These directives may be included in a logrotate configuration
file:
Rotation
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.
If count is -1, old logs are not removed at all, except
they are affected by maxage (use with caution, may waste
performance and disk space). Default is 0.
olddir directory
Logs are moved into directory for rotation. The directory
must be on the same physical device as the log file being
rotated, unless copy, copytruncate or renamecopy option is
used. The directory 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.
noolddir
Logs are rotated in the directory they normally reside in
(this overrides the olddir option).
su user group
Rotate log files set under this user and group instead of
using default user/group (usually root). user specifies
the user used for rotation and group specifies the group
used for rotation (see the section USER AND GROUP for
details). If the user/group you specify here does not
have sufficient privilege to make files with the ownership
you've specified in a create directive, it will cause an
error. If logrotate runs with root privileges, it is
recommended to use the su directive to rotate files in
directories that are directly or indirectly in control of
non-privileged users.
Frequency
hourly Log files are rotated every hour. Note that usually
logrotate is configured to be run by cron daily. You have
to change this configuration and run logrotate hourly to
be able to really rotate logs hourly.
daily Log files are rotated every day.
weekly [weekday]
Log files are rotated once each weekday, or if the date is
advanced by at least 7 days since the last rotation (while
ignoring the exact time). The weekday interpretation is
following: 0 means Sunday, 1 means Monday, ..., 6 means
Saturday; the special value 7 means each 7 days,
irrespectively of weekday. Defaults to 0 if the weekday
argument is omitted.
monthly
Log files are rotated the first time logrotate is run in a
month (this is normally on the first day of the month).
yearly Log files are rotated if the current year is not the same
as the last rotation.
size size
Log files are rotated only if they grow bigger than 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. This option is mutually exclusive with the time
interval options, and it causes log files to be rotated
without regard for the last rotation time, if specified
after the time criteria (the last specified option takes
the precedence).
File selection
missingok
If the log file is missing, go on to the next one without
issuing an error message. See also nomissingok.
nomissingok
If a log file does not exist, issue an error. This is the
default.
ifempty
Rotate the log file even if it is empty, overriding the
notifempty option (ifempty is the default).
notifempty
Do not rotate the log if it is empty (this overrides the
ifempty option).
minage count
Do not rotate logs which are less than <count> days old.
maxage count
Remove rotated logs older than <count> days. The age is
only checked if the logfile is to be rotated. rotate -1
does not hinder removal. The files are mailed to the
configured address if maillast and mail are configured.
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, if specified after the time criteria (the
last specified option takes the precedence). When minsize
is used, both the size and timestamp of a log file are
considered.
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, if
specified after the time criteria (the last specified
option takes the precedence). When maxsize is used, both
the size and timestamp of a log file are considered.
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 ,v,
.cfsaved, .disabled, .dpkg-bak, .dpkg-del, .dpkg-dist,
.dpkg-new, .dpkg-old, .rhn-cfg-tmp-*, .rpmnew, .rpmorig,
.rpmsave, .swp, .ucf-dist, .ucf-new, .ucf-old, ~
taboopat [+] list
The current taboo glob pattern list is changed (see the
include directive for information on the taboo extensions
and patterns). If a + precedes the list of patterns, the
current taboo pattern list is augmented, otherwise it is
replaced. At startup, the taboo pattern list is empty.
Files and Folders
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 who will own the log file, and group specifies
the group the log file will belong to (see the section
USER AND GROUP for details). 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.
nocreate
New log files are not created (this overrides the create
option).
createolddir mode owner group
If the directory specified by olddir directive does not
exist, it is created. mode specifies the mode for the
olddir directory in octal (the same as chmod(2)), owner
specifies the user who will own the olddir directory, and
group specifies the group the olddir directory will belong
to (see the section USER AND GROUP
for details). This option can be disabled using the
nocreateolddir option.
nocreateolddir
olddir directory is not created by logrotate when it does
not exist.
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. The copy option allows
storing rotated log files on the different devices using
olddir directive.
nocopy Do not copy the original log file and leave it in place.
