{
    "mode": "man",
    "parameter": "LOGROTATE",
    "section": "8",
    "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/LOGROTATE/8/json",
    "generated": "2026-09-24T07:46:10Z",
    "synopsis": "logrotate  [--force]  [--debug]  [--state  file]  [--skip-state-lock] [--wait-for-state-lock]\n[--verbose] [--log file] [--mail command] configfile [configfile2 ...]",
    "sections": {
        "NAME": {
            "content": "logrotate ‐ rotates, compresses, and mails system logs\n\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "SYNOPSIS": {
            "content": "logrotate  [--force]  [--debug]  [--state  file]  [--skip-state-lock] [--wait-for-state-lock]\n[--verbose] [--log file] [--mail command] configfile [configfile2 ...]\n\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "DESCRIPTION": {
            "content": "logrotate is designed to ease administration of systems that generate large  numbers  of  log\nfiles.   It  allows automatic rotation, compression, removal, and mailing of log files.  Each\nlog file may be handled daily, weekly, monthly, or when it grows too large.\n\nNormally, logrotate is run as a daily cron job.  It will not modify a log more than  once  in\none  day  unless the criterion for that log is based on the log's size and logrotate is being\nrun more than once each day, or unless the -f or --force option is used.\n\nAny number of config files may be given on the command line.  Later config files may override\nthe options given in earlier files, so the order in which  the  logrotate  config  files  are\nlisted  is  important.   Normally, a single config file which includes any other config files\nwhich are needed should be used.  See below for more information on how to  use  the  include\ndirective  to  accomplish  this.   If a directory is given on the command line, every file in\nthat directory is used as a config file.\n\nIf no command line arguments are given, logrotate will print version and  copyright  informa‐\ntion,  along  with a short usage summary.  If any errors occur while rotating logs, logrotate\nwill exit with non-zero status, although the state file will be updated.\n\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "OPTIONS": {
            "content": "",
            "subsections": [
                {
                    "name": "-f --force",
                    "content": "Tells logrotate to force the rotation, even if it doesn't  think  this  is  necessary.\nSometimes  this  is  useful after adding new entries to a logrotate config file, or if\nold log files have been removed by hand, as the new files will be created, and logging\nwill continue correctly.\n\n",
                    "flag": "-f",
                    "long": "--force"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-d --debug",
                    "content": "Turn on debug mode, which means that no changes are made to the logs and the logrotate\nstate file is not updated.  Only debug messages are printed.\n\n",
                    "flag": "-d",
                    "long": "--debug"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-s --state _",
                    "content": "Tells logrotate to use an alternate state file.  This is useful if logrotate is  being\nrun  as a different user for various sets of log files.  To prevent parallel execution\nlogrotate by default acquires a lock on the state  file,  if  it  cannot  be  acquired\nlogrotate  will  exit with value 3.  The default state file is /var/lib/logrotate/sta‐\ntus.  If /dev/null is given as the state file, then logrotate will not try to lock  or\nwrite the state file.\n\n",
                    "flag": "-s",
                    "long": "--state"
                },
                {
                    "name": "--skip-state-lock",
                    "content": "Do not lock the state file, for example if locking is unsupported or prohibited.\n\n",
                    "long": "--skip-state-lock"
                },
                {
                    "name": "--wait-for-state-lock",
                    "content": "Wait  until lock on the state file is released by another logrotate process.  This op‐\ntion may cause logrotate to wait indefinitely.  Use with caution.\n\n",
                    "long": "--wait-for-state-lock"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-v --verbose",
                    "content": "Turns on verbose mode, for example to display messages during rotation.\n\n",
                    "flag": "-v",
                    "long": "--verbose"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-l --log _",
                    "content": "Tells logrotate to log verbose output into the logfile.  The verbose output logged to\nthat file is the same as when running logrotate with -v switch.  The log file is over‐\nwritten on every logrotate execution.\n\n",
                    "flag": "-l",
                    "long": "--log"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-m --mail _",
                    "content": "Tells logrotate which command to use when mailing logs.  This  command  should  accept\nthe following arguments:\n\n1) the subject of the message given with '-s subject'\n2) the recipient.\n\nThe  command  must then read a message on standard input and mail it to the recipient.\nThe default mail command is /usr/bin/mail.\n\n",
                    "flag": "-m",
