Annotation of src/usr.bin/newsyslog/newsyslog.8, Revision 1.38
1.38 ! millert 1: .\" $OpenBSD: newsyslog.8,v 1.37 2004/01/23 23:08:47 jmc Exp $
1.4 downsj 2: .\"
3: .\" Copyright (c) 1997, Jason Downs. All rights reserved.
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6: .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
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1.1 deraadt 26: .\" This file contains changes from the Open Software Foundation.
27: .\"
28: .\" from: @(#)newsyslog.8
29: .\"
30: .\" Copyright 1988, 1989 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1.13 aaron 31: .\"
1.1 deraadt 32: .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software
33: .\" and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is
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1.31 millert 44: .Dd January 24, 2003
1.4 downsj 45: .Dt NEWSYSLOG 8
1.12 aaron 46: .Os
1.4 downsj 47: .Sh NAME
48: .Nm newsyslog
1.34 millert 49: .Nd trim log files to manageable sizes
1.4 downsj 50: .Sh SYNOPSIS
1.10 aaron 51: .Nm newsyslog
1.27 millert 52: .Op Fl Fmnrv
1.26 millert 53: .Op Fl a Ar directory
1.20 aaron 54: .Op Fl f Ar config_file
1.28 millert 55: .Op Ar log ...
1.4 downsj 56: .Sh DESCRIPTION
1.13 aaron 57: .Nm
1.1 deraadt 58: is a program that should be scheduled to run periodically by
1.4 downsj 59: .Xr cron 8 .
1.18 aaron 60: When it is executed it archives log files if necessary.
61: If a log file is determined to require archiving,
1.13 aaron 62: .Nm
63: rearranges the files so that
64: .Pa logfile
65: is empty,
66: .Pa logfile.0
67: has
68: the last period's logs in it,
69: .Pa logfile.1
70: has the next to last
1.1 deraadt 71: period's logs in it, and so on, up to a user-specified number of
1.18 aaron 72: archived logs.
1.33 millert 73: The archived logs may be optionally compressed to save space.
1.4 downsj 74: .Pp
1.18 aaron 75: The options are as follows:
76: .Bl -tag -width Ds
1.27 millert 77: .It Fl F
78: Force
79: .Nm
80: to trim logs regardless of the size and/or age requirements specified in
81: .Pa /etc/newsyslog.conf .
82: This option may be combined with the
83: .Fl n
84: or
85: .Fl v
86: flags to aid in debugging problems with
87: .Pa /etc/newsyslog.conf .
1.20 aaron 88: .It Fl m
89: Monitoring mode; only entries marked with an
90: .Sq M
1.31 millert 91: in flags are processed.
1.36 jmc 92: For each log file being monitored, any log output since the last time
1.31 millert 93: .Nm
94: was run with the
95: .Fl m
96: flag is mailed to the user listed in the monitor notification section.
1.18 aaron 97: .It Fl n
98: Do not trim the logs, but instead print out what would be done if this option
99: were not specified.
100: .It Fl r
101: Removes the restriction that
102: .Nm
103: must be running as root.
1.34 millert 104: Note that in this mode
1.18 aaron 105: .Nm
106: will not be able to send a
107: .Dv SIGHUP
108: signal to
1.34 millert 109: .Xr syslogd 8 .
1.20 aaron 110: .It Fl v
1.33 millert 111: Place
112: .Nm newsyslog
113: in verbose mode.
1.20 aaron 114: In this mode it will print out each log and its
115: reasons for either trimming that log or skipping it.
1.26 millert 116: .It Fl a Ar directory
117: Specify a
118: .Ar directory
119: into which archived log files will be written.
120: If
121: .Ar directory
1.32 jmc 122: is a relative path, it is appended to the parent directory
1.26 millert 123: of each log and the archived log is stored in the result.
124: If an absolute path is given, all archived logs are stored in the given
125: .Ar directory .
126: If
127: .Ar directory
128: does not exist for a specified log, it is ignored for that entry and
129: the log is rotated as if the
130: .Fl a
131: option was not specified.
1.20 aaron 132: .It Fl f Ar config_file
133: Use
134: .Ar config_file
135: instead of
136: .Pa /etc/newsyslog.conf
137: for the configuration file.
1.18 aaron 138: .El
1.28 millert 139: .Pp
140: If one or more
141: .Ar log
142: files are specified on the command line, only the specified logs will
143: be rotated.
144: Note that each
145: .Ar log
146: specified must have an entry in
147: .Pa /etc/newsyslog.conf .
1.18 aaron 148: .Pp
1.32 jmc 149: A log can be archived because of two reasons:
1.18 aaron 150: The log file can have
1.1 deraadt 151: grown bigger than a preset size in kilobytes, or a preset number of
1.18 aaron 152: hours may have elapsed since the last log archive.
153: The granularity of
1.13 aaron 154: .Nm
1.4 downsj 155: is dependent on how often it is scheduled to run in
156: .Xr cron 8 .
157: Since the program is quite fast, it may be scheduled to run every hour
1.1 deraadt 158: without any ill effects.
