---
name: "atop-daily"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "pcp-atop"
version: "7.2.2-2"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/atop-daily"
---

# atop-daily(1)

daily maintenance of pcp-atop PCP archives

## NAME

**atop-daily** - daily maintenance of pcp-atop PCP archives

## SYNOPSIS

**$PCP\_BINADM\_DIR/atop-daily** \[**--compress-only**\] \[**--help**\] \[*LOGPATH*\]

## DESCRIPTION

**