5.1.2.6 Ensure journald log rotation is configured per site policy

Information

Journald includes the capability of rotating log files regularly to avoid filling up the system with logs or making the logs unmanageably large. The file /etc/systemd/journald.conf is the configuration file used to specify how logs generated by Journald should be rotated.

By keeping the log files smaller and more manageable, a system administrator can easily archive these files to another system and spend less time looking through inordinately large log files.

Solution

Review /etc/systemd/journald.conf and verify logs are rotated according to site policy. The settings should be carefully understood as there are specific edge cases and prioritization of parameters.

The specific parameters for log rotation are:

SystemMaxUse=
SystemKeepFree=
RuntimeMaxUse=
RuntimeKeepFree=
MaxFileSec=

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/15962