                    "long": "--mail"
                },
                {
                    "name": "--usage",
                    "content": "Prints a short usage message.\n\n\n-?, --help\nPrints help message.\n\n",
                    "long": "--usage"
                },
                {
                    "name": "--version",
                    "content": "Display version information.\n\n\n",
                    "long": "--version"
                }
            ]
        },
        "CONFIGURATION FILE": {
            "content": "logrotate reads everything about the log files it should be handling from the series of  con‐\nfiguration  files  specified on the command line.  Each configuration file can set global op‐\ntions (local definitions override global ones, and later definitions override  earlier  ones)\nand  specify  logfiles to rotate.  Global options do not affect preceding include directives.\nA simple configuration file looks like this:\n\n# sample logrotate configuration file\ncompress\n\n/var/log/messages {\nrotate 5\nweekly\npostrotate\n/usr/bin/killall -HUP syslogd\nendscript\n}\n\n\"/var/log/httpd/access.log\" /var/log/httpd/error.log {\nrotate 5\nmail recipient@example.org\nsize 100k\nsharedscripts\npostrotate\n/usr/bin/killall -HUP httpd\nendscript\n}\n\n/var/log/news/* {\nmonthly\nrotate 2\nolddir /var/log/news/old\nmissingok\nsharedscripts\npostrotate\nkill -HUP $(cat /var/run/inn.pid)\nendscript\nnocompress\n}\n\n~/log/*.log {}\n\n\n\nThe first few lines set global options; in the example, logs are compressed  after  they  are\nrotated.  Note that comments may appear anywhere in the config file as long as the first non-\nwhitespace character on the line is a #.\n\nValues  are  separated  from  directives by whitespace and/or an optional =.  Numbers must be\nspecified in a format understood by strtoul(3).\n\nThe next section of the config file defines how to handle  the  log  file  /var/log/messages.\nThe  log  will go through five weekly rotations before being removed.  After the log file has\nbeen rotated (but before the old version  of  the  log  has  been  compressed),  the  command\n/usr/bin/killall -HUP syslogd will be executed.\n\nThe   next   section   defines   the   parameters   for  both  /var/log/httpd/access.log  and\n/var/log/httpd/error.log.  Each is rotated whenever it grows over 100 kilobytes in size,  and\nthe  old  logs files are mailed (uncompressed) to recipient@example.org after going through 5\nrotations, rather than being removed.  The sharedscripts means  that  the  postrotate  script\nwill  only be run once (after the old logs have been compressed), not once for each log which\nis rotated.  Note that log file names may be enclosed in quotes (and that quotes are required\nif the name contains spaces).  Normal shell quoting rules apply, with ', \", and \\  characters\nsupported.\n\nThe  next  section defines the parameters for all of the files in /var/log/news. Each file is\nrotated on a monthly basis.\n\nThe last section uses tilde expansion to rotate log files in the home directory of  the  cur‐\nrent  user.  This is only available, if your glob library supports tilde expansion.  GNU glob\ndoes support this.\n\nPlease use wildcards with caution.  If you specify *, logrotate will rotate  all  files,  in‐\ncluding  previously rotated ones.  A way around this is to use the olddir directive or a more\nexact wildcard (such as *.log).\n\nPlease note, by default when using systemd(1), the option ProtectSystem=full is  set  in  the\nlogrotate.service file.  This prevents logrotate from modifying logs in /etc and /usr.\n\nHere is more information on the directives which may be included in a logrotate configuration\nfile:\n\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "CONFIGURATION FILE DIRECTIVES": {
            "content": "These directives may be included in a logrotate configuration file:\n\n",
            "subsections": [
                {
                    "name": "Rotation",
                    "content": "rotate count\nLog files are rotated count times before being removed or mailed to the address speci‐\nfied  in  a  mail  directive.  If count is 0, old versions are removed rather than ro‐\ntated.  If count is -1, old logs are not removed at all, except they are  affected  by\nmaxage (use with caution, may waste performance and disk space).  Default is 0.\n\n\nolddir directory\nLogs  are moved into directory for rotation.  The directory must be on the same physi‐\ncal device as the log file being rotated, unless copy, copytruncate or renamecopy  op‐\ntion  is  used.   The directory is assumed to be relative to the directory holding the\nlog file unless an absolute path name is specified.  When this option is used all  old\nversions  of the log end up in directory.  This option may be overridden by the noold‐\ndir option.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "noolddir",
                    "content": "Logs are rotated in the directory they normally reside in (this overrides  the  olddir\noption).\n\n\nsu user group\nRotate  log  files  set  under this user and group instead of using default user/group\n(usually root).  user specifies the user used for rotation  and  group  specifies  the\ngroup  used  for  rotation  (see  the  section  USER  AND  GROUP for details).  If the\nuser/group you specify here does not have sufficient privilege to make files with  the\nownership  you've  specified in a create directive, it will cause an error.  If logro‐\ntate runs with root privileges, it is recommended to use the su  directive  to  rotate\nfiles  in  directories  that  are  directly or indirectly in control of non-privileged\nusers.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "Frequency",
