LINUX AUTOMATED MAINTENANCE SCRIPT

Overview

This script performs automatic system maintenance tasks such as cleaning packages, clearing cache, removing old logs, and cleaning Docker resources.

Purpose: Keep Linux servers clean, optimized, and healthy automatically.

Full Script

#!/bin/bash

LOGFILE="/var/log/last-7days-maintenance.log"

# Ensure script runs as root
if [ "$EUID" -ne 0 ]; then
  echo "Please run as root"
  exit 1
fi

# Logging
exec > >(tee -a $LOGFILE) 2>&1

# Detect OS and cleanup packages
if grep -qi "ubuntu" /etc/os-release; then
    echo "Ubuntu detected - cleaning packages"
    apt update -y
    apt autoremove --purge -y
    apt autoclean -y
    apt clean

elif grep -qiE "rhel|centos|rocky|alma" /etc/os-release; then
    echo "RHEL-based OS detected - cleaning packages"
    yum update -y
    yum autoremove -y
    yum clean all
fi

# Clear memory cache safely
echo "Clearing RAM cache"
sync
echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches

# Clean old temp files (older than 7 days)
echo "Cleaning temp files older than 7 days"
find /tmp -type f -mtime +7 -delete
find /var/tmp -type f -mtime +7 -delete

# Vacuum journal logs
echo "Cleaning journal logs older than 7 days"
journalctl --vacuum-time=7d

# Restart systemd daemon safely
echo "Reloading systemd daemon"
systemctl daemon-reexec

# Store last 7 days error logs
echo "Saving error logs"
journalctl -p err --since "7 days ago" --no-pager > /var/log/last-7days-errors.log

# Docker cleanup 
if command -v docker &> /dev/null; then
    echo "Cleaning Docker resources older than 30 days"
    docker container prune --filter "until=720h" -f
    docker image prune -a --filter "until=720h" -f
    docker network prune --filter "until=720h" -f
    docker volume prune -f
    docker builder prune --filter "until=720h" -f
else
    echo "Docker not installed, skipping"
fi

Step-by-Step Explanation

1. Root Privilege Check

if [ "$EUID" -ne 0 ]; then
 exit 1
fi

• Ensures script runs only as root
• Required for system cleanup operations

2. Logging

exec > >(tee -a $LOGFILE) 2>&1

• Saves output to log file
• Log location: /var/log/last-7days-maintenance.log

3. OS Detection and Package Cleanup

Ubuntu:

apt update
apt autoremove
apt clean

RHEL/CentOS:

yum update
yum autoremove
yum clean all

• Updates packages
• Removes unused packages
• Frees disk space

4. Clear RAM Cache

sync
echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches

• Clears memory cache safely
• Improves memory availability

5. Clean Temp Files

find /tmp -type f -mtime +7 -delete

• Deletes files older than 7 days
• Frees disk space

6. Clean Journal Logs

journalctl --vacuum-time=7d

• Removes logs older than 7 days
• Keeps system logs optimized

7. Reload systemd

systemctl daemon-reexec

• Reloads systemd safely

8. Save Error Logs

journalctl -p err --since "7 days ago"

• Saves last 7 days error logs
• Useful for troubleshooting

9. Docker Cleanup

docker container prune
docker image prune
docker volume prune

• Removes unused Docker resources
• Frees disk space

Benefits

• Automated system cleanup
• Improves performance
• Frees disk space
• Removes unused packages
• Cleans Docker resources
• Maintains system health

Recommended Usage

Run weekly using cron:

crontab -e

0 2 * * 0 /root/maintenance.sh

This runs every Sunday at 2 AM.

Summary

• Works on Ubuntu, CentOS, RHEL, Rocky, AlmaLinux
• Cleans packages, logs, temp files, and Docker
• Stores logs for monitoring
• Safe for production servers