Enable Logrotation for Docker Containers

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When you install and use Docker on your system, the container running in the docker can generate a large number of logs while you are not aware of the background.

Although the Docker service normally supports logrotate, this support comes off by default. If one day your disk ends suddenly, then you will know exactly what I mean. : )

If you are installing the docker service for the first time in a server and running the container for the first time, you can follow the steps below.

When the docker service is in a stop state, first open the file that the docker service will need for the logrotate operation with the text editor. My favorite is vim, I used vim. You can also choose another editor like nano, pico.

sudo vim /etc/docker/daemon.json

Then add the following lines in this file and save and close the file.

{
 "log-driver": "json-file",
 "log-opts": {
     "max-size": "10m",
     "max-file": "3"
     }
 }

Now, don’t forget to restart your docker service.

sudo systemctl restart docker

Now, your docker service started to rotation logs under your “/var/lib/docker/containers/CONTAINERID/” path.