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Gzip behavior on open files?

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# 8  
Old 04-28-2013
Quote:
Originally Posted by alister
The way this is typically done during logrotation is to rename the logfile, then send a signal to the logging process to inform it that it needs to close its file descriptor and create a new logfile, and finally, compress.

Another safe alternative, though more brutish, is to shut down the logging process during rotation.
Yes this is what I thought. The problem is that the logging process is basically a black box as far as I'm concerned. I don't know if it holds a file descriptor, or just keeps atomically opening-appending-closing the file, nor do I know if it would respond to signals. It's also not possible to shut down the logging process, for various reasons but mainly because the traffic is real-time and needs to be logged as such.

Looks like there's no way to do what I need without the logging process explicitly cooperating. I guess the next best approach would be to strip only data out of the capture which definitely appears in the gz after the archiving is complete. And that's something I have no clue how to do yet... stay tuned for another thread Smilie
# 9  
Old 04-28-2013
FWIW - most "logging" processes that follow UNIX standards will close the current output file and then open another on receipt of a SIGHUP signal. Check your documentation.
# 10  
Old 04-28-2013
Quote:
Originally Posted by dan-e
Looks like there's no way to do what I need without the logging process explicitly cooperating.
You could try moving the file out of the way, as you thought of long before and I explained might actually work...
# 11  
Old 04-29-2013
Quote:
Originally Posted by Corona688
You could try moving the file out of the way, as you thought of long before and I explained might actually work...
Yeah but if it does happen to crash the process(es) dumping to the capture files, worst case scenario - it could result in a nationwide temporary SMS outage costing my company millions (and I can safely assume I will be sacked) Smilie

It's probably not worth experimenting with... Smilie
# 12  
Old 04-29-2013
Quote:
Originally Posted by dan-e
It's probably not worth experimenting with... Smilie
Yikes. Point taken. Is there any way you can just ignore the files?
# 13  
Old 04-29-2013
Quote:
Yeah but if it does happen to crash the process
What if you copy the log file before using gzip on the static copy? That way you avoid any possibility for glitch.
# 14  
Old 04-29-2013
Quote:
Originally Posted by hanson44
What if you copy the log file before using gzip on the static copy? That way you avoid any possibility for glitch.
How? It could be copied in an incomplete state...
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