                    "content": "hourly Log files are rotated every hour.  Note that usually logrotate is configured to be run\nby cron daily (or by logrotate.timer when using systemd(1)).  You have to change  this\nconfiguration and run logrotate hourly to be able to really rotate logs hourly.\n\n\ndaily  Log files are rotated every day.\n\n\nweekly [weekday]\nLog files are rotated once each weekday, or if the date is advanced by at least 7 days\nsince  the  last rotation (while ignoring the exact time).  The weekday interpretation\nis following: 0 means Sunday, 1 means Monday, ..., 6 means Saturday; the special value\n7 means each 7 days, irrespectively of weekday.  Defaults to 0 if the weekday argument\nis omitted.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "monthly",
                    "content": "Log files are rotated the first time logrotate is run in a month (this is normally  on\nthe first day of the month).\n\n\nyearly Log files are rotated if the current year is not the same as the last rotation.\n\n\nsize size\nLog  files  are rotated only if they grow bigger than size bytes.  If size is followed\nby k, the size is assumed to be in kilobytes.  If M is used, the size is in megabytes,\nand if G is used, the size is in gigabytes. So size 100, size 100k, size 100M and size\n100G are all valid.  This option is mutually exclusive with the time interval options,\nand it causes log files to be rotated without regard for the last  rotation  time,  if\nspecified after the time criteria (the last specified option takes the precedence).\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "File selection",
                    "content": ""
                },
                {
                    "name": "missingok",
                    "content": "If  the  log  file is missing, go on to the next one without issuing an error message.\nSee also nomissingok.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "nomissingok",
                    "content": "If a log file does not exist, issue an error.  This is the default.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "ignoreduplicates",
                    "content": "Ignore any following matches of a log file.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "ifempty",
                    "content": "Rotate the log file even if it is empty, overriding the notifempty option (ifempty  is\nthe default).\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "notifempty",
                    "content": "Do not rotate the log if it is empty (this overrides the ifempty option).\n\n\nminage count\nDo not rotate logs which are less than <count> days old.\n\n\nmaxage count\nRemove  rotated  logs older than <count> days.  The age is only checked if the logfile\nis to be rotated.  rotate -1 does not hinder removal.  The files  are  mailed  to  the\nconfigured address if maillast and mail are configured.\n\n\nminsize size\nLog  files are rotated when they grow bigger than size bytes, but not before the addi‐\ntionally specified time interval (daily, weekly, monthly,  or  yearly).   The  related\nsize option is similar except that it is mutually exclusive with the time interval op‐\ntions,  and  it  causes  log  files to be rotated without regard for the last rotation\ntime, if specified after the time criteria (the last specified option takes the prece‐\ndence).  When minsize is used, both the size and timestamp of a log file  are  consid‐\nered.\n\n\nmaxsize size\nLog  files are rotated when they grow bigger than size bytes even before the addition‐\nally specified time interval (daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly).   The  related  size\noption is similar except that it is mutually exclusive with the time interval options,\nand  it  causes  log files to be rotated without regard for the last rotation time, if\nspecified after the time criteria (the last specified option  takes  the  precedence).\nWhen maxsize is used, both the size and timestamp of a log file are considered.\n\n\ntabooext [+] list\nThe current taboo extension list is changed (see the include directive for information\non  the  taboo extensions).  If a + precedes the list of extensions, the current taboo\nextension list is augmented, otherwise it is replaced.  At startup, the  taboo  exten‐\nsion  list  ,v,  .cfsaved,  .disabled,  .dpkg-bak,  .dpkg-del,  .dpkg-dist, .dpkg-new,\n.dpkg-old, .rhn-cfg-tmp-*, .rpmnew, .rpmorig,  .rpmsave,  .swp,  .ucf-dist,  .ucf-new,\n.ucf-old, ~\n\n\ntaboopat [+] list\nThe current taboo glob pattern list is changed (see the include directive for informa‐\ntion on the taboo extensions and patterns).  If a + precedes the list of patterns, the\ncurrent  taboo  pattern  list is augmented, otherwise it is replaced.  At startup, the\ntaboo pattern list is empty.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "Files and Folders",
