Log files grows indefinitely, motion should have a setting or recommendation for log file rotation

[AndiDog]

Did you read the guide?

Yes

What is the base version number of Motion being used?

4.5.x

What was the install method?

Installed via package tool

What is base architecture?

ARM-64bit

What is the distro being used?

Raspbian

Disto version number

No response

Camera/Sound type(s) being used?

Network camera with RTSP

Describe the issue/problem and steps to reproduce

I'm using the log_file setting. My log file grew to several hundred MB already, and there's no built-in way to rotate it.

Relevant Motion log output (at log_level 8)

-

[JChristensen]

logrotate is your friend :-D
https://www.man7.org/linux/man-pages/man8/logrotate.8.html

[JChristensen]

In my motion.conf file, I have:

log_file /home/jack/.local/log/motion.log

Below is the logrotate config file that I use with motion. I rotate the log file daily, and keep it for seven days. The sync.log file is created by a script that I use with motion, so probably not applicable, but I left it in to show that one config file can rotate more than one log file. HTH.

# logrotate config file for motion log files.
# copy this file into the /etc/logrotate.d directory.
# its owner and group should both be root and permissions should be 644.
# first change the path to the log file(s) below as needed,
# then change the "su" line to match the owner and group of the log file(s).
# adjust the number of logs, frequency, etc. if desired.

/home/jack/.local/log/motion.log
/home/jack/.local/log/sync.log
{
    su jack jack
    rotate 7
    daily
    missingok
    notifempty
    compress
    delaycompress
}