Zurück zur DokumentationWithout logrotate logs grow indefinitely until they fill the disk. logrotate is pre-installed on Ubuntu/Debian and runs automatically every night.
02
Check status
bash
# See global configuration
cat /etc/logrotate.conf
# List application-specific configurations
ls /etc/logrotate.d/
# Run logrotate manually (dry run)
sudo logrotate -d /etc/logrotate.conf
# Force immediate rotation
sudo logrotate -f /etc/logrotate.conf
03
Global configuration
/etc/logrotate.conf:
# Rotate weekly by default
weekly
# Keep 4 weeks of logs
rotate 4
# Compress old logs
compress
# Don't error if file doesn't exist
missingok
# Don't rotate if file is empty
notifempty
04
Application-specific configurations
Each file in /etc/logrotate.d/ configures rotation for a service.
Nginx
bash
sudo nano /etc/logrotate.d/nginx
/var/log/nginx/*.log {
daily
missingok
rotate 14
compress
delaycompress
notifempty
create 0640 www-data adm
sharedscripts
postrotate
if [ -f /var/run/nginx.pid ]; then
kill -USR1 `cat /var/run/nginx.pid`
fi
endscript
}
Apache
bash
sudo nano /etc/logrotate.d/apache2
/var/log/apache2/*.log {
daily
missingok
rotate 14
compress
delaycompress
notifempty
create 640 root adm
sharedscripts
postrotate
if invoke-rc.d apache2 status > /dev/null 2>&1; then
invoke-rc.d apache2 reload > /dev/null 2>&1
fi
endscript
}
MySQL/MariaDB
bash
sudo nano /etc/logrotate.d/mysql
/var/log/mysql/*.log {
daily
missingok
rotate 7
compress
delaycompress
notifempty
create 640 mysql adm
sharedscripts
postrotate
mysqladmin --defaults-extra-file=/etc/mysql/debian.cnf flush-logs
endscript
}
Custom application
bash
sudo nano /etc/logrotate.d/my-app
/var/log/my-app/*.log {
daily
rotate 30
compress
delaycompress
missingok
notifempty
copytruncate
# copytruncate: copy and empty the original file
# (alternative to postrotate if app doesn't support reload)
}
05
Main options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
daily / weekly / monthly | Rotation frequency |
rotate N | How many versions to keep |
compress | Compress with gzip |
delaycompress | Compress from previous version (not the latest) |
missingok | Don't error if file is missing |
notifempty | Don't rotate if file is empty |
create MODE USER GROUP | Create new file with these permissions |
copytruncate | Copy + empty (for apps that don't support reload) |
postrotate ... endscript | Script to run after rotation |
size 100M | Rotate when exceeds 100 MB (instead of time-based) |
maxsize 500M | Rotate if exceeds this size even before period |
06
Check logrotate logs
bash
# System log for logrotate
grep logrotate /var/log/syslog | tail -20
# Status of last run
cat /var/lib/logrotate/status | head -30
07
Find logs using too much space
bash
# Largest logs on the system
sudo find /var/log -type f -name "*.log" -exec du -sh {} \; | sort -rh | head -20
# Total per folder
sudo du -sh /var/log/*
08
Manual cleanup of old logs
bash
# Delete compressed logs older than 30 days
sudo find /var/log -name "*.gz" -mtime +30 -delete
# Empty a log without deleting it (keep inode)
sudo truncate -s 0 /var/log/syslog
# Empty all Nginx logs
sudo truncate -s 0 /var/log/nginx/*.log
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