Issue

It is a good idea to occasionally save the php.log file and start a new one, to help prevent the log from growing too large.  Linux users can use the logrotate utility to do this, but there is no logrotate utility on the IBM i.  This article describes a simple method to periodically rename the php.log file and let a new one be created.

Environment

Zend Server for IBM i on any supported version of IBM i running Zend Server 2020 or higher.

One simple way to rotate the php.log file is with a CL program set up to run in the IBM Job Scheduler. The source for the CL program could look like this:

PGM
DCL        VAR(&TIMESTAMP) TYPE(*CHAR) LEN(20)
DCL        VAR(&NEWNAME) TYPE(*CHAR) LEN(30)
RTVSYSVAL  SYSVAL(QDATETIME) RTNVAR(&TIMESTAMP)
CHGVAR     VAR(&NEWNAME) VALUE('php.log.' *CAT &TIMESTAMP)
RNM        OBJ('/usr/local/zendphp74/var/log/php.log') +
             NEWOBJ(&NEWNAME)
ENDPGM


This will append a timestamp to the end of the php.log file name. The next time PHP needs to write a php.log entry, it will create a new php.log file.  You can run this CL program periodically using the Job Scheduler. Once a week might be a good choice. 

Delete old renamed files periodically.

Once in a while go to the /usr/local/zendphp74/var/log directory and delete the old renamed files.  It is important to not let the directory fill up with too many old files, in case a Support Tool is needed.  Too many files can make the Support Tool archive too large to attach to a support ticket.

Previous versions:


Note: For Zend Server 9-2019 customers

The location of the php.log file is /usr/local/zendphp7/var/log/php.log.  Please adjust the above CL source accordingly.

Note: For Zend Server 6 - 8.x customers

The location of the php.log file is /usr/local/zendsvr6/var/log/php.log.  Please adjust the above CL source accordingly.


Note: For Zend Server 5 customers

The location of the php.log file is /usr/local/zendsvr/var/log/php.log.  Please adjust the above CL source accordingly.


To learn how to adjust the error_level setting so that the php.log file grows more slowly, please take a look at this article:


Set error_reporting to control error reporting levels in the php.log file