community.general.logrotate module – Manage logrotate configurations

backup

boolean

added in community.general 12.6.0

Create a backup of the existing configuration file before overwriting.

The backup file is created in the same directory with a timestamp suffix.

Choices:

• false
• true ← (default)

compress

boolean

Compress rotated log files.

Choices:

• false
• true

compress_options

string

Options to pass to compression program.

For compression_method=gzip, use -9 for best compression, -1 for fastest.

For compression_method=xz, use -9 for best compression.

compression_method

string

Compression method to use.

Requires logrotate 3.18.0 or later for xz and zstd.

Choices:

• "gzip"
• "bzip2"
• "xz"
• "zstd"
• "lzma"
• "lz4"

config_dir

path

Directory where logrotate configurations are stored.

Using ~/.logrotate.d is recommended for user-specific configurations.

This directory must exist before using the module.

Default: "/etc/logrotate.d"

copy

boolean

Copy the log file but do not truncate the original.

Takes precedence over rename_copy and copy_truncate.

Choices:

• false
• true

copy_truncate

boolean

Copy the log file and then truncate it in place.

Useful for applications that cannot be told to close their logfile.

Choices:

• false
• true

create

string

Create new log file with specified permissions after rotation.

Format is mode owner group (for example 0640 root adm).

Set to null or omit to use nocreate.

create_old_dir

boolean

Create old_dir directory if it does not exist.

Choices:

• false
• true

date_ext

boolean

Use date as extension for rotated files (using the date format specified in date_format instead of sequential numbers).

Choices:

• false
• true

date_format

string

Format for date extension.

Use with date_ext=true.

Format specifiers are %Y year, %m month, %d day, %s seconds since epoch.

date_yesterday

boolean

Use yesterday’s date for date_ext instead of today’s date.

Useful for rotating logs that span midnight.

Choices:

• false
• true

delay_compress

boolean

Postpone compression of the previous log file to the next rotation cycle.

Useful for applications that keep writing to the old log file for some time.

Choices:

• false
• true

enabled

boolean

Whether the configuration should be enabled.

When false, adds .disabled extension to the config file.

Choices:

• false
• true

extension

string

Extension to use for rotated log files (including dot).

Useful when compress=false.

first_action

list / elements=string

Commands to execute once before all log files that match the wildcard pattern are rotated.

include

path

Include additional configuration files from specified directory.

last_action

list / elements=string

Commands to execute once after all log files that match the wildcard pattern are rotated.

mail

string

Mail logs to specified address when removed.

Set to null or omit to not mail logs.

mail_first

boolean

Mail just-created log file, not the about-to-expire one.

Choices:

• false
• true

mail_last

boolean

Mail about-to-expire log file (default).

Choices:

• false
• true

max_age

integer

Remove rotated logs older than specified number of days.

max_size

string

Rotate log file when it grows bigger than specified size, but at most once per rotation_period.

Format is number[k|M|G] (for example 100M, 1G).

min_size

string

Rotate log file only if it has grown bigger than specified size.

Format is number[k|M|G] (for example 100M, 1G).

Used with time-based rotation to avoid rotating too small files.

missing_ok

boolean

Do not issue an error if the log file is missing.

Choices:

• false
• true

name

aliases: config_name

string / required

Name of the logrotate configuration.

This creates a file in config_dir with this name.

no_delay_compress

boolean

Opposite of delay_compress. Ensure compression happens immediately.

Note that in logrotate, no_delay_compress is the default behavior.

Choices:

• false
• true

no_old_dir

boolean

Keep rotated logs in the same directory as the original log.

Choices:

• false
• true

not_if_empty

boolean

Do not rotate the log file if it is empty.

Set to false to rotate even empty log files (equivalent to ifempty in logrotate).

Choices:

• false
• true

old_dir

path

Move rotated logs into specified directory.

paths

list / elements=path

List of log file paths or patterns to rotate.

Can include wildcards (for example /var/log/app/*.log).

Required when creating a new configuration (state=present and config file does not exist).

Optional when modifying existing configuration (for example to enable/disable).

post_rotate

list / elements=string

Commands to execute after rotating the log file.

Can be a single string or list of commands.

pre_remove

list / elements=string

Commands to execute before removing rotated log files.

pre_rotate

list / elements=string

Commands to execute before rotating the log file.

Can be a single string or list of commands.

rename_copy

boolean

Rename and copy the log file, leaving the original in place.

Choices:

• false
• true

rotate_count

integer

Number of rotated log files to keep.

Set to 0 to disable rotation (keep only current log).

Set to -1 to keep all rotated logs (not recommended).

rotation_period

string

How often to rotate the logs.

If not specified when modifying an existing configuration, the existing value is preserved.

When creating a new configuration, this option is only included if specified.

Choices:

• "daily"
• "weekly"
• "monthly"
• "yearly"

shared_scripts

boolean

Run pre_rotate and post_rotate scripts only once for all matching log files.

Choices:

• false
• true

shred

boolean

Use shred to securely delete rotated log files.

Uses shred -u to overwrite files before deleting.

Choices:

• false
• true

shred_cycles

integer

Number of times to overwrite files when using shred=true.

When omitted, logrotate uses shred‘s default.

size

string

Rotate log file when it grows bigger than specified size.

Format is number[k|M|G] (for example 100M, 1G).

Overrides rotation_period when set.

If not specified, existing value be preserved when modifying configuration.

When creating new configuration, this option be omitted if not specified.

start

integer

Base number for rotated files. Allowed values are from 0 to 999.

For example, 1 gives files .1, .2, and so on instead of .0, .1.

state

string

Whether the configuration should be present or absent.

Choices:

• "present" ← (default)
• "absent"

su

string

Set user and group for rotated files.

Format is user group (for example, www-data adm).

Set to "" (empty string) to remove the directive from existing configurations.

Set to null or omit to leave the existing value unchanged (when modifying) or not set (when creating).

syslog

boolean

Send logrotate messages to syslog.

Choices:

• false
• true

taboo_ext

list / elements=string

List of extensions that logrotate should not touch.

Set to null or empty list to clear defaults.

check_mode

Support: full

Can run in check_mode and return changed status prediction without modifying target.

diff_mode

Support: full

Returns details on what has changed (or possibly needs changing in check_mode), when in diff mode.

backup_file

string

Path to the backup of the original configuration file, if it was backed up.

Returned: success when backup=true and an existing configuration was overwritten

Sample: "/etc/logrotate.d/nginx.20250101_120000"

config_content

string

The generated logrotate configuration content.

Returned: success when state=present

Sample: "/var/log/nginx/*.log {\n    daily\n    rotate 14\n    compress\n    compress_options -9\n    delay_compress\n    missing_ok\n    notifempty\n    create 0640 www-data adm\n    shared_scripts\n    post_rotate\n        [ -f /var/run/nginx.pid ] && kill -USR1 $(cat /var/run/nginx.pid)\n        echo 'Nginx logs rotated'\n    endscript\n}\n"

config_file

string

Path to the created/updated logrotate configuration file.

Returned: success when state=present

Sample: "/etc/logrotate.d/nginx"

enabled_state

boolean

Current enabled state of the configuration.

Returned: success

Sample: true