(this overrides the copy option).
copytruncate
Truncate the original log file to zero size 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. The copytruncate option allows storing
rotated log files on the different devices using olddir
directive. The copytruncate option implies norenamecopy.
nocopytruncate
Do not truncate the original log file in place after
creating a copy (this overrides the copytruncate option).
renamecopy
Log file is renamed to temporary filename in the same
directory by adding ".tmp" extension to it. After that,
postrotate script is run and log file is copied from
temporary filename to final filename. In the end,
temporary filename is removed. The renamecopy option
allows storing rotated log files on the different devices
using olddir directive. The renamecopy option implies
nocopytruncate.
norenamecopy
Do not rename and copy the original log file (this
overrides the renamecopy 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.
noshred
Do not use shred when deleting old log files. See also
shred.
shredcycles count
Asks GNU shred(1) to overwrite log files count times
before deletion. Without this option, shred's default
will be used.
allowhardlink
Rotate files with multiple hard links; this is off by
default. The target file might get emptied, e.g. with
shred or copytruncate. Use with caution, especially when
the log files are rotated as root.
noallowhardlink
Do not rotate files with multiple hard links. See also
allowhardlink.
Compression
compress
Old versions of log files are compressed with gzip(1) by
default. See also nocompress.
nocompress
Old versions of log files are not compressed. See also
compress.
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 compression is enabled. The default follows that of
the configured compression 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.
delaycompress
Postpone compression of the previous log file to the next
rotation 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 previous log file for some time.
nodelaycompress
Do not postpone compression of the previous log file to
the next rotation cycle (this overrides the delaycompress
option).
Filenames
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.
addextension ext
Log files are given the final extension ext after
rotation. If the original file already ends with ext, the
extension is not duplicated, but merely moved to the end,
that is both filename and filenameext would get rotated to
filename.1ext. If compression is used, the compression
extension (normally .gz) appears after ext.
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.
dateext
Archive old versions of log files adding a date extension
like YYYYMMDD instead of simply adding a number. The
extension may be configured using the dateformat and
dateyesterday options.
nodateext
Do not archive old versions of log files with date
extension (this overrides the dateext option).
dateformat format_string
Specify the extension for dateext using the notation
similar to strftime(3) function. Only %Y %m %d %H %M %S
%V and %s specifiers are allowed. The default value is
-%Y%m%d except hourly, which uses -%Y%m%d%H as default
value. 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 (that is first the year,
then the month then the day. For example 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.
datehourago
Use hour ago instead of current date to create the dateext
extension, so that the rotated log file has a hour in its
name that is the same as the timestamps within it. Useful
with rotate hourly.
Mail
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.
nomail Do not mail old log files to any address.
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).
Additional config files
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 or patterns, as specified
by the tabooext or taboopat directives, respectively. The
given path may start with ~/ to make it relative to the
home directory of the executing user. For security
reasons configuration files must not be group-writable nor
world-writable.
Scripts
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 (or any log fails to rotate),
the remaining actions will not be executed for any logs.
This option overrides the nosharedscripts 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. The absolute
path to the final rotated log file is passed as the second
argument to the postrotate script. If the scripts exit
with error, the remaining actions will not be executed for
the affected log only.
firstaction
script
endscript
The script is executed once before all log files that
match the wildcarded pattern are rotated, before the
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. The whole pattern is passed
to the script as its first argument. If the script exits
with an error, no further processing is done. See also
lastaction and the SCRIPTS section.
lastaction
script
endscript
The script is executed once after all log files that match
the wildcarded pattern are rotated, after the postrotate
script is run and only if at least one log is rotated.
These directives may only appear inside a log file
definition. The whole pattern is passed to the script as
its first argument. If the script exits with an error,
just an error message is shown (as this is the last
action). See also firstaction and the SCRIPTS section.
prerotate
script
endscript
The script is 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.
Normally, the absolute path to the log file is passed as
the first argument to the script. If sharedscripts is
specified, the whole pattern is passed to the script. See
also postrotate and the SCRIPTS section. See
sharedscripts and nosharedscripts for error handling.
postrotate
script
endscript
The script is executed 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 the first argument to the script and the
absolute path to the final rotated log file is passed as
the second argument to the script. If sharedscripts is
specified, the whole pattern is passed as the first
argument to the script, and the second argument is
omitted. See also prerotate and the SCRIPTS section. See
sharedscripts and nosharedscripts for error handling.
preremove
script
endscript
The script is executed once just before removal of a log
file. logrotate will pass the name of file which is soon
to be removed as the first argument to the script. See
also firstaction and the SCRIPTS section.