                    "content": "create mode owner group, create owner group\nImmediately after rotation (before the postrotate script is run) the log file is  cre‐\nated  (with  the same name as the log file just rotated).  mode specifies the mode for\nthe log file in octal (the same as chmod(2)), owner specifies the user  who  will  own\nthe  log file, and group specifies the group the log file will belong to (see the sec‐\ntion USER AND GROUP for details).  Any of the log file attributes may be  omitted,  in\nwhich  case those attributes for the new file will use the same values as the original\nlog file for the omitted attributes.  This option can be disabled using  the  nocreate\noption.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "nocreate",
                    "content": "New log files are not created (this overrides the create option).\n\n\ncreateolddir mode owner group\nIf  the  directory  specified  by olddir directive does not exist, it is created. mode\nspecifies the mode for the olddir directory in octal (the  same  as  chmod(2)),  owner\nspecifies  the  user  who will own the olddir directory, and group specifies the group\nthe olddir directory will belong to (see the section USER AND GROUP\nfor details).  This option can be disabled using the nocreateolddir option.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "nocreateolddir",
                    "content": "olddir directory is not created by logrotate when it does not exist.\n\n\ncopy   Make a copy of the log file, but don't change the original at all.  This option can be\nused, for instance, to make a snapshot of the current log file,  or  when  some  other\nutility needs to truncate or parse the file.  When this option is used, the create op‐\ntion  will have no effect, as the old log file stays in place.  The copy option allows\nstoring rotated log files on the different devices using olddir directive.\n\n\nnocopy Do not copy the original log file and leave it in place.  (this overrides the copy op‐\ntion).\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "copytruncate",
                    "content": "Truncate the original log file to zero size in place after creating a copy, instead of\nmoving the old log file and optionally creating a new one.  It can be used  when  some\nprogram  cannot  be told to close its logfile and thus might continue writing (append‐\ning) to the previous log file forever.  Note that there is a very small time slice be‐\ntween copying the file and truncating it, so some logging data might  be  lost.   When\nthis  option is used, the create option will have no effect, as the old log file stays\nin place.  The copytruncate option allows storing rotated log files on  the  different\ndevices using olddir directive.  The copytruncate option implies norenamecopy.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "nocopytruncate",
                    "content": "Do  not  truncate the original log file in place after creating a copy (this overrides\nthe copytruncate option).\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "renamecopy",
                    "content": "Log file is renamed to temporary filename in the same directory by adding  \".tmp\"  ex‐\ntension  to it.  After that, postrotate script is run and log file is copied from tem‐\nporary filename to final filename.  In the end, temporary filename  is  removed.   The\nrenamecopy option allows storing rotated log files on the different devices using old‐\ndir directive.  The renamecopy option implies nocopytruncate.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "norenamecopy",
                    "content": "Do not rename and copy the original log file (this overrides the renamecopy option).\n\n\nshred  Delete log files using shred -u instead of unlink().  This should ensure that logs are\nnot  readable  after  their  scheduled  deletion;  this  is  off by default.  See also\nnoshred.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "noshred",
                    "content": "Do not use shred when deleting old log files.  See also shred.\n\n\nshredcycles count\nAsks GNU shred(1) to overwrite log files count times before  deletion.   Without  this\noption, shred's default will be used.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "allowhardlink",
                    "content": "Rotate  files with multiple hard links; this is off by default.  The target file might\nget emptied, e.g. with shred or copytruncate.  Use with caution, especially  when  the\nlog files are rotated as root.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "noallowhardlink",
                    "content": "Do not rotate files with multiple hard links.  See also allowhardlink.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "Compression",
                    "content": ""
                },
                {
                    "name": "compress",
                    "content": "Old  versions  of  log  files are compressed with gzip(1) by default.  See also nocom‐\npress.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "nocompress",
                    "content": "Old versions of log files are not compressed.  See also compress.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "compresscmd",
                    "content": "Specifies which command to use to compress log files.  The default  is  gzip(1).   See\nalso compress.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "uncompresscmd",
