05 Log Cleanup Overview

Log Cleanup Utility - Technical Overview 🧹

The Log Cleanup Utility is an enterprise-grade log retention and storage reclamation solution available in POSIX Bash (cleanup_logs.sh) and PowerShell (cleanup_logs.ps1) with 100% feature parity.

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🛡️ Multi-Layer Safety Guardrails

To prevent accidental data loss or catastrophic operating system corruption, both scripts enforce a strict system root directory blacklist:

• Linux / macOS Protected Roots: /, /bin, /sbin, /usr, /etc, /dev, /proc, /sys, /boot, /root, /var, /private, /Library, /System, /Applications, /Volumes.
• Windows Protected Roots: C:\, C:\Windows, C:\Windows\System32, C:\Program Files, C:\Program Files (x86), C:\Users, C:\ProgramData.

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📋 Command-Line Parameter Parity

Bash Flag	PowerShell Parameter	Type	Default	Description
-d <path>	-LogDirectory <string>	String	Required	Target directory path to clean.
-t <days>	-Days <int>	Integer	30	Retention threshold in days (older than X days).
-p <pattern>	-Pattern <string>	String	"*.log"	Filename matching glob pattern.
-m <mb>	-MinSizeMB <double>	Number	0	Minimum file size threshold in MB.
-r	-Recursive	Switch	false	Enable deep recursive subdirectory traversal.
-n	-DryRun	Switch	false	Simulation mode: preview actions without deleting.
-l <file>	-LogFile <string>	String	none	Append persistent ISO-8601 audit logs.
-v	-Verbose	Switch	false	Enable verbose per-file diagnostic output.
-h	Get-Help	Switch	none	Display help and usage documentation.

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📊 Dynamic Storage Normalization

The utility aggregates space calculations and outputs human-readable units:

• $< 1024 \text{ B} \rightarrow \text{B}$
• $\ge 1024 \text{ B} \rightarrow \text{KB}$
• $\ge 1024^2 \text{ B} \rightarrow \text{MB}$
• $\ge 1024^3 \text{ B} \rightarrow \text{GB}$