savelog - save a log file

       If  a process is still writing to file.0, and savelog moves it to file.1 and compresses it, data could be
       lost.

       The savelog command saves and optionally compresses old copies of files.   Older  versions  of  file  are
       named:

              file.<number><compress_suffix>

       where  <number>  is the version number, 0 being the newest.  Version numbers > 0 are compressed unless -l
       prevents it.  Version number 0 is not compressed because a process might still have file opened for  I/O.
       Only cycle versions of the file are kept.

       If the file does not exist and -t was given, it will be created.

       For files that do exist and have lengths greater than zero, the following actions are performed:

       1)     Version  numbered  files are cycled.  Version file.2 is moved to version file.3, version file.1 is
              moved to version file.2, and so on.  Finally version  file.0  is  moved  to  version  file.1,  and
              version  file  is deleted.  Both compressed names and uncompressed names are cycled, regardless of
              -l.  Missing version files are ignored.

       2)     The new file.1 is compressed unless the -l flag was given.  It is changed subject to the  -m,  -u,
              and -g flags.

       3)     The main file is moved to file.0.

       4)     If  the -m, -u, -g,  -t, or -p flags are given, then an empty file is created subject to the given
              flags.  With the -p flag, the file is created with the  same  owner,  group,  and  permissions  as
              before.

       5)     The new file.0 is changed subject to the -m, -u, and -g flags.

       savelog - save a log file

-mmode
              chmod the log files to mode, implies -t-uuser
              chown log files to user, implies -t-ggroup
              chgrp log files to group, implies -t-ccycle
              Save cycle versions of the logfile (default: 7).  The cycle count must be at least 2.

       -t     touch new logfile into existence

       -l     don't compress any log files (default: do compress)

       -p     preserve owner, group, and permissions of logfile

       -j     compress with bzip2 instead of gzip

       -J     compress with xz instead of gzip

              For  xz  no  strength  option  is  set, and xz decides on the default based on the total amount of
              physical RAM.  Note that xz can use a very large amount  of  memory  for  the  higher  compression
              levels.

       -1..-9
              compression strength or memory usage (default: 9, except for xz)

       -C     force cleanup of cycled logfiles

       -d     use standard date for rolling

       -Ddateformat
              override date format, in the syntax understood by the date(1) command

       -r     use rolldir instead of . to roll files

       -n     do not rotate empty files

       -q     be quiet

logrotate(8)

Debian                                             30 Dec 2017                                        SAVELOG(8)

savelog  [-m mode] [-u user] [-g group] [-t] [-p] [-c cycle] [-l] [-j] [-J] [-1 .. -9] [-C] [-d] [-l] [-r
       rolldir] [-n] [-q] [-D dateformat] file ...