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LOGROTATE(8)		 System Administrators Manual		 LOGROTATE(8)



NAME
       logrotate - rotates, compresses, and mails system logs

SYNOPSIS
       logrotate [-dv] [-f|--force] [-s|--state statefile] config_file ..

DESCRIPTION
       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 logs 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 con
       fig 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
       -d     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 doesnt	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 log
	      ging will continue correctly.


       -m, --mail 
	      Tells logrotate which command to use  when  mailing  logs.  This
	      command  should accept two arguments: 1) the subject of the mes
	      sage, 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 /usr/bin/mail -s.


       -s, --state 
	      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/sta
	      tus.


       --usage
	      Prints a short usage message.


       -v, --verbose
	      Display messages during rotation.


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 over
       ride global ones, and later  definitions  override  earlier  ones)  and
       specify some 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/news.crit {
	   monthly
	   rotate 2
	   olddir /var/log/news/old
	   missingok
	   postrotate
	       kill -HUP cat /var/run/inn.pid
	   endscript
	   nocompress
       }

       The first few lines set global options; in the example, logs  are  com
       pressed 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 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 /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.    Each   is
       rotated	whenever it grows over 100k in size, and the old log 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 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 last section defines  the  parameters  for  all  of	the  files  in
       /var/log/news.  Each  file is rotated on a monthly basis.  This is con
       sidered a single rotation directive and if errors occur for  more  than
       one file, the log files are not compressed.

       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).

       If the directory /var/log/news does not exist, this will  cause	logro
       tate  to report an error. This error cannot be stopped with the missin
       gok directive.

       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(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 com
	      pression	is  enabled.   The default follows that of the default
	      compression command (.gz).


       compressoptions
	      Command line options may be passed to the  compression  program,
	      if  one is in use.  The default, for gzip, is "-9" (maximum com
	      pression).


       copy   Make a copy of the log file, but dont 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 pare 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 cre
	      ating 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 truncat
	      ing 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
	      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 daily extension like
	      YYYYMMDD instead of simply adding a number.


       delaycompress
	      Postpone compression of the previous log file to the next  rota
	      tion  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 previ
	      ous log file for some time.


       extension ext
	      Log files are given the final extension ext after  rotation.  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, as specified by the tabooext
	      directive.  The include directive may not appear	inside	a  log
	      file definition.


       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  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.


       missingok
	      If  the log file is missing, go on to the next one without issu
	      ing 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).


       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  which  is
	      rotated  (this  is  the default, and overrides the sharedscripts
	      option).


       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 after the log file
	      is rotated. These directives may only appear inside a  log  file
	      definition.  See also prerotate.


       prerotate/endscript
	      The  lines  between  prerotate and endscript (both of which must
	      appear on lines by themselves) are executed 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.   See
	      also postrotate.


       firstaction/endscript
	      The  lines between firstaction and endscript (both of which must
	      appear on lines by themselves) are executed once before all  log
	      files that match the wildcarded pattern are rotated, before pre
	      rotate script is run and only if at least one log will  actually
	      be  rotated.  These  directives  may only appear inside of a log
	      file definition. See lastaction as well.


       lastaction/endscript
	      The lines between lastaction and endscript (both of  which  must
	      appear  on  lines by themselves) are executed 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 def
	      inition. 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.


       sharedscripts
	      Normally,  prerotate and postrotate scripts are run for each log
	      which is rotated, meaning that a single script may be run multi
	      ple  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.  However, if none of the logs in the pattern
	      require  rotating,  the  scripts	will  not  be run at all. This
	      option overrides the nosharedscripts option and  implies	create
	      option.


       size size[G|M|k]
	      Log  files are rotated when they grow bigger than size bytes. If
	      size is followed by M, the size if assumed to be	in  megabytes.
	      If  the  G  suffix  is used, the size is in gigabytes.  If the k
	      suffix is used, the size is in  kilobytes.  So  size  100,  size
	      100k, size 100M and size 1G are all valid.


       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.


       tabooext [+] list
	      The current taboo extension list is  changed  (see  the  include
	      directive  for information on the taboo extensions). If a + pre
	      cedes list, the current taboo extension  list  is  augmented  by
	      list,  otherwise it is replaced. At startup, the taboo extension
	      list contains .rpmorig, .rpmsave, .dpkg-dist, .dpkg-old,	.dpkg-
	      new,  .disabled,	,v,  .swp,  .rpmnew, and ~. The members of the
	      list are separated by spaces, not commas.



       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 if logrotate is not being
	      run every night a log rotation will happen at  the  first  valid
	      opportunity.


FILES
       /var/lib/logrotate/status  Default state file.
       /etc/logrotate.conf	  Configuration options.

SEE ALSO
       gzip(1)

NOTES
       The killall(1) program in Debian is found in the psmisc package.

AUTHORS
       Erik Troan 
       Preston Brown 
       Corrections and changes for Debian by Paul Martin 



4th Berkeley Distribution	Wed Nov 5 2002			  LOGROTATE(8)




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