                    "content": "Specifies which command to use to uncompress log files.  The default is gunzip(1).\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "compressext",
                    "content": "Specifies  which  extension  to use on compressed logfiles, if compression is enabled.\nThe default follows that of the configured compression command.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "compressoptions",
                    "content": "Command line options may be passed to the compression program, if one is in use.   The\ndefault,  for  gzip(1),  is  \"-6\"  (biased  towards high compression at the expense of\nspeed).  If you use a different compression command, you may need to change  the  com‐\npressoptions to match.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "delaycompress",
                    "content": "Postpone  compression  of the previous log file to the next rotation cycle.  This only\nhas effect when used in combination with compress.  It can be used when  some  program\ncannot  be  told  to close its logfile and thus might continue writing to the previous\nlog file for some time.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "nodelaycompress",
                    "content": "Do not postpone compression of the previous log file to the next rotation cycle  (this\noverrides the delaycompress option).\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "Filenames",
                    "content": "extension ext\nLog  files with ext extension can keep it after the rotation.  If compression is used,\nthe compression extension (normally .gz) appears after ext.  For example  you  have  a\nlogfile  named  mylog.foo  and  want  to  rotate  it  to mylog.1.foo.gz instead of my‐\nlog.foo.1.gz.\n\n\naddextension ext\nLog files are given the final extension ext after rotation.  If the original file  al‐\nready  ends  with  ext,  the extension is not duplicated, but merely moved to the end,\nthat is both filename and filenameext would get rotated to filename.1ext.  If compres‐\nsion is used, the compression extension (normally .gz) appears after ext.\n\n\nstart count\nThis is the number to use as the base for rotation.  For example, if  you  specify  0,\nthe logs will be created with a .0 extension as they are rotated from the original log\nfiles.   If  you  specify 9, log files will be created with a .9, skipping 0–8.  Files\nwill still be rotated the number of times specified with the rotate directive.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "dateext",
                    "content": "Archive old versions of log files adding a date extension  like  YYYYMMDD  instead  of\nsimply  adding  a  number.   The  extension may be configured using the dateformat and\ndateyesterday options.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "nodateext",
                    "content": "Do not archive old versions of log files with date extension (this overrides the date‐\next option).\n\n\ndateformat formatstring\nSpecify the extension for dateext using the notation similar to strftime(3)  function.\nOnly %Y %m %d %H %M %S %V and %s specifiers are allowed.  The default value is -%Y%m%d\nexcept  hourly,  which  uses -%Y%m%d%H as default value.  Note that also the character\nseparating log name from the extension is part of the dateformat string.   The  system\nclock  must  be  set  past Sep 9th 2001 for %s to work correctly.  Note that the date‐\nstamps generated by this format must be lexically sortable (that is  first  the  year,\nthen  the  month  then  the day.  For example 2001/12/01 is ok, but 01/12/2001 is not,\nsince 01/11/2002 would sort lower while it is later).  This is because when using  the\nrotate  option,  logrotate  sorts all rotated filenames to find out which logfiles are\nolder and should be removed.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "dateyesterday",
                    "content": "Use yesterday's instead of today's date to create the dateext extension, so  that  the\nrotated log file has a date in its name that is the same as the timestamps within it.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "datehourago",
                    "content": "Use  hour ago instead of current date to create the dateext extension, so that the ro‐\ntated log file has a hour in its name that is the same as the  timestamps  within  it.\nUseful with rotate hourly.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "Mail",
                    "content": "mail address\nWhen a log is rotated out of existence, it is mailed to address.  If no mail should be\ngenerated by a particular log, the nomail directive may be used.\n\n\nnomail Do not mail old log files to any address.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "mailfirst",
                    "content": "When  using  the mail command, mail the just-rotated file, instead of the about-to-ex‐\npire file.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "maillast",
                    "content": "When using the mail command, mail the about-to-expire file, instead  of  the  just-ro‐\ntated file (this is the default).\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "Additional config files",
