CIS Ubuntu 14.04 LTS - 4.3 Ensure logrotate is configured

4.3 Ensure logrotate is configured (Not Scored)

Profile Applicability

• Level 1 - Server
• Level 1 - Workstation

Description

The system includes the capability of rotating log files regularly to avoid filling up the system with logs or making the logs unmanageable. The file /etc/logrotate.d/rsyslog is the configuration file used to rotate log files created by rsyslog.

Rationale

By keeping the log files smaller and more manageable, a system administrator can easily archive these files to another system and spend less time looking through inordinately large log files.

Audit Procedure

Review /etc/logrotate.conf and /etc/logrotate.d/* and verify logs are rotated according to site policy.

cat /etc/logrotate.conf
ls /etc/logrotate.d/

Expected Result

Log rotation should be configured with appropriate rotation intervals, retention policies, and compression settings according to site policy.

Remediation

Edit /etc/logrotate.conf and /etc/logrotate.d/* to ensure logs are rotated according to site policy. The following is an example configuration:

/var/log/syslog
{
    rotate 7
    daily
    missingok
    notifempty
    delaycompress
    compress
    postrotate
        reload rsyslog >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
    endscript
}

Default Value

logrotate is installed and configured with basic rotation settings by default.

References

1. See the logrotate(8) man page for more information.

Profile

• Level 1 - Server
• Level 1 - Workstation