How can I set quotas for /var/log/journal?

Question

On Ubuntu, /var/log/journal grows too large. I am told I can safely delete /var/log/journal/* but I'd rather have a quota set.

How do I do this?

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 25 '19 at 09:38

To set a total limit for all journal files, specify it in SystemMaxUse=.
To set a limit for individual files (and enforce more frequent rotation), use SystemMaxFileSize=.
Run journalctl --vacuum to enforce new limits.

For example:

[Journal]
# Total limit for all journals:
SystemMaxUse=4G
# Limit for individual files before rotation:
SystemMaxFileSize=1G

1 Answers1