logrotate configuration

Topic: Monitoring basics

Summary

Configure logrotate to rotate application or system logs by size or date. Prevents disk full. Use when logs grow without bound.

Intent: How-to

Quick answer

  • Add file in /etc/logrotate.d/. Specify path, size or daily, rotate count, compress.
  • Test with logrotate -d and logrotate -f. Cron runs logrotate daily.
  • Use postrotate to tell app to reopen log file.

Prerequisites

Steps

  1. Config file

    Create file in /etc/logrotate.d/. Set path, size or daily, rotate, compress.

  2. Postrotate

    Add postrotate script if app must reopen log.

  3. Test

    Run logrotate -d then -f. Check files.

Summary

Add logrotate config. Postrotate if needed. Test.

Prerequisites

Steps

Step 1: Config file

Create config in /etc/logrotate.d/.

Step 2: Postrotate

Postrotate script for app reopen.

Step 3: Test

Dry run and force. Check files.

Verification

  • Logs rotate. Disk stable.

Troubleshooting

No rotate — Check path and cron. App loses log — Use postrotate.

Next steps

Continue to