How to avoid log files growing too big?

Question

I have a Linux process generating very big log files. Those file could grow infinitely if I didn't do anything. Is there any way to limit a file's size and to make it act like some kind of fifo buffer keeping only a certain amount of data?

I also tried logrotate, but it can't run as soon as the file has reached a given size. Log files could grow very fast and I don't want to run logrotate on a daily basis.

Thanks for your help.

Have you considered a logging server? – Drew Khoury Oct 15 '13 at 13:25 — Drew Khoury, Oct 15 '13 at 13:25

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 15 '13 at 11:04

4

You can run run logrotate with a config file specifically for the log file in question and put it into a cron job that runs more often, e.g. every hour or every 15 minutes.

See man logrotate.

answered Oct 15 '13 at 11:04

Sven

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I know I can run it more often, but I wouldn't want the file to grow over the fixed size, even if it's just for 1 minute – user194998 Oct 15 '13 at 11:08
@user194998: Make the cron job run every minute – user9517 Oct 15 '13 at 11:18
As I said, even 1 minute would be too much! I only want to keep the last (most recent) 20M of a file, and EXACTLY 20M. – user194998 Oct 15 '13 at 11:23
1

@user194998 It would be helpful if you mentioned this need in your question. – Nathan C Oct 15 '13 at 11:39
1

Also, *why* do you want this? Is there a good reason for it? – Sven Oct 15 '13 at 11:41
1

If that is a hard requirement the do not log into a file but into a memory based ring buffer instead. – mschuett Oct 15 '13 at 13:11
@mschuett: right, or a file-based ring. – Javier Oct 15 '13 at 13:39

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 15 '13 at 11:43

0

Try:

   /var/log/filexxx {
       rotate 5
       weekly
       size 100k
   }

This will always keep 5 files, rotate either weekly or when it reaches 100k in size (what happens first).

answered Oct 15 '13 at 11:43

Tomas

106
3

How to avoid log files growing too big?

2 Answers2

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