1 .\" This file was split from the newsyslog(8) manual page by Tom Rhodes
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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,
73 or one of the literal strings
77 The special default entry will only be used if a log file
78 name is given as a command line argument to
80 and if that log file name is not matched by any other
81 line in the configuration file.
82 The include entry is used to include other configuration
83 files and supports globbing.
84 .It Ar owner : Ns Ar group
85 This optional field specifies the owner and group for the archive file.
88 is essential regardless if the
92 field is left blank or contains a value.
93 The field may be numeric, or a name which is present in
98 Specify the file mode of the log file and archives.
100 Specify the maximum number of archive files which may exist.
101 This does not consider the current log file.
103 When the size of the log file reaches
105 in kilobytes, the log file will be trimmed as described above.
106 If this field contains an asterisk
108 the log file will not be trimmed based on size.
112 field may consist of an interval, a specific time, or both.
115 field contains an asterisk
117 log rotation will solely depend on the contents of the
122 field consists of an optional interval in hours, usually followed
124 .So Li \&@ Sc Ns No -sign
125 and a time in restricted
128 Additionally, the format may also be constructed with a
130 sign along with a rotation time specification of once
131 a day, once a week, or once a month.
133 If a time is specified, the log file will only be trimmed if
135 is run within one hour of the specified time.
136 If an interval is specified, the log file will be trimmed if that many
137 hours have passed since the last rotation.
138 When both a time and an interval are
139 specified then both conditions must be satisfied for the rotation to
142 There is no provision for the specification of a timezone.
143 There is little point in specifying an explicit minutes or
144 seconds component in the current implementation, since the only comparison is
145 .Dq within the hour .
147 .Sy ISO 8601 restricted time format :
149 The lead-in character for a restricted
154 The particular format of the time in restricted
158 .Oo Oo Oo Oo Oo Va cc Oc Va yy Oc Va mm Oc Va dd Oc
159 .Oo Li T Oo Va hh Oo Va mm Oo Va ss Oc Oc Oc Oc Oc .
161 Optional date fields default to the appropriate component of the
162 current date; optional time fields default to midnight; hence if today
163 is January 22, 1999, the following date specifications are all
166 .Bl -item -compact -offset indent
168 .Sq Li 19990122T000000
189 .Sy Day, week, and month time format:
191 The lead-in character for day, week, and month specification is a
194 The particular format of day, week, and month specification is:
196 .Op Li W Ns Va w Ns Op Li D Ns Va hh ,
198 .Op Li M Ns Va dd Ns Op Li D Ns Va hh ,
200 Optional time fields default to midnight.
201 The ranges for day and hour specifications are:
203 .Bl -tag -width indent -offset indent -compact
207 day of week, range 0..6, 0 = Sunday
209 day of month, range 1..31, or one of the letters
213 to specify the last day of the month.
218 .Bl -tag -width indent -offset indent -compact
220 rotate every night at midnight
224 rotate every day at 23:00
228 rotate every week on Sunday at 23:00
230 rotate every week on Friday at 16:00
232 rotate at the first day of every month at midnight
233 (i.e., the start of the day; same as
236 rotate on every 5th day of month at 6:00
241 This optional field is made up of one or more characters
242 that specify any special processing to be done for the log
243 files matched by this line.
244 The following are valid flags:
245 .Bl -tag -width indent
247 indicates that the log file is a binary file, or has some
253 message into a log file during rotation.
254 This message is used to indicate
255 when, and sometimes why the log file was rotated.
258 is specified, then that informational message will not be
259 inserted into the log file.
261 indicates that the log file should be created if it does not
262 already exist, and if the
264 option was also specified on the command line.
270 flag when creating a new version of
272 This option would affect how the
274 command treats the log file when making a file system backup.
276 indicates that the specified
278 is a shell pattern, and that
280 should archive all filenames matching that pattern using the
281 other options on this line.
284 for details on syntax and matching rules.
288 should attempt to save disk space by compressing the rotated
294 should attempt to save disk space by compressing the rotated
298 indicates that there is no process which needs to be signaled
299 when this log file is rotated.
301 indicates that the file specified by
303 will contain the ID for a process group instead of a process.
304 This option also requires that the first line in that file
305 be a negative value to distinguish it from a process ID.
309 should attempt to save disk space by compressing the rotated
313 a minus sign will not cause any special processing, but it
314 can be used as a placeholder to create a
316 field when you need to specify any of the following fields.
318 .It Ar path_to_pid_file
319 This optional field specifies the file name containing a daemon's
320 process ID or to find a group process ID if the
323 If this field is present, a
325 is sent to the process ID contained in this file.
326 If this field is not present and the
328 flag has not been specified, then a
330 signal will be sent to
332 or to the process id found in the file specified by
333 .Xr newsyslog 8 Ns 's
336 This field must start with
338 in order to be recognized properly.
340 This optional field specifies the signal number that will be sent
341 to the daemon process (or to all processes in a process group, if the
344 If this field is not present, then a
357 This manual page first appeared in