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newsyslog.conf(5)

NAME

     newsyslog.conf -- newsyslog(8) configuration file

DESCRIPTION

     The newsyslog.conf file is used to set log file rotation configuration
     for the newsyslog(8) utility.  Configuration may designate that logs are
     rotated based on size, last rotation time, or time of day.  The
     newsyslog.conf file can also be used to designate secure permissions to
     log files at rotation time.  During initialization, newsyslog(8) reads a
     configuration file, normally /etc/newsyslog.conf, to determine which logs
     may potentially be rotated and archived.  Each line has five mandatory
     fields and four optional fields, separated with whitespace.  Blank lines
     or lines beginning with `#' are ignored.  If `#' is placed in the middle
     of the line, the `#' character and the rest of the line after it is
     ignored.  To prevent special meaning, the `#' character may be escaped
     with `\\'; in this case preceding `\\' is removed and `#' is treated as
     an ordinary character.  The fields of the configuration file are as fol-
     lows:

     logfile_name
	     Name of the system log file to be archived, or the literal string
	     ``<default>''.  The special default entry will only be used if a
	     log file name is given as a command line argument to
	     newsyslog(8), and if that log file name is not matched by any
	     other line in the configuration file.

     owner:group
	     This optional field specifies the owner and group for the archive
	     file.  The `:' is essential regardless if the owner or group
	     field is left blank or contains a value.  The field may be
	     numeric, or a name which is present in /etc/passwd or /etc/group.

     mode    Specify the file mode of the log file and archives.

     count   Specify the maximum number of archive files which may exist.
	     This does not consider the current log file.

     size    When the size of the log file reaches size in kilobytes, the log
	     file will be trimmed as described above.  If this field contains
	     an asterisk (`*'), the log file will not be trimmed based on
	     size.

     when    The when field may consist of an interval, a specific time, or
	     both.  If the when field contains an asterisk (`*'), log rotation
	     will solely depend on the contents of the size field.  Otherwise,
	     the when field consists of an optional interval in hours, usually
	     followed by an `@'-sign and a time in restricted ISO 8601 format.
	     Additionally, the format may also be constructed with a `$' sign
	     along with a rotation time specification of once a day, once a
	     week, or once a month.

	     If a time is specified, the log file will only be trimmed if
	     newsyslog(8) is run within one hour of the specified time.  If an
	     interval is specified, the log file will be trimmed if that many
	     hours have passed since the last rotation.  When both a time and
	     an interval are specified then both conditions must be satisfied
	     for the rotation to take place.
	     The lead-in character for a restricted ISO 8601 time is an `@'
	     sign.  The particular format of the time in restricted ISO 8601
	     is: [[[[[cc]yy]mm]dd][T[hh[mm[ss]]]]].  Optional date fields
	     default to the appropriate component of the current date;
	     optional time fields default to midnight; hence if today is Jan-
	     uary 22, 1999, the following date specifications are all equiva-
	     lent:

		   `19990122T000000'
		   `990122T000000'
		   `0122T000000'
		   `22T000000'
		   `T000000'
		   `T0000'
		   `T00'
		   `22T'
		   `T'
		   `'

	     Day, week, and month time format:

	     The lead-in character for day, week, and month specification is a
	     `$' sign.	The particular format of day, week, and month specifi-
	     cation is: [Dhh], [Ww[Dhh]], and [Mdd[Dhh]], respectively.
	     Optional time fields default to midnight.	The ranges for day and
	     hour specifications are:

		   hh	   hours, range 0..23
		   w	   day of week, range 0..6, 0 = Sunday
		   dd	   day of month, range 1..31, or one of the letters
			   `L' or `l' to specify the last day of the month.

	     Some examples:

		   $D0	   rotate every night at midnight (same as @T00)
		   $D23    rotate every day at 23:00 (same as @T23)
		   $W0D23  rotate every week on Sunday at 23:00
		   $W5D16  rotate every week on Friday at 16:00
		   $M1D0   rotate at the first day of every month at midnight
			   (i.e., the start of the day; same as @01T00)
		   $M5D6   rotate on every 5th day of month at 6:00 (same as
			   @05T06)

     flags   This optional field is made up of one or more characters that
	     specify any special processing to be done for the log files
	     matched by this line.  The following are valid flags:

	     B	     indicates that the log file is a binary file, or has some
		     special format.  Usually newsyslog(8) inserts an ASCII
		     message into a log file during rotation.  This message is
		     used to indicate when, and sometimes why the log file was
		     rotated.  If B is specified, then that informational mes-
		     sage will not be inserted into the log file.

	     C	     indicates that the log file should be created if it does
		     not already exist, and if the -C option was also speci-
		     fied on the command line.

		     line.  See glob(3) for details on syntax and matching
		     rules.

	     J	     indicates that newsyslog(8) should attempt to save disk
		     space by compressing the rotated log file using bzip2(1).

	     N	     indicates that there is no process which needs to be sig-
		     naled when this log file is rotated.

	     U	     indicates that the file specified by path_to_pid_file
		     will contain the ID for a process group instead of a
		     process.  This option also requires that the first line
		     in that file be a negative value to distinguish it from a
		     process ID.

	     W	     if used with the Z or J flag, this indicates that
		     newsyslog(8) should wait for previously started compres-
		     sion jobs to complete before starting a new one for this
		     entry.  If this is used with the G flag and if multiple
		     log files match the given pattern, then newsyslog(8) will
		     compress those logs one by one.  This ensures that only
		     one compression job is running at a time.

	     Z	     indicates that newsyslog(8) should attempt to save disk
		     space by compressing the rotated log file using gzip(1).

	     -	     a minus sign will not cause any special processing, but
		     it can be used as a placeholder to create a flags field
		     when you need to specify any of the following fields.

     path_to_pid_file
	     This optional field specifies the file name containing a daemon's
	     process ID or to find a group process ID if the U flag was speci-
	     fied.  If this field is present, a signal_number is sent the
	     process ID contained in this file.  If this field is not present,
	     then a SIGHUP signal will be sent to syslogd(8), unless the N
	     flag has been specified.  This field must start with `/' in order
	     to be recognized properly.

     signal_number
	     This optional field specifies the signal number that will be sent
	     to the daemon process (or to all processes in a process group, if
	     the U flag was specified).  If this field is not present, then a
	     SIGHUP signal will be sent.

SEE ALSO

     bzip(1), gzip(1), syslog(3), chown(8), newsyslog(8), syslog(8)

HISTORY

     This manual page first appeared in FreeBSD 4.10.

FreeBSD 5.4			 June 3, 2004			   FreeBSD 5.4

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