How to Configure Logrotate on Linux VPS to Prevent Nginx and Docker Logs from Filling Your Disk

The Silent Killer: Unchecked Log Growth

One of the most frequent causes of sudden production server failure is 100% disk saturation. On busy websites, Nginx access logs, Docker container outputs, and MySQL query logs write thousands of entries every minute. When a storage volume fills up completely, databases cannot write transaction logs, causing services to crash abruptly. Logrotate is the standard Linux utility designed to rotate, compress, and prune log archives automatically.

Creating a Production Nginx Logrotate Rule

sudo nano /etc/logrotate.d/nginx

/var/log/nginx/*.log {
    daily
    missingok
    rotate 14
    compress
    delaycompress
    notifempty
    create 0640 www-data adm
    sharedscripts
    prerotate
        if [ -d /etc/logrotate.d/httpd-prerotate ]; then \
            run-parts /etc/logrotate.d/httpd-prerotate; \
        fi \
    endscript
    postrotate
        invoke-rc.d nginx rotate >/dev/null 2>&1
    endscript
}

Test the configuration with a dry run: sudo logrotate -d /etc/logrotate.d/nginx. Your logs are now automatically compressed and pruned after 14 days.