1.4 downsj 159: .Pp
1.13 aaron 160: When starting up,
161: .Nm
1.1 deraadt 162: reads in a configuration file to determine which logs should be looked
1.18 aaron 163: at.
164: By default, this configuration file is
1.4 downsj 165: .Pa /etc/newsyslog.conf .
1.1 deraadt 166: Each line of the file contains information about a particular log file
167: that should be handled by
1.4 downsj 168: .Nm newsyslog .
1.34 millert 169: Each line has five mandatory fields and up to three optional fields, with
1.18 aaron 170: whitespace separating each field.
171: Blank lines or lines beginning with a hash mark
172: .Pq Ql #
173: are ignored.
174: The fields of the configuration file are as
1.13 aaron 175: follows:
1.4 downsj 176: .Bl -tag -width XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
1.33 millert 177: .It Ar logfile_name
1.4 downsj 178: The full pathname of the system log file to be archived.
1.33 millert 179: .It Ar owner:group
180: This optional field specifies the owner and group for the archive file.
1.18 aaron 181: The
1.34 millert 182: .Ql \&:
1.13 aaron 183: is essential, even if the
1.4 downsj 184: .Ar owner
1.1 deraadt 185: or
1.4 downsj 186: .Ar group
1.18 aaron 187: field is left blank.
188: The fields may be numeric, or a name which is looked up
1.4 downsj 189: in the system password and group databases.
1.33 millert 190: For backwards compatibility, a
191: .Ql \&.
192: may be used instead of a
1.34 millert 193: .Ql \&: .
1.38 ! millert 194: If either
! 195: .Ar owner
! 196: or
! 197: .Ar group
! 198: is not specified, the owner and/or group of the existing log file is used.
1.33 millert 199: .It Ar mode
200: File mode (in octal) to use for created log files and archives.
201: .It Ar count
202: The number of archives to be kept besides the log file itself.
203: .It Ar size
1.24 millert 204: When the size of the log file (in kilobytes) reaches this point, the log
205: file is trimmed as described above.
1.33 millert 206: If this field is replaced by an
207: .Ql \&* ,
1.13 aaron 208: then the size of
1.4 downsj 209: the log file is not taken into account when determining when to trim the
210: log file.
1.25 millert 211: By default, files smaller than 512 bytes are not rotated unless the
1.24 millert 212: .Sq B
213: (binary) flag is set.
214: This prevents
215: .Nm
216: from rotating files consisting solely of a message indicating
217: that the log file has been turned over.
1.33 millert 218: .It Ar when
1.1 deraadt 219: The
1.33 millert 220: .Ar when
221: field can consist of an interval, a specific time, or both.
222: If the
223: .Ar when
224: field consists of an asterisk
225: .Pq Ql \&* ,
226: log rotation will depend only on the contents of the
227: .Ar size
228: field.
229: Otherwise, the
230: .Ar when
231: field consists of an optional interval in hours, possibly followed
232: by an
1.37 jmc 233: .So Li \&@ Sc Ns -sign
1.33 millert 234: and a time in a restricted
235: .Tn ISO 8601
236: format or by a
1.37 jmc 237: .So Li \&$ Sc Ns -sign
1.33 millert 238: and a time specification for logfile rotation at a fixed time once
239: per day, per week or per month.
240: .Pp
241: If a time is specified, the log file will only be trimmed if
242: .Nm
243: is run within one hour of the specified time.
244: If an interval is specified, the log file will be trimmed if that
245: many hours have passed since the last rotation.
246: When both a time and an interval are specified, both conditions
247: must be satisfied for the rotation to take place.
248: .Pp
249: There is no provision for the specification of a timezone.
250: There is little point in specifying an explicit minutes or seconds
251: component in the current implementation, since the only comparison is
252: .Sq within the hour .
253: .Ss ISO 8601 restricted time format
254: The lead-in character for a restricted
255: .Tn ISO 8601
256: time is an
1.37 jmc 257: .So Li \&@ Sc Ns -sign .
1.33 millert 258: The particular format of the time in restricted
259: .Tn ISO 8601
260: is:
261: .Sm off
262: .Oo Oo Oo Oo Oo
263: .Va \&cc Oc
264: .Va \&yy Oc
265: .Va \&mm Oc
266: .Va \&dd Oc
267: .Oo Li \&T
268: .Oo Va \&hh
269: .Oo Va \&mm
270: .Oo Va \&ss
271: .Oc Oc Oc Oc Oc .
272: .Sm on
273: Optional date fields default to the appropriate component of the
274: current date; optional time fields default to midnight
275: For example, if today is January 22, 1999, the following date specifications
276: are all equivalent:
277: .Pp
278: .Bl -item -compact -offset indent
279: .It
280: .Ql 19990122T000000
281: .It
282: .Ql 990122T000000
283: .It
284: .Ql 0122T000000
285: .It
286: .Ql 22T000000
287: .It
288: .Ql T000000
289: .It
290: .Ql T0000
291: .It
292: .Ql T00
293: .It
294: .Ql 22T
295: .It
296: .Ql \&T
297: .It
298: .Ql \&
299: .El
300: .Ss Day, week and month time format
301: The lead-in character for day, week and month specification is a
1.37 jmc 302: .So Li \&$ Sc Ns -sign .
