lastlog - What is it, and how do I rotate it?
 

My /var/log/lastlog file is getting mighty huge, and I was wondering how I go about rotating it successfully?

If I ever delete the file, or rename it, or have a logrotate.d file rotate it weekly/daily etc... then I get errors in "/var/log/messages" when logging into the machine that it couldnt properly update lastlog or find it.

The file is sucking down way too many mb, and the server has only been running for three days! I would hate to see how big it gets in a week, or a month of operation.

Any ideas?

Try this site, as a good example of logrotate: http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/Lin....html#LOGFILES

Also, have you tried maybe just deleting the lastlog file and recreating it, then restarting the syslogd process (someone correct me if I am wrong on that process) ?

Do not rotate lastlog!
 

According to Wikipedia lastlog should NOT be rotated. (search for "lastlog" inthere)
There is no reason to do that, because it's not that big as "ls -l" shows.
Use "ls -sh" to see real space needed on HDD.

this thread is like 9 years old (almost)... i don't know it is necessary to answer on these sort of old threads ?

It's far more preferable to start a new thread. There are a few very rare exceptions, but this isn't one of them.

Replying to an old thread often causes confusion with new info vs. old info, i.e. what once worked (or didn't work) when the thread was started could not work (or work) now, amongst other disparities.

that's what i mean... i think it was unnessecary from aasami to answer on this thread?!

When you found a solution that works for you, post it so the person who comes after you also know what can be a solution
2) After posting that, mark your thread as SOLVED
3) Don't forget all the people who helped you, even it was a tiny bit -> adding rep to those persons

Hi,

Please, no spam! Reported.

Kind regards,

Eric

a post to the admins...
can someone of you please CLOSE this thread... there is nothing said here that is relevant to this topic and i don't think there will be any in the future...

Why to reply to old threads
 

The reason I replied to this old thread is, I was looking for the answer to the same question which is asked above, and when I found the answer, I wanted to share it with future visitors of this thread. If I have had found the answer here (in this so old thread) I wouldn't have to look further. I just hope this helped, or will help someone looking for the same.