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Diff for /src/usr.bin/newsyslog/newsyslog.8 between version 1.12 and 1.13

version 1.12, 1999/05/23 14:11:30

version 1.13, 1999/06/05 01:21:35

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.\" from: @(#)newsyslog.8

.\"

.\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software

.\" and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is

.\" hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice

Line 59

.Op Fl vmnr

.Op Fl f Ar configuration file

.Sh DESCRIPTION

.Nm newsyslog

.Nm

is a program that should be scheduled to run periodically by

.Xr cron 8 .

When it is executed it archives log files if necessary. If a log file

is determined to require archiving,

.Nm newsyslog

.Nm

rearranges the files so that ``logfile'' is empty, ``logfile.0'' has

rearranges the files so that

the last period's logs in it, ``logfile.1'' has the next to last

.Pa logfile

is empty,

.Pa logfile.0

has

the last period's logs in it,

.Pa logfile.1

has the next to last

period's logs in it, and so on, up to a user-specified number of

archived logs. Optionally the archived logs can be compressed to save

space.

.Pp

A log can be archived because of two reasons. The log file can have

grown bigger than a preset size in kilobytes, or a preset number of

hours may have elapsed since the last log archive. The granularity of

.Nm newsyslog

.Nm

is dependent on how often it is scheduled to run in

.Xr cron 8 .

Since the program is quite fast, it may be scheduled to run every hour

without any ill effects.

.Pp

When starting up,

.Nm newsyslog

.Nm

reads in a configuration file to determine which logs should be looked

at. By default, this configuration file is

.Pa /etc/newsyslog.conf .

Each line of the file contains information about a particular log file

that should be handled by

.Nm newsyslog .

Each line has five mandatory fields and up to three optional fields, with a

whitespace separating each field. Blank lines or lines beginning with

``#'' are ignored. The fields of the configuration file are as

.Ql #

follows:

are ignored. The fields of the configuration file are as

follows:

.Bl -tag -width XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

.It logfile name

The full pathname of the system log file to be archived.

.It owner.group of archives (optional)

Specify an ownership and group for the archive file. The "." is essential,

Specify an ownership and group for the archive file. The

even if the

.Ql \&.

is essential, even if the

.Ar owner

.Ar group

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Line 117

Specify the number of archives to be kept besides the log file itself.

.It size of archives

When the size of the log file reaches this point, the log file becomes trimmed

as described above. If this field is replaced by a ``*'', then the size of

as described above. If this field is replaced by a

.Ql * ,

then the size of

the log file is not taken into account when determining when to trim the

log file.

.It archive interval

Specify the time separation between the trimming of the log file. If this

field is replaced by a ``*'', the number of hours since the last time the

field is replaced by a

.Ql * ,

the number of hours since the last time the

log was trimmed will not be taken into consideration.

.It flags (optional)

The

.Ar flags

field specifies if the archives should have any special processing

done to the archived log files. The ``Z'' flag will make the archive

done to the archived log files. The

.Sq Z

flag will make the archive

files compressed to save space using

.Xr gzip 1

.Xr compress 1 ,

depending on compilation options. The ``B'' flag means that the file is a

depending on compilation options. The

.Sq B

flag means that the file is a

binary file, and so the ASCII message which

.Nm newsyslog

.Nm

inserts to indicate the fact that the logs have been turned over

should not be included. The ``M'' flag marks this entry as a monitored

should not be included. The

.Sq M

flag marks this entry as a monitored

log file.

.It monitor notification (optional)

Specify the account that should receive notification messages if this is

a monitored log file. Notification messages are sent as email; the operator

deserves what they get if they mark the

.Xr sendmail 8

log file as monitored.

.It pid file (optional)

Line 148

Line 166

.Nm newsyslog :

.Bl -tag -width XXX

.It Fl f Ar config-file

Instructs newsyslog to use

.Ar config-file

instead of

.Pa /etc/newsyslog.conf

for its configuration file.

.It Fl v

Places

.Nm newsyslog

.Nm

in verbose mode. In this mode it will print out each log and its

reasons for either trimming that log or skipping it.

.It Fl n

Causes

.Nm newsyslog

.Nm

not to trim the logs, but to print out what it would do if this option

were not specified.

.It Fl r

Removes the restriction that

.Nm newsyslog

.Nm

must be running as root. Of course,

.Nm newsyslog

.Nm

will not be able to send a HUP signal to

.Xr syslogd 8 ,

so this option should only be used in debugging.

.It Fl m

Places

.Nm newsyslog

.Nm

in monitoring mode; only entries marked with an ``M'' in flags are processed,

in monitoring mode; only entries marked with an

.Sq M

in flags are processed,

and notifications sent if any have changed. Without this option, monitored

entries are not processed.

.El