Re: NEVER remove log files without asking

[Loic Minier <lool+debian@via.ecp.fr>]

 There are two problems with the Apache logs:
 1/ the value of the logs,
 2/ the unpredictable name of the log.

 For 1/, nobody mentionned legal constraints, but I think Debian should
 be more careful about such valuable data: in some countries, you're
 supposed to keep your logs in case the Justice needs them.  It would be
 nice to have a global or package-specific option to keep your logs
 safe.

 For 2/, it was a good idea to group the Apache logs in a single
 directory, but the fact that these will be rotated or mixed with admin
 specific logs renders the deletion of the log group dangerous.
   In other words, "rm -rf /var/log/apache" might remove more than the
 standard logs, and "rm -f /var/log/{error,access}.log" won't remove the
 rotated logs.


 What I would like is logrotate providing a global debconf question
 wether or not to keep the logs of a package and should offer a mean of
 deleting all log files rotated by a package.
   For example, Apache would provide a logrotate configuration file, and
 prior to its removal, logrotate would delete all logs and their
 rotation referenced therein -- depending on the global debconf
 "keep_my_logs_safe" value.


 I think another way to go is to mark logfiles as being logfiles in
 packages, or maybe log directories.  For example, the Solaris package
 system offers the "volatile file" type when you create a "prototype"
 file.


    2 ¢,

-- 
Loïc Minier <lool@dooz.org>
[ average Debian user ]