systemd-journal-limit-disk-usage.md

Limit systemd-journal disk usage

Short version:

echo 'SystemMaxUse=50M' >> /etc/systemd/journald.conf
systemctl restart systemd-journald

Long version to be sure the used size is no more than desired:

journalctl --disk-usage
echo 'SystemMaxUse=50M' >> /etc/systemd/journald.conf
systemctl restart systemd-journald
journalctl --rotate # do not exist in systemd 219 (Centos 7)
journalctl --vacuum-time=2d # works with systemd 219
journalctl --disk-usage
fstrim -va

Change setting in separate file

/etc/systemd/journald.conf.d/*.conf overrides settings from the file /etc/systemd/journald.conf. You can write config here, example format:

[Journal]
SystemMaxUse=250M
SystemMaxFileSize=50M

Useful commands:

systemctl --version
journalctl --disk-usage
journalctl --verify
journalctl --vacuum-time=2d
journalctl --vacuum-size=500M
journalctl --vacuum-time=1s
journalctl --flush
journalctl --rotate

See also:

• https://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php/Limit_the_size_of_.log_files_%26_the_journal
• https://selectel.ru/blog/en/2017/01/24/managing-logging-systemd/