1 .\" This file was split from the newsyslog(8) manual page by Tom Rhodes
2 .\" and includes modifications as appropriate.
3 .\" The original header is included below:
5 .\" This file contains changes from the Open Software Foundation.
7 .\" from: @(#)newsyslog.8
10 .\" Copyright 1988, 1989 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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35 file is used to set log file rotation configuration for the
38 Configuration may designate that logs are rotated based on
39 size, last rotation time, or time of day.
42 file can also be used to designate secure permissions to log
43 files at rotation time.
44 During initialization,
46 reads a configuration file,
48 .Pa /etc/newsyslog.conf ,
49 to determine which logs may potentially be rotated and archived.
50 Each line has five mandatory fields and four optional fields,
51 separated with whitespace.
52 Blank lines or lines beginning with
57 is placed in the middle of the line, the
59 character and the rest of the line after it is ignored.
60 To prevent special meaning, the
62 character may be escaped with
64 in this case preceding
68 is treated as an ordinary character.
69 The fields of the configuration file are as follows:
70 .Bl -tag -width indent
72 Name of the system log file to be archived, or the literal string
74 The special default entry will only be used if a log file
75 name is given as a command line argument to
77 and if that log file name is not matched by any other
78 line in the configuration file.
79 .It Ar owner : Ns Ar group
80 This optional field specifies the owner and group for the archive file.
83 is essential regardless if the
87 field is left blank or contains a value.
88 The field may be numeric, or a name which is present in
93 Specify the file mode of the log file and archives.
95 Specify the maximum number of archive files which may exist.
96 This does not consider the current log file.
98 When the size of the log file reaches
100 in kilobytes, the log file will be trimmed as described above.
101 If this field contains an asterisk
103 the log file will not be trimmed based on size.
107 field may consist of an interval, a specific time, or both.
110 field contains an asterisk
112 log rotation will solely depend on the contents of the
117 field consists of an optional interval in hours, usually followed
119 .So Li \&@ Sc Ns No -sign
120 and a time in restricted
123 Additionally, the format may also be constructed with a
125 sign along with a rotation time specification of once
126 a day, once a week, or once a month.
128 If a time is specified, the log file will only be trimmed if
130 is run within one hour of the specified time.
131 If an interval is specified, the log file will be trimmed if that many
132 hours have passed since the last rotation.
133 When both a time and an interval are
134 specified then both conditions must be satisfied for the rotation to
137 There is no provision for the specification of a timezone.
138 There is little point in specifying an explicit minutes or
139 seconds component in the current implementation, since the only comparison is
140 .Dq within the hour .
142 .Sy ISO 8601 restricted time format :
144 The lead-in character for a restricted
149 The particular format of the time in restricted
154 .Op Oo Oo Oo Va cc Oc Va yy Oc Va mm Oc Va dd
157 .Op Va hh Oo Va mm Oo Va ss Oc Oc Oc
160 Optional date fields default to the appropriate component of the
161 current date; optional time fields default to midnight; hence if today
162 is January 22, 1999, the following date specifications are all
165 .Bl -item -compact -offset indent
167 .Sq Li 19990122T000000
188 .Sy Day, week, and month time format:
190 The lead-in character for day, week, and month specification is a
193 The particular format of day, week, and month specification is:
195 .Op Li W Ns Va w Ns Op Li D Ns Va hh ,
197 .Op Li M Ns Va dd Ns Op Li D Ns Va hh ,
199 Optional time fields default to midnight.
200 The ranges for day and hour specifications are:
202 .Bl -tag -width indent -offset indent -compact
206 day of week, range 0..6, 0 = Sunday
208 day of month, range 1..31, or one of the letters
212 to specify the last day of the month.
217 .Bl -tag -width indent -offset indent -compact
219 rotate every night at midnight
223 rotate every day at 23:00
227 rotate every week on Sunday at 23:00
229 rotate every week on Friday at 16:00
231 rotate at the first day of every month at midnight
232 (i.e., the start of the day; same as
235 rotate on every 5th day of month at 6:00
240 This optional field is made up of one or more characters
241 that specify any special processing to be done for the log
242 files matched by this line.
243 The following are valid flags:
244 .Bl -tag -width indent
246 indicates that the log file is a binary file, or has some
252 message into a log file during rotation.
253 This message is used to indicate
254 when, and sometimes why the log file was rotated.
257 is specified, then that informational message will not be
258 inserted into the log file.
260 indicates that the log file should be created if it does not
261 already exist, and if the
263 option was also specified on the command line.
269 flag when creating a new version of
271 This option would affect how the
273 command treats the log file when making a file system backup.
275 indicates that the specified
277 is a shell pattern, and that
279 should archive all filenames matching that pattern using the
280 other options on this line.
283 for details on syntax and matching rules.
287 should attempt to save disk space by compressing the rotated
291 indicates that there is no process which needs to be signaled
292 when this log file is rotated.
294 indicates that the file specified by
296 will contain the ID for a process group instead of a process.
297 This option also requires that the first line in that file
298 be a negative value to distinguish it from a process ID.
302 should attempt to save disk space by compressing the rotated
306 a minus sign will not cause any special processing, but it
307 can be used as a placeholder to create a
309 field when you need to specify any of the following fields.
311 .It Ar path_to_pid_file
312 This optional field specifies the file name containing a daemon's
313 process ID or to find a group process ID if the
316 If this field is present, a
318 is sent the process ID contained in this file.
319 If this field is not present, then a
321 signal will be sent to
325 flag has been specified.
326 This field must start with
328 in order to be recognized properly.
330 This optional field specifies the signal number that will be sent
331 to the daemon process (or to all processes in a process group, if the
334 If this field is not present, then a
346 This manual page first appeared in