kimwi / log-rotate

A replica of the logrotate utility, except this also runs on Windows systems.

Log-Rotate

A replica of the logrotate utility, except this also runs on Windows systems.

Install

Open powershell or pwsh and type:

Install-Module -Name Log-Rotate -Repository PSGallery -Scope CurrentUser -Verbose

If prompted to trust the repository, hit Y and enter.

Log-Rotate vs logrotate

Log-Rotate is an independent port of logrotate. It's made to work exactly the same way as the original logrotate, except it works in Powershell and especially Windows.

• Same command line
• Same config file format, meaning you can re-use your *nix configs
• Same rotation logic
• Runs on Powershell or Powershell core.

Who should use it?

• Anyone with a Windows environment where docker is unavailable
• Anyone who misses that logrotate on *nix
• Anyone working with Windows and have trouble with managing tons of log files from various applications
• Anyone who works a lot in Powershell automation, and love the fact you can pipe configs into a module.
• Anyone who wants to perform a one-time rotation, but doesn't like that logrotate only accepts configs as a file and not just a string.

Usage

Windows

Import-Module Log-Rotate

# Define your config
# Double-quotes necessary only if there are spaces in the path
$config = @'
"C:\inetpub\logs\access.log" {
    rotate 365
    size 10M
    postrotate
        # My shell is powershell
        Write-Host "Rotated $( $Args[1] )"
    endscript
}
'@

# Decide on a Log-Rotate state file that will be created by Log-Rotate
$state = 'C:\var\Log-Rotate\Log-Rotate.status'

# To check rotation logic without rotating files, use the -WhatIf switch (implies -Verbose)
$config | Log-Rotate -State $state -WhatIf

# You can either Pipe the config
$config | Log-Rotate -State $state -Verbose

# Or use the full Command
Log-Rotate -ConfigAsString $config -State $state -Verbose

*nix

Import-Module Log-Rotate

# Define your config
# Double-quotes necessary only if there are spaces in the path
$config = @'
"/var/log/httpd/access.log" {
    rotate 365
    size 10M
    postrotate
        # My shell is sh
        /usr/bin/killall -HUP httpd
        echo "Rotated ${1}"
    endscript
}
'@

# Decide on a Log-Rotate state file that will be created by Log-Rotate
$state = '/var/lib/Log-Rotate/Log-Rotate.status'

# To check rotation logic without rotating files, use the -WhatIf switch (implies -Verbose)
$config | Log-Rotate -State $state -WhatIf

# You can either Pipe the config
$config | Log-Rotate -State $state -Verbose

# Or use the full Command
Log-Rotate -ConfigAsString $config -State $state -Verbose

Usage as a Scheduled Task or Cron job

Windows Scheduled Task

A main config C:\configs\Log-Rotate\Log-Rotate.conf:

include C:\configs\Log-Rotate.d\

Config files in C:\configs\Log-Rotate.d\:

C:\configs\logrotate.d\
+-- iis.conf
+-- apache.conf
+-- minecraftserver.conf

Decide on a state file C:\var\Log-Rotate\Log-Rotate.status.

Run the command with -WhatIf to simulate the rotation, making sure everything is working.

Import-Module Log-Rotate; Log-Rotate -Config C:\configs\Log-Rotate\Log-Rotate.conf -State C:\var\Log-Rotate\Log-Rotate.status -Verbose -WhatIf

Decide on a log file C:\logs\Log-Rotate.log.

Scheduled Task Command line:

# Powershell
powershell -Command 'Import-Module Log-Rotate; Log-Rotate -Config C:\configs\Log-Rotate\Log-Rotate.conf -State C:\var\Log-Rotate\Log-Rotate.status -Verbose' >> C:\logs\Log-Rotate.log
# pwsh
pwsh -Command 'Import-Module Log-Rotate; Log-Rotate -Config C:\configs\Log-Rotate\Log-Rotate.conf -State C:\var\Log-Rotate\Log-Rotate.status -Verbose' >> C:\logs\Log-Rotate.log

*nix cron

A Main config /etc/Log-Rotate.conf, with a single include line :

include /etc/Log-Rotate.d/

Config files in /etc/Log-Rotate.d/:

/etc/Log-Rotate.d/
+-- nginx.conf
+-- apache.conf
+-- syslog.conf

Decide on a state file /var/lib/Log-Rotate/Log-Rotate.status.

Run the command with -WhatIf to simulate the rotation, making sure everything is working.

pwsh -Command 'Import-Module Log-Rotate; Log-Rotate -Config /etc/Log-Rotate.conf -State /var/lib/Log-Rotate/Log-Rotate.status -Verbose -WhatIf'

Decide on a log file /var/log/Log-Rotate.log.

Cron command line:

pwsh -Command 'Import-Module Log-Rotate; Log-Rotate -Config /etc/Log-Rotate.conf -State /var/lib/Log-Rotate/Log-Rotate.status -Verbose' >> /var/log/Log-Rotate.log

Configuration

State

If -State is unspecified, by default a Log-Rotate.status state file is created in the working directory.

Configuration Options

The following discusses how to use certain config options.

Option	Examples	Explanation
compresscmd	C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe, C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z, 7z.exe, 7z, gzip	Best to use a full path. If using aliases, ensure the binary is among the PATH environment variable
compressoptions	a -t7z,	May be blank, in which case no parameters are sent along withcompresscmd

Missing options

A few less crucial options are left out for Log-Rotate v1. The option and their reasons are stated below:

Option	Explanation
mail, nomail	The mail option isn't used very much, because the same can be achieved with greater flexibility by adding scripts to any of the following options: firstaction, lastaction, prerotate, postrotate, preremove .
su	The main reason for using su is to improve security and reduce chances of accidental renames, moves or deletions. Unlike nix systems, on Windows, SYSTEM and Adminitrator users cannot runas another user without entering their credentials. Unless those credentials are stored in Credential Manager, it is impossible for a high privileged daemon to perform rotation operations (E.g. creating, moving, copying, deleting) via an external shell. In the case that the su option is ever supported in the future because of the first reason, it would only work for *nix platforms. The other reason for using su is to preserve ownership and Access Control Lists (ACLs) on rotated files. This however, can easily be achieved by appying ACLs on rotated files' container folders, so that the any rotated files (E.g. created, moved, renamed) would immediately inherit those attributes.
shred, noshred, shredcycles	This option is not supported yet, because of external dependencies on Windows - sdelete.