Red Hat Bugzilla – Bug 133077
logrotate script may cause lost data
Last modified: 2007-11-30 17:07:04 EST
The default logrotate script for psacct may cause lost data. The prerotate script calls 'accton' with no arguments which stops logging of process accounting until the postrotate script is called. Any processes that exit during this period will not be properly accounted for. I've tested and verified that if you have process accounting enabled, then run 'accton' pointing to a new file, it will auotmatically switch logging over with no period for processes to exit and not get accounted for. The kernel's logging is to the inode and not the filename, so it will follow a file if its moved. As such, I suggest removing the 'prerotate' script from the default logrotate config. I've tested this for a few weeks and it works without problem. I read the logrotate code and verified that the log file compression takes place after the postrotate script, so that won't cause any problems either.
An advisory has been issued which should help the problem described in this bug report. This report is therefore being closed with a resolution of ERRATA. For more information on the solution and/or where to find the updated files, please follow the link below. You may reopen this bug report if the solution does not work for you. http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2005-211.html