Oracle Log Rotation by Caleb Small
Copyright Ó 2008, Caleb.com
Three types of logs to deal with:
1) Typical
log files (eg. alert, sqlnet, listener, etc) that constantly grow
2) Trace
files (.trc) that are constantly being created
3) Audit
trace files. One trc file is created for
each process PID when a session starts.
When the same PID is used again in the future (which it will) the
existing file is appended.
The Linux find utility is useful for locating trace files
older than a certain number of days. It
can be easily configured to identify and then delete these files, for example:
$ find /oracle/app/admin -name '*.trc' -mtime +361
-exec rm -f {} \; >/dev/null 2>&1
This can be applied to the audit trace files as well but the
results are unpredictable. Trace files
older than the threshold will be deleted.
However, if the threshold is very long the probability that a process
PID will be re-used and hence the file date updated becomes more likely. If create date is used instead then we are
deleting audit information before its time.
Typical log files can be handled with the Linux logrotate
utility. Configuration files determine
which files are rotated, how often, and when they are purged. The setup is as follows:
1) Create
a script to be placed in the appropriate cron directory. This script can perform the find-deletes
described above, and then launch logrotate utility with configuration files
specifically for Oracle logs
2) Create
a logrotate.conf file to list the Oracle files to be rotated. Wildcards can be used but they must
specifically identify the logfiles to be rotated, not just *.
3) Create
a logrotate.status file which is used by logrotate to determine when each file
was last rotated. This can either be
done manually, or automatically by running logrotate with the -f (force) option
the first time. Note, however, that if
additional log files are added in the future (even if wildcards would identify
them) they will not be rotated unless they are listed in the status file.
Typical cron file placed in /etc/cron.daily
-rwxr-xr-x 1
oracle dba 894 Dec 6 16:59 oralogrotate
#!/bin/bash
#
# Rotate Oracle log files and purge trace files
# Copyright December 2008, Caleb.com
#
# Place this file in /etc/cron.weekly (or whatever
period is desired), with root execute privs
# Modify -mtime retention settings as necessary for
trace file purging
#
# Place oralogrotate.conf in /etc directory, and
modify as necessary to include log files
# Run logrotate once with -f (force) option to
create status file
# status file must be updated manually if new logs
are added in the future
#
# STEP 1 - Purge trace files
#
# Use find to locate files older than threshold
number of days and delete them
# This is useful for the likes of trace files which
are constantly being created
#
/usr/bin/find /oracle/app/admin -name '*.trc' -mtime
+361 -exec rm -f {} \; >/dev/null 2>&1
/usr/bin/find /oracle/app/admin -name '*.aud' -mtime
+31 -exec rm -f {} \; >/dev/null 2>&1
/usr/bin/find
/oracle/app/product/10.2.0.1/db_1/gamma1.psoug.org_orcl/sysman/recv -name
'*.err*' -mtime +31 -exec rm -f {} \; >/dev/null 2>&1
#
# Some logs (eg core dumps) create a subdir which
can be emptied by the above
# commands, but the subdirs will remain. This will clean out empty dirs:
#
/bin/rmdir --ignore-fail-on-non-empty
/oracle/app/admin/orcl/cdump/core* >/dev/null 2>&1
#
# STEP 2 - Rotate log files
#
# Use the Linux log rotator for typical log files
(alert log, listener.log, etc)
# that constantly grow.
# Note that the -f (force) option may be *required*
the first time in order to
# generate a status file. If new logs are added in the future they must
be added
# to the status file or they will not be rotated.
#
/usr/sbin/logrotate -v -s
/var/lib/oralogrotate.status /etc/oralogrotate.conf
>/home/oracle/oralogrotate_`date +%F:%T`_`hostname -s`.log 2>&1
Typical oralogrotate.conf file in /etc:
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle dba 423 Dec 6 17:25 oralogrotate.conf
monthly
rotate 12
copytruncate
compress
/oracle/app/admin/+ASM/bdump/alert*.log {
}
/oracle/app/admin/ORCL/bdump/alert*.log {
}
/oracle/app/admin/ORCL/bdump/drc*.log {
}
/oracle/app/product/10.2.0.1/db_1/network/log/*.log
{
}
/oracle/app/product/10.2.0.1/crs_1/log/gamma1/*.log
{
}
/oracle/app/product/10.2.0.1/db_1/oc4j/j2ee/OC4J_DBConsole_gamma1_ORCL1/log/*.log
{
}
/oracle/app/product/10.2.0.1/db_1/gamma1_ORCL1/sysman/log/emdb.nohup
{
}
Note: on systems that use ASM or RAC, or other additional
Oracle homes, each Oracle home must be scanned for candidate log files and
added to this file. Be careful of root
permission issues on some Clusterware log files.
Typical oralogrotate.status file in /var/lib:
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1110 Dec 6 17:11 oralogrotate.status
logrotate state -- version
2
"/oracle/app/admin/orcl/bdump/alert_orcl.log"
2008-12-6
"/oracle/app/product/10.2.0.1/db_1/sqlnet.log"
2008-12-6
"/oracle/app/product/10.2.0.1/db_1/network/log/listener.log"
2008-12-5
"/oracle/app/product/10.2.0.1/db_1/network/log/sqlnet.log"
2008-12-5
"/oracle/app/product/10.2.0.1/db_1/gamma1.psoug.org_orcl/sysman/log/emagent.log"
2008-12-6
"/oracle/app/product/10.2.0.1/db_1/gamma1.psoug.org_orcl/sysman/log/emagentfetchlet.log"
2008-12-6
"/oracle/app/product/10.2.0.1/db_1/gamma1.psoug.org_orcl/sysman/log/emdctl.log"
2008-12-6
"/oracle/app/product/10.2.0.1/db_1/gamma1.psoug.org_orcl/sysman/log/emoms.log"
2008-12-6
"/oracle/app/product/10.2.0.1/db_1/gamma1.psoug.org_orcl/sysman/log/emagent.trc"
2008-12-6
"/oracle/app/product/10.2.0.1/db_1/gamma1.psoug.org_orcl/sysman/log/emagentfetchlet.trc"
2008-12-6
"/oracle/app/product/10.2.0.1/db_1/gamma1.psoug.org_orcl/sysman/log/emdctl.trc"
2008-12-6
"/oracle/app/product/10.2.0.1/db_1/gamma1.psoug.org_orcl/sysman/log/emoms.trc"
2008-12-6
"/oracle/app/product/10.2.0.1/db_1/gamma1.psoug.org_orcl/sysman/log/emdb.nohup"
2008-12-6
Note: this file can be created manually, or by running
oralogrotate the first time with the -f (force) option which causes logs to be
rotated whether it is needed or not. As
new log files are added to the configuration, or to the system under wildcard
directories, they must be added to the status file or they will
not be rotated.