1.33 millert 303: The particular format of day, week and month specification is:
304: .Op Va D\&hh ,
305: .Op Va W\&w Ns Op Va D\&hh
306: and
307: .Op Va M\&dd Ns Op Va D\&hh ,
308: respectively.
309: Optional time fields default to midnight.
310: The ranges for day and hour specifications are:
311: .Pp
312: .Bl -tag -width Ds -compact -offset indent
313: .It Ar hh
314: hours, range 0 ... 23
315: .It Ar w
316: day of week, range 0 ... 6, 0 = Sunday
317: .It Ar dd
318: day of month, range 1 ... 31, or the letter
319: .Em L
320: or
321: .Em l
322: to specify the last day of the month.
323: .El
324: .Ss Some examples:
325: .Bl -tag -width Ds -compact -offset indent
326: .It Ar $D0
327: rotate every night at midnight
328: (same as
329: .Ar @T00 )
330: .It Ar $D23
331: rotate every day at 23:00 hr
332: (same as
333: .Ar @T23 )
334: .It Ar $W0D23
335: rotate every week on Sunday at 23:00 hr
336: .It Ar $W5D16
337: rotate every week on Friday at 16:00 hr
338: .It Ar $M1D0
339: rotate on the first day of every month at midnight
340: (i.e., the start of the day; same as
341: .Ar @01T00 )
342: .It Ar $M5D6
343: rotate on every 5th day of the month at 6:00 hr
344: (same as
345: .Ar @05T06 )
346: .El
347: .Pp
348: .It Ar flags
349: The optional
1.4 downsj 350: .Ar flags
1.1 deraadt 351: field specifies if the archives should have any special processing
1.18 aaron 352: done to the archived log files.
353: The
1.13 aaron 354: .Sq Z
355: flag will make the archive
1.4 downsj 356: files compressed to save space using
357: .Xr gzip 1
358: or
359: .Xr compress 1 ,
1.18 aaron 360: depending on compilation options.
361: The
1.13 aaron 362: .Sq B
363: flag means that the file is a
1.8 aaron 364: binary file, and so the ASCII message which
1.13 aaron 365: .Nm
1.1 deraadt 366: inserts to indicate the fact that the logs have been turned over
1.18 aaron 367: should not be included.
368: The
1.13 aaron 369: .Sq M
370: flag marks this entry as a monitored
1.4 downsj 371: log file.
1.22 wcobb 372: The
373: .Sq F
374: flag specifies that symbolic links should be followed.
1.33 millert 375: .It Ar monitor
1.31 millert 376: Specify the username (or email address) that should receive notification
377: messages if this is a monitored log file.
1.18 aaron 378: Notification messages are sent as email; the operator
1.13 aaron 379: deserves what they get if they mark the
1.5 downsj 380: .Xr sendmail 8
1.6 d 381: log file as monitored.
1.33 millert 382: This field is only valid when the
383: .Sq M
384: flag is set.
385: .It Ar pid_file
386: This optional field specifies a file containing the PID of a process to send a
387: signal (usually
388: .Dv SIGHUP )
389: to instead of
1.7 millert 390: .Pa /var/run/syslog.pid .
1.33 millert 391: .It Ar signal
1.18 aaron 392: Specify the signal to send to the process instead of
393: .Dv SIGHUP .
394: Signal names
1.16 millert 395: must start with
396: .Dq SIG
1.18 aaron 397: and be the signal name, not the number, e.g.,
1.23 millert 398: .Dv SIGUSR1 .
1.33 millert 399: .It Ar command
400: This optional field specifies a command to run instead of sending a signal
401: to the process.
1.18 aaron 402: The command must be enclosed in double quotes
1.30 deraadt 403: .Pq Ql \&" .
1.29 millert 404: The empty string,
405: .Ql \&"\&" ,
406: can use used to prevent
407: .Nm
408: from sending a signal or running a command.
1.18 aaron 409: You cannot specify both a command and a PID file.
1.25 millert 410: .Em NOTE:
1.19 millert 411: If you specify a command to be run,
412: .Nm
413: will not send a
414: .Dv SIGHUP to
415: .Xr syslogd 8 .
1.4 downsj 416: .El
417: .Sh FILES
418: .Bl -tag -width /etc/newsyslog.conf
419: .It Pa /etc/newsyslog.conf
1.11 aaron 420: default configuration file
1.4 downsj 421: .El
422: .Sh SEE ALSO
1.8 aaron 423: .Xr compress 1 ,
1.4 downsj 424: .Xr gzip 1 ,
425: .Xr syslog 3 ,
1.8 aaron 426: .Xr syslogd 8
1.21 mpech 427: .Sh AUTHORS
1.18 aaron 428: .Bd -unfilled
1.1 deraadt 429: Theodore Ts'o, MIT Project Athena
430: Copyright 1987, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1.4 downsj 431: .Ed
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