logrotáció

Logrotation, also known as log rotation, is a process used in computing and system administration to manage log files. It involves the automatic rotation, compression, removal, and archiving of log files to prevent them from consuming excessive disk space and to simplify log management. This process is typically handled by a log rotation utility or service, such as logrotate in Unix-like operating systems.

The primary goal of logrotation is to ensure that log files do not grow indefinitely, which can lead to disk space exhaustion and potential system instability. By rotating logs, administrators can maintain a manageable log file size and retain historical log data for a specified period.

Logrotation can be configured to occur at regular intervals, such as daily, weekly, or monthly, based on the needs of the system and the volume of log data generated. During the rotation process, the current log file is typically renamed or moved, and a new log file is created. Old log files can be compressed using formats like gzip or bzip2 to save space, and files older than a certain age can be deleted or archived.

Additionally, logrotation can be configured to handle multiple log files, allowing for centralized management of logs from various services and applications. This is particularly useful in environments with multiple servers or applications, where logs need to be monitored and analyzed collectively.

Overall, logrotation is a crucial practice in system administration for maintaining the health and performance of computing systems by effectively managing log files.