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- Committer: Bazaar Package Importer
- Author(s): Paul Martin
- Date: 2004-06-11 13:51:34 UTC
- mfrom: (1.1.1 upstream)
- mto: This revision was merged to the branch mainline in revision 3.
- Revision ID: james.westby@ubuntu.com-20040611135134-xwwlztb186794ikt
Tags: 3.7-2
* Added commented out stuff in debian/rules to build a
logrotate-selinux package should Russell's move to get libselinux1
made "base" fail.
* Patch: 21-taboo-to-debug, reduces the "Ignoring..." messages of
the taboo filter from ERROR to DEBUG. (Closes: #249073)
* Patch: 30-config-h, changed to fix upstream bug with mailing
logs. (Closes: #253837)
logrotate-selinux package should Russell's move to get libselinux1
made "base" fail.
* Patch: 21-taboo-to-debug, reduces the "Ignoring..." messages of
the taboo filter from ERROR to DEBUG. (Closes: #249073)
* Patch: 30-config-h, changed to fix upstream bug with mailing
logs. (Closes: #253837)
- files added:
- README.HPUX
- debian/patches
- files modified:
- CHANGES
added
removed
logrotate.8
1
.TH LOGROTATE 8 "Thu Aug 02 2001"
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.TH LOGROTATE 8 "Wed Nov 5 2002" "Red Hat Linux" "System Administrator's Manual"
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.UC 4
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.SH NAME
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logrotate \- rotates, compresses, and mails system logs
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.SH SYNOPSIS
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\fBlogrotate\fR [\fB\-dv\fR] [\fB\-f\fR|\fB\-\-force\fR]
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[\fB\-s\fR|\fB-\-state\ \fIstatefile\fR] \fIconfig_file\fR ..
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\fBlogrotate\fR [-dv] [-f|--force] [-s|--state \fIfile\fR] \fIconfig_file\fR+
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.SH DESCRIPTION
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\fBlogrotate\fR is designed to ease administration of systems that generate
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large numbers of log files. It allows automatic rotation, compression,
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weekly, monthly, or when it grows too large.
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.P
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Normally, \fBlogrotate\fR is run as a daily cron job. It will not modify
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a log more than once in one day unless the criterion for that log is
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based on the log's size and \fBlogrotate\fR is being run more than once
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each day, or unless the \fB-f\fR or \fB-\-force\fR option is used.
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a log multiple times in one day unless the criterium for that log is
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based on the log's size and \fBlogrotate\fR is being run multiple times
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each day, or unless the \fB-f\fR or \fB-force\fR option is used.
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.P
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Any number of config files may be given on the command line. Later config
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files may override the options given in earlier files, so the order
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in which the \fBlogrotate\fR config files are listed is important.
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in which the \fBlogrotate\fR config files are listed in is important.
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Normally, a single config file which includes any other config files
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which are needed should be used. See below for more information on how
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to use the \fBinclude\fR directive to accomplish this. If a directory
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to use the \fIinclude\fR directive to accomplish this. If a directory
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is given on the command line, every file in that directory is used as
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a config file.
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.P
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be made to the logs or to the \fBlogrotate\fR state file.
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.TP
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\fB-f\fR, \fB-\-force\fR
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\fB-f, -\-force\fR
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Tells \fBlogrotate\fR to force the rotation, even if it doesn't think
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this is necessary. Sometimes this is useful after adding new entries to
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a \fBlogrotate\fR config file, or if old log files have been removed
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by hand, as the new files will be created, and logging will continue
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correctly.
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.TP
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\fB-s\fR, \fB-\-state\fR \fIstatefile\fR
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\fBlogrotate\fR, or if old log files have been removed by hand, as the
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new files will be created, and logging will continue correctly.
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.TP
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\fB-m, -\-mail <command>\fR
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Tells \fBlogrotate\fR which command to use when mailing logs. This
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command should accept two arguments: 1) the subject of the message, and
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2) the recipient. The command must then read a message on standard input
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and mail it to the recipient. The default mail command is \fB/bin/mail
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-s\fR.
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.TP
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\fB-s, -\-state <statefile>\fR
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Tells \fBlogrotate\fR to use an alternate state file. This is useful
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if \fBlogrotate\fR is being run as different users for various sets of
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if logrotate is being run as a different user for various sets of
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log files. The default state file is \fI/var/lib/logrotate/status\fR.
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.TP
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\fB-\-usage\fR
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Prints a short usage message.
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.TP
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\fB-v\fR, \fB--verbose\fR
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Display messages during rotation.
