# Using Curator vs basic linux script + cron job to delete /var/log/elasticsearch files

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/using-curator-vs-basic-linux-script-cron-job-to-delete-var-log-elasticsearch-files/187162>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Tags:** curator\
**Created:** [June 24, 2019, 2:58pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/using-curator-vs-basic-linux-script-cron-job-to-delete-var-log-elasticsearch-files/187162 "2019-06-24T14:58:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ryan\_Downey](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/ryan_downey/32/35987_2.png) [@Ryan\_Downey](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Ryan_Downey)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2019, 2:58pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/using-curator-vs-basic-linux-script-cron-job-to-delete-var-log-elasticsearch-files/187162/1 "2019-06-24T14:58:57Z")

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I've setup Curator to delete metricbeat indices older than 14 days within our cluster. After reading through the Curator documentation is there any real need to use Curator to delete /var/log/elasticsearch logs or is a basic shell script run with a Cron job the only thing really needed for removing logs? Seems like using Curator just adds an unnecessary step to the process.

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**Author:** ![theuntergeek](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/theuntergeek/32/44961_2.png) [@theuntergeek](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/theuntergeek)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2019, 3:12pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/using-curator-vs-basic-linux-script-cron-job-to-delete-var-log-elasticsearch-files/187162/2 "2019-06-24T15:12:09Z")

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Curator doesn’t remove logs. It helps manage indices in Elasticsearch which can contain logs. Curator cannot be used to manage anything in a file path, like `/var/log/elasticsearch`.

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**Author:** ![Ryan\_Downey](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/ryan_downey/32/35987_2.png) [@Ryan\_Downey](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Ryan_Downey)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2019, 3:15pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/using-curator-vs-basic-linux-script-cron-job-to-delete-var-log-elasticsearch-files/187162/3 "2019-06-24T15:15:20Z")

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Sounds good, thats what I was gathering after reading through the docs but just wanted to check. Appreciate the quick response Aaron. Enjoy the rest of your day.

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 3:15pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/using-curator-vs-basic-linux-script-cron-job-to-delete-var-log-elasticsearch-files/187162/4 "2019-07-22T15:15:20Z")

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