Bug#445203: debian-policy: 10.8. Log files: /etc/logrotate.d/ preferred

[Guillem Jover]

Hi!

On Wed, 2010-07-07 at 08:59:24 -0700, Russ Allbery wrote:
> I propose the following patch for this bug instead in order to get it
> clear of this discussion.  We can always go back and sort out whether it
> should use invoke-rc.d after we work through the other bug.
> 
> Does this look okay?
> 
> diff --git a/policy.sgml b/policy.sgml
> index 7736ddb..a7bf76e 100644
> --- a/policy.sgml
> +++ b/policy.sgml
> @@ -7903,11 +7903,13 @@ ln -fs ../sbin/sendmail debian/tmp/usr/bin/runq
>       </p>
>  
>       <p>
> -       Log files must be rotated occasionally so that they don't
> -       grow indefinitely; the best way to do this is to drop a log
> -       rotation configuration file into the directory
> -       <file>/etc/logrotate.d</file> and use the facilities provided by
> -       logrotate.<footnote>
> +       Log files must be rotated occasionally so that they don't grow
> +       indefinitely.  The best way to do this is to install a log
> +       rotation configuration file in the
> +       directory <file>/etc/logrotate.d</file>, normally
> +       named <file>/etc/logrotate.d/<var>package</var></file>, and use
> +       the facilities provided by <prgn>logrotate</prgn>.
> +       <footnote>
>           <p>
>             The traditional approach to log files has been to set up
>             <em>ad hoc</em> log rotation schemes using simple shell
> @@ -7932,17 +7934,20 @@ ln -fs ../sbin/sendmail debian/tmp/usr/bin/runq
>           section="8">):
>         <example compact="compact">
>  /var/log/foo/*.log {
> -rotate 12
> -weekly
> -compress
> -postrotate
> -/etc/init.d/foo force-reload
> -endscript
> +    rotate 12
> +    weekly
> +    compress
> +    missingok
> +    postrotate
> +        [ -f /var/run/foo.pid ] && kill -s HUP `cat /var/run/foo.pid`
> +    endscript

Probably better to recommend using start-stop-daemon, as it's more
robust and should properly handle for example the case of a stale pid
file pointing to the wrong binary (which with HUP might terminate an
unsuspecting victim).

>  }
>         </example>
>         This rotates all files under <file>/var/log/foo</file>, saves 12
> -       compressed generations, and forces the daemon to reload its
> -       configuration information after the log rotation.
> +       compressed generations, and tells the daemon to reopen its log
> +       files after the log rotation.  It skips this log rotation
> +       (via <tt>missingok</tt>) if no such log file is present, which
> +       avoids errors if the package is removed but not purged.
>       </p>
>  
>       <p>

With that comment addressed, seconded.

regards,
guillem

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