed logfiles, if compression is enabled.  The default follows that of the configured com-
	      pression 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 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 con-
	      figured 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 com-
	      press.  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 config-
	      uration 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 Don't 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 same directory the log normally resides 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 pat-
	      tern 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.

       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)

       <http://fedorahosted.org/logrotate/>

AUTHORS

       Erik Troan, Preston Brown, Jan Kaluza.

       <logrotate-owner@fedoraproject.org>

Linux								  Wed Nov 5 2002						      LOGROTATE(8)