                    "content": "include fileordirectory\nReads the file given as an argument as if it was included inline where the include di‐\nrective  appears.   If  a  directory is given, most of the files in that directory are\nread in alphabetic order before processing of the including file continues.  The  only\nfiles which are ignored are files which are not regular files (such as directories and\nnamed  pipes)  and files whose names end with one of the taboo extensions or patterns,\nas specified by the tabooext or taboopat directives, respectively.  The given path may\nstart with ~/ to make it relative to the home directory of the  executing  user.   For\nsecurity reasons configuration files must not be group-writable nor world-writable.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "Scripts",
                    "content": ""
                },
                {
                    "name": "sharedscripts",
                    "content": "Normally,  prerotate  and postrotate scripts are run for each log which is rotated and\nthe absolute path to the log file is passed as first argument  to  the  script.   That\nmeans  a single script may be run multiple times for log file entries which match mul‐\ntiple files (such as the /var/log/news/* example).  If sharedscripts is specified, the\nscripts are only run once, no matter how many logs match the wildcarded  pattern,  and\nwhole  pattern is passed to them.  However, if none of the logs in the pattern require\nrotating, the scripts will not be run at all.  If the scripts exit with error (or  any\nlog  fails  to rotate), the remaining actions will not be executed for any logs.  This\noption overrides the nosharedscripts option.\n\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "nosharedscripts",
                    "content": "Run prerotate and postrotate scripts for every log file which is rotated (this is  the\ndefault,  and  overrides the sharedscripts option).  The absolute path to the log file\nis passed as first argument to the script.  The absolute path to the final rotated log\nfile is passed as the second argument to the postrotate script.  If the  scripts  exit\nwith error, the remaining actions will not be executed for the affected log only.\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "firstaction",
                    "content": "script"
                },
                {
                    "name": "endscript",
                    "content": "The script is executed once before all log files that match the wildcarded pattern are\nrotated, before the prerotate script is run and only if at least one log will actually\nbe rotated.  These directives may only appear inside a log file definition.  The whole\npattern is passed to the script as its first argument. If the script exits with an er‐\nror, no further processing is done.  See also lastaction and the SCRIPTS section.\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "lastaction",
                    "content": "script"
                },
                {
                    "name": "endscript",
                    "content": "The  script is executed once after all log files that match the wildcarded pattern are\nrotated, after the postrotate script is run and only if at least one log  is  rotated.\nThese  directives  may only appear inside a log file definition.  The whole pattern is\npassed to the script as its first argument.  If the script exits with an  error,  just\nan  error message is shown (as this is the last action).  See also firstaction and the\nSCRIPTS section.\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "prerotate",
                    "content": "script"
                },
                {
                    "name": "endscript",
                    "content": "The script is executed before the log file is rotated and only if the log  will  actu‐\nally be rotated.  These directives may only appear inside a log file definition.  Nor‐\nmally,  the  absolute  path  to  the  log  file is passed as the first argument to the\nscript.  If sharedscripts is specified, the whole pattern is  passed  to  the  script.\nSee  also  postrotate  and the SCRIPTS section.  See sharedscripts and nosharedscripts\nfor error handling.\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "postrotate",
                    "content": "script"
                },
                {
                    "name": "endscript",
                    "content": "The script is executed after the log file is rotated.  These directives may  only  ap‐\npear  inside  a  log  file definition.  Normally, the absolute path to the log file is\npassed as the first argument to the script and the absolute path to the final  rotated\nlog  file  is passed as the second argument to the script.  If sharedscripts is speci‐\nfied, the whole pattern is passed as the first argument to the script, and the  second\nargument  is  omitted.  See also prerotate and the SCRIPTS section.  See sharedscripts\nand nosharedscripts for error handling.\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "preremove",
                    "content": "script"
                },
                {
                    "name": "endscript",
                    "content": "The script is executed once just before removal of a log file.   logrotate  will  pass\nthe  name of file which is soon to be removed as the first argument to the script. See\nalso firstaction and the SCRIPTS section.\n\n"
                }
            ]
        },
        "SCRIPTS": {
