Re: Log files, how to rotate properly

On Thursday 14 June 2001 10:47, Peter Eisentraut wrote:
> Lamar Owen writes:
> > I have yet to see a 'lost' syslog message here, in over three years.

> I didn't mean sylog losing messages, but some PostgreSQL messages not
> getting there.

Then whose fault is that?  Is it our syslog calling, or the receiving syslog
not hearing?  (Yes, I know that by default syslog uses UDP)....

> > If syslog looses messages, let's try helping fix syslog rather than
> > recommending Yet Another Log Rotating Solution.

> YALRS is fine by me.

Why reinvent the wheel?  Particularly such a generic, OS function wheel as
logging?

> Note that syslog requires root access, which we
> don't want to require.

This is a tired mantra -- most PostgreSQL installations are being run by
DBA's with either direct root access or a friendly sysadmin (the proof is
that the RPMset probably has more users than the regular build, and
installation of the RPMset requires root on most RPM-supported OSes).

Besides, _recommending_ syslog != _requiring_ syslog -- the current build
system for logging isn't broken and doesn't need fixing -- but rather than
recommend a non-syslog solution out of hand, an even presentation of the
options is more productive.

We have good syslog support -- and we have good non-syslog support.  Neither
are really _great_, but both work.  Neither should be removed, by any means,
and neither should be required, either.  Which means a consistent elog()
usage is to be preferred over a mix of elog() and fputs/fprintf.

For those that can't get either root access or a friendly enough sysadmin, a
presentation of the options available to them is good as well.
--
Lamar Owen
WGCR Internet Radio
1 Peter 4:11