How to Automate Log Cleanup with Logrotate and Scripts

By Admin · Mar 2, 2026 · Updated Apr 23, 2026 · 24 views · 3 min read

How to Automate Log Cleanup with Logrotate and Scripts

Unmanaged log files can fill your Breeze instance disk, causing application crashes and service outages. Logrotate is a Linux utility that automatically rotates, compresses, and removes old log files, keeping your system healthy.

How Logrotate Works

Logrotate runs daily via cron (or a systemd timer). It reads configuration files to determine which logs to rotate and how:

# Check if logrotate is installed
logrotate --version

# Main configuration
cat /etc/logrotate.conf

# Application-specific configs are in /etc/logrotate.d/
ls /etc/logrotate.d/

Creating a Custom Logrotate Configuration

Create a configuration for your application logs:

# /etc/logrotate.d/myapp
/var/log/myapp/*.log {
    daily              # Rotate daily
    missingok          # Don't error if log file is missing
    rotate 14          # Keep 14 rotated files
    compress           # Compress rotated files with gzip
    delaycompress      # Delay compression by one rotation
    notifempty         # Don't rotate empty files
    create 0640 www-data adm   # Set permissions on new log file
    sharedscripts      # Run scripts once, not per matched file
    postrotate
        systemctl reload myapp > /dev/null 2>&1 || true
    endscript
}

Common Logrotate Directives

Directive	Description
`daily` / `weekly` / `monthly`	Rotation frequency
`rotate N`	Keep N rotated files before deleting
`compress`	Compress old logs with gzip
`delaycompress`	Delay compression to the next rotation cycle
`size 100M`	Rotate when file exceeds 100 MB
`maxsize 500M`	Rotate when size exceeds limit, even between scheduled rotations
`minsize 10M`	Only rotate if file is at least 10 MB
`copytruncate`	Copy then truncate instead of moving (for apps that hold file handles)
`dateext`	Use date as extension instead of numbers

Nginx Log Rotation Example

# /etc/logrotate.d/nginx
/var/log/nginx/*.log {
    daily
    missingok
    rotate 30
    compress
    delaycompress
    notifempty
    create 0640 www-data adm
    sharedscripts
    postrotate
        if [ -f /var/run/nginx.pid ]; then
            kill -USR1 $(cat /var/run/nginx.pid)
        fi
    endscript
}

Custom Cleanup Script

For logs not managed by logrotate, write a cleanup script:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# /usr/local/bin/log-cleanup.sh
set -euo pipefail

LOG_DIRS=(
    "/var/log/myapp"
    "/home/deploy/logs"
    "/var/log/custom"
)

DAYS_TO_KEEP=30

for dir in "${LOG_DIRS[@]}"; do
    if [[ -d "$dir" ]]; then
        # Delete logs older than retention period
        find "$dir" -name "*.log.gz" -mtime +"$DAYS_TO_KEEP" -delete
        find "$dir" -name "*.log.[0-9]*" -mtime +"$DAYS_TO_KEEP" -delete

        # Report disk usage
        echo "$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S') - $dir: $(du -sh "$dir" | cut -f1)"
    fi
done

# Clean journal logs older than 7 days
journalctl --vacuum-time=7d

Testing and Debugging

# Test configuration without actually rotating
sudo logrotate -d /etc/logrotate.d/myapp

# Force rotation (for testing)
sudo logrotate -f /etc/logrotate.d/myapp

# Check logrotate state file
cat /var/lib/logrotate/status

Best Practices

Use logrotate for standard logs — it handles rotation, compression, and cleanup in one tool
Set size limits — combine time-based and size-based rotation with maxsize
Use copytruncate for stubborn apps — works with applications that keep log files open
Monitor disk usage — set up alerts when /var/log exceeds a threshold
Clean journal logs — systemd journal can grow large; use journalctl --vacuum-time
Test configurations — always run with -d (debug) before deploying new configs

Proper log rotation keeps your Breeze instances running smoothly by preventing disk exhaustion while preserving enough log history for debugging.

How to Automate Log Cleanup with Logrotate and Scripts