            "content": "The lines between the starting keyword (e.g. prerotate) and endscript (both of which must ap‐\npear on lines by themselves) are executed (using /bin/sh).  The script inherits  some  traits\nfrom the logrotate process, including stderr, stdout, the current directory, the environment,\nand the umask.  Scripts are run as the invoking user and group, irrespective of any su direc‐\ntive.  If the --log flag was specified, file descriptor 3 is the log file.  The current work‐\ning directory is unspecified.\n\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "USER AND GROUP": {
            "content": "User  and  group  identifiers are resolved first by trying the textual representation and, in\ncase it fails, afterwards by the numeric value.\n\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "FILES": {
            "content": "/var/lib/logrotate/status   Default state file.\n/etc/logrotate.conf         Configuration options.\n\n\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "SEE ALSO": {
            "content": "chmod(2),    gunzip(1),    gzip(1),    mail(1),    shred(1),     strftime(3),     strtoul(3),\n<https://github.com/logrotate/logrotate>\n\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "AUTHORS": {
            "content": "Erik Troan, Preston Brown, Jan Kaluza.\n\n<https://github.com/logrotate/logrotate>\n\n\nLinux                                          3.21.0                                   LOGROTATE(8)",
            "subsections": []
        }
    },
    "summary": "logrotate ‐ rotates, compresses, and mails system logs",
    "flags": [
        {
            "flag": "-f",
            "long": "--force",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Tells logrotate to force the rotation, even if it doesn't 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 logging will continue correctly."
        },
        {
            "flag": "-d",
            "long": "--debug",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Turn on debug mode, which means that no changes are made to the logs and the logrotate state file is not updated. Only debug messages are printed."
        },
        {
            "flag": "-s",
            "long": "--state",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "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. To prevent parallel execution logrotate by default acquires a lock on the state file, if it cannot be acquired logrotate will exit with value 3. The default state file is /var/lib/logrotate/sta‐ tus. If /dev/null is given as the state file, then logrotate will not try to lock or write the state file."
        },
        {
            "flag": "",
            "long": "--skip-state-lock",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Do not lock the state file, for example if locking is unsupported or prohibited."
        },
        {
            "flag": "",
            "long": "--wait-for-state-lock",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Wait until lock on the state file is released by another logrotate process. This op‐ tion may cause logrotate to wait indefinitely. Use with caution."
        },
        {
            "flag": "-v",
            "long": "--verbose",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Turns on verbose mode, for example to display messages during rotation."
        },
        {
            "flag": "-l",
            "long": "--log",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Tells logrotate to log verbose output into the logfile. The verbose output logged to that file is the same as when running logrotate with -v switch. The log file is over‐ written on every logrotate execution."
        },
        {
            "flag": "-m",
            "long": "--mail",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Tells logrotate which command to use when mailing logs. This command should accept the following arguments: 1) the subject of the message given with '-s subject' 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."
        },
        {
            "flag": "",
            "long": "--usage",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Prints a short usage message. -?, --help Prints help message."
        },
        {
            "flag": "",
            "long": "--version",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Display version information."
        }
    ],
    "examples": [],
    "see_also": [
        {
            "name": "chmod",
            "section": "2",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/chmod/2/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "gunzip",
            "section": "1",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/gunzip/1/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "gzip",
            "section": "1",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/gzip/1/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "mail",
            "section": "1",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/mail/1/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "shred",
            "section": "1",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/shred/1/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "strftime",
            "section": "3",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/strftime/3/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "strtoul",
            "section": "3",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/strtoul/3/json"
        }
    ]
}