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.SH CONFIGURATION FILE
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\fBlogrotate\fR reads everything about the log files it should be handling
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from the series of configuration files specified on the command line. Each
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configuration file can set global options (local definitions override
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global ones, and later definitions override earlier ones) and specify
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some logfiles to rotate. A simple configuration file looks like this:
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a logfile to rotate. A simple configuration file looks like this:
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.nf
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.ta +3i
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rotate 5
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weekly
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postrotate
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/sbin/killall -HUP syslogd
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/sbin/killall -HUP syslogd
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endscript
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}
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size=100k
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sharedscripts
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postrotate
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/sbin/killall -HUP httpd
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/sbin/killall -HUP httpd
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endscript
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}
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/var/log/news/* {
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/var/log/news/news.crit {
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monthly
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rotate 2
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olddir /var/log/news/old
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missingok
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postrotate
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kill -HUP `cat /var/run/inn.pid`
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kill -HUP `cat /var/run/inn.pid`
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endscript
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nocompress
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}
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The first few lines set global options; in the example, logs are
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compressed after they are rotated. Note that comments may appear
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anywhere in the config file as long as the first non-whitespace
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character on the line is a \fB#\fR.
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character on the line is a #.
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The next section of the config file defines how to handle the log file
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The next section of the config files defined how to handle the log file
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\fI/var/log/messages\fR. The log will go through five weekly rotations before
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being removed. After the log file has been rotated (but before the old
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version of the log has been compressed), the command
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The next section defines the parameters for both
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\fI/var/log/httpd/access.log\fR and \fI/var/log/httpd/error.log\fR.
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Each is rotated whenever it grows over 100k in size, and the old logs
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They are rotated whenever is grows over 100k is size, and the old logs
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files are mailed (uncompressed) to www@my.org after going through 5
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rotations, rather then being removed. The \fBsharedscripts\fR means that
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the \fBpostrotate\fR script will only be run once, not once for each
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log which is rotated. Note that log file names may be enclosed in
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quotes (and that quotes are required if the name contains spaces).
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Normal shell quoting rules apply, with \fB'\fR, \fB"\fR, and \fB\\\fR
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log which is rotated. Note that the double quotes around the first filename
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at the beginning of this section allows logrotate to rotate logs with
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spaces in the name. Normal shell quoting rules apply, with ', ", and \\
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characters supported.
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The last section defines the parameters for all of the files in
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considered a single rotation directive and if errors occur for more then
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one file, the log files are not compressed.
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If the directory \fI/var/log/news\fR does not exist, this will cause
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\fBlogrotate\fR to report an error. This error cannot be stopped with
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the \fBmissingok\fR directive.
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Please use wildcards with caution. If you specify *, \fBlogrotate\fR will
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rotate all files, including previously rotated ones. A way around this
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is to use the \fBolddir\fR directive or a more exact wildcard (such as *.log).
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Here is more information on the directives which may be included in
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a \fBlogrotate\fR configuration file:
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.TP
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\fBcompress\fR
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Old versions of log files are compressed with \fBgzip\fR(1) by default.
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See also \fBnocompress\fR.
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Old versions of log files are compressed with \fBgzip\fR by default. See also
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\fBnocompress\fR.
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.TP
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\fBcompresscmd\fR
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Specifies which command to use to compress log files. The default is
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\fBgzip\fR(1). See also \fBcompress\fR.
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\fBgzip\fR. See also \fBcompress\fR.
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.TP
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\fBuncompresscmd\fR
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Specifies which command to use to uncompress log files. The default is
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\fBgunzip\fR(1).
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\fBgunzip\fR.
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.TP
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\fBcompressext\fR
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in use. The default, for \fBgzip\fR, is "-9" (maximum compression).
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.TP
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\fBcopy\fR
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Make a copy of the log file, but don't change the original at all.
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This option can be used, for instance, to make a snapshot of the current
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log file, or when some other utility needs to truncate or pare the file.
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When this option is used, the \fBcreate\fR option will have no effect,
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as the old log file stays in place.
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.TP
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\fBcopytruncate\fR
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Truncate the original log file to zero size in place after creating a copy,
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instead of moving the old log file and optionally creating a new one.
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It can be used when some program cannot be told to close its logfile
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Truncate the original log file in place after creating a copy,
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instead of moving the old log file and optionally creating a new one,
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It can be used when some program can not be told to close its logfile
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and thus might continue writing (appending) to the previous log file forever.
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Note that there is a very small time slice between copying the file and
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truncating it, so some logging data might be lost.
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Immediately after rotation (before the \fBpostrotate\fR script is run)
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the log file is created (with the same name as the log file just rotated).
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\fImode\fR specifies the mode for the log file in octal (the same
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as \fBchmod\fR(2)), \fIowner\fR specifies the user name who will own the
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as \fBchmod(2)\fR), \fIowner\fR specifies the user name who will own the
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log file, and \fIgroup\fR specifies the group the log file will belong
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to. Any of the log file attributes may be omitted, in which case those
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attributes for the new file will use the same values as the original log
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.TP
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\fBdelaycompress\fR
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Postpone compression of the previous log file to the next rotation cycle.
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This only has effect when used in combination with \fBcompress\fR.
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It can be used when some program cannot be told to close its logfile
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This has only effect when used in combination with \fBcompress\fR.
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It can be used when some program can not be told to close its logfile
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and thus might continue writing to the previous log file for some time.
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.TP
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\fBextension \fIext\fR
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Log files are given the final extension \fIext\fR after rotation. If
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compression is used, the compression extension (normally \fI.gz\fR)
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compression is used, the compression extension (normally \fB.gz\fR)
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appears after \fIext\fR.
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.TP
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\fBifempty\fR
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Rotate the log file even if it is empty, overriding the \fBnotifempty\fR
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option (\fBifempty\fR is the default).
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Rotate the log file even if it is empty, overiding the \fBnotifempty\fR
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option (ifempty is the default).
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.TP
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\fBinclude \fIfile_or_directory\fR
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Reads the file given as an argument as if it was included inline where
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the \fBinclude\fR directive appears. If a directory is given, most of the
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files in that directory are read before processing of the including file
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continues. The only files which are ignored are files which are not regular
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files (such as directories and named pipes) and files whose names end
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with one of the taboo extensions, as specified by the \fBtabooext\fR
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directive. The \fBinclude\fR directive may not appear inside a log
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file definition.
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Reads the file given as an argument as if it was included inline
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where the \fBinclude\fR directive appears. If a directory is given,
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most of the files in that directory are read in alphabetic order
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before processing of the including file continues. The only files
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which are ignored are files which are not regular files (such as
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directories and named pipes) and files whose names end with one of
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the taboo extensions, as specified by the \fBtabooext\fR directive.
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The \fBinclude\fR directive may not appear inside of a log file
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definition.
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.TP
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\fBmail \fIaddress\fR
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When a log is rotated out of existence, it is mailed to \fIaddress\fR. If
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When a log is rotated out-of-existence, it is mailed to \fIaddress\fR. If
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no mail should be generated by a particular log, the \fBnomail\fR directive
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may be used.
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.TP
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\fBnocompress\fR
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Old versions of log files are not compressed. See also \fBcompress\fR.
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Old versions of log files are not compressed with \fBgzip\fR. See also
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\fBcompress\fR.
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.TP
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\fBnocopy\fR
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Do not copy the original log file and leave it in place.
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(this overrides the \fBcopy\fR option).
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.TP
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\fBnocopytruncate\fR
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.TP
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\fBnomail\fR
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Do not mail old log files to any address.
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Don't mail old log files to any address.
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.TP
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\fBnomissingok\fR
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.TP
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\fBnoolddir\fR
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Logs are rotated in the directory they normally reside in (this
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Logs are rotated in the same directory the log normally resides in (this
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overrides the \fBolddir\fR option).
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.TP
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\fBnosharedscripts\fR
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Run \fBprerotate\fR and \fBpostrotate\fR scripts for every log that
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Run \fBprerotate\fR and \fBpostrotate\fR scripts for every script which
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is rotated (this is the default, and overrides the \fBsharedscripts\fR
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option).
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.TP
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\fBolddir \fIdirectory\fR
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Logs are moved into \fIdirectory\fR for rotation. The \fIdirectory\fR must
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be on the same physical device as the log file being rotated. When this
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option is used all old versions of the log end up in \fIdirectory\fR. This
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option may be overridden by the \fBnoolddir\fR option.
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Logs are moved into \fIdirectory\fR for rotation. The \fIdirectory\fR
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must be on the same physical device as the log file being rotated,
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and is assumed to be relative to the directory holding the log file
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unless an absolute path name is specified. When this option is used all
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old versions of the log end up in \fIdirectory\fR. This option may be
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overriden by the \fBnoolddir\fR option.
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.TP
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\fBpostrotate\fR/\fBendscript\fR
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The lines between \fBpostrotate\fR and \fBendscript\fR (both of which
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must appear on lines by themselves) are executed after the log file is
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rotated. These directives may only appear inside a log file definition.
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See also \fBprerotate\fR.
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rotated. These directives may only appear inside of a log file definition.
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See \fBprerotate\fR as well.
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.TP
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\fBprerotate\fR/\fBendscript\fR
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The lines between \fBprerotate\fR and \fBendscript\fR (both of which
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must appear on lines by themselves) are executed before the log file is
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rotated. These directives may only appear inside a log file definition.
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See also \fBpostrotate\fR.
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rotated and only if the log will actually be rotated. These directives
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may only appear inside of a log file definition. See \fBpostrotate\fR
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as well.
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.TP
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\fBfirstaction\fR/\fBendscript\fR
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The lines between \fBfirstaction\fR and \fBendscript\fR (both of which
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must appear on lines by themselves) are executed once before all log
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files that match the wildcarded pattern are rotated, before prerotate script
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is run and only if at least one log will actually be rotated. These directives
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may only appear inside of a log file definition. See \fBlastaction\fR as well.
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.TP
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\fBlastaction\fR/\fBendscript\fR
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The lines between \fBlastaction\fR and \fBendscript\fR (both of which
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must appear on lines by themselves) are executed once after all log
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files that match the wildcarded pattern are rotated, after postrotate script
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is run and only if at least one log is rotated. These directives may only
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appear inside of a log file definition. See \fBlastaction\fR as well.
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.TP
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\fBrotate \fIcount\fR
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Log files are rotated \fIcount\fR times before being removed or mailed to the
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Log files are rotated <count> times before being removed or mailed to the
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address specified in a \fBmail\fR directive. If \fIcount\fR is 0, old versions
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are removed rather then rotated.
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.TP
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\fBsize \fIsize\fR
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Log files are rotated when they grow bigger then \fIsize\fR bytes. If
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\fIsize\fR is followed by \fIM\fR, the size if assumed to be in megabytes.
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If the \fIk\fR is used, the size is in kilobytes. So \fBsize 100\fR,
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\fIsize 100k\fR, and \fIsize 100M\fR are all valid.
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.TP
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\fBsharedscripts\fR
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Normally, \fBprerotate\fR and \fBpostrotate\fR scripts are run for each
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Normally, \fBprescript\fR and \fBpostscript\fR scripts are run for each
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log which is rotated, meaning that a single script may be run multiple
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times for log file entries which match multiple files (such as the
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\fI/var/log/news/*\fR example). If \fBsharedscript\fR is specified, the scripts
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/var/log/news/* example). If \fBsharedscript\fR is specified, the scripts
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are only run once, no matter how many logs match the wildcarded pattern.
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A side effect of this option is that the scripts are always executed, even
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if no logs are rotated. If this directive is not specified, the scripts
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are run only if logs are actually rotated. This overrides the
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\fBnosharedscripts\fR option.
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.TP
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\fBsize \fIsize\fR[\fBM\fR|\fBk\fR]
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Log files are rotated when they grow bigger than \fIsize\fR bytes. If
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\fIsize\fR is followed by \fBM\fR, the size is assumed to be in megabytes.
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If \fBk\fR is used, the size is in kilobytes. So \fBsize 100\fR,
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\fBsize 100k\fR, and \fBsize 100M\fR are all valid.
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.TP
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\fBtabooext\fR [\fB+\fR] \fIlist\fR
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However, if none of the logs in the pattern require rotating, the scripts
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will not be run at all. This option overrides the \fbnosharedscripts\fR
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option.
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.TP
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\fBstart \fIcount\fR
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This is the number to use as the base for rotation. For example, if
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you specify 0, the logs will be created with a .0 extension as they are
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rotated from the original log files. If you specify 9, log files will
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be created with a .9, skipping 0-8. Files will still be rotated the
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number of times specified with the \fBcount\fR directive.
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.TP
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\fBtabooext\fR [+] \fIlist\fR
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The current taboo extension list is changed (see the \fBinclude\fR directive
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for information on the taboo extensions). If \fB+\fR precedes \fIlist\fR,
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the current taboo extension list is augmented by \fIlist\fR, otherwise
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it is replaced. At startup, the taboo extension list
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contains .rpmorig, .rpmsave, .dpkg-dist, .dpkg-old, .dpkg-new, .disabled,
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,v, .swp, .rpmnew, and ~. The members of the list are separated by spaces,
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not commas.
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for information on the taboo extensions). If a + precedes the list of
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extensions, the current taboo extension list is augmented, otherwise it
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is replaced. At startup, the taboo extension list
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contains .rpmorig, .rpmsave, ,v, .swp, .rpmnew, and ~.
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.TP
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\fBweekly\fR
346
Log files are rotated if the current weekday is less than the weekday
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of the last rotation or if more than a week has passed since the last
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Log files are rotated if the current weekday is less then the weekday
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of the last rotation or if more then a week has passed since the last
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rotation. This is normally the same as rotating logs on the first day
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of the week, but works better if \fBlogrotate\fR is not run every
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of the week, but it works better if \fIlogrotate\fR is not run every
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night.
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.SH FILES
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Configuration options.
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.SH SEE ALSO
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.BR gzip (1)
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.SH NOTES
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The \fBkillall\fR(1) program in Debian is found in the \fIpsmisc\fR package.
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.IR gzip (1)
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404
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.SH AUTHORS
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.nf
Loggerhead is a web-based interface for Breezy
Version: 2.0.1