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Created May 27, 2025 12:44
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Clear Systemd Journal Logs in Ubuntu 20.04
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clear_systemd_journal_logs.md

Clear Systemd Journal Logs in Ubuntu 20.04

Systemd has its own logging system called the journal, and the log files are stored in /var/log/journal.

Check current disk usage of journal files

sudo journalctl --disk-usage

Rotate journal files

  • Active journal files will be marked as archived, so that they are never written to in future.
sudo journalctl --disk-usage

Delete journal logs older than 5 days:

sudo journalctl --vacuum-time=5days

Delete log files until the disk space taken falls below 200M:

sudo journalctl --vacuum-size=200M

Delete old logs and limit file number to 10:

sudo journalctl --vacuum-files=10

The configuration file is located at /etc/systemd/journald.conf. After editing to your preference, reload systemd daemon using sudo systemctl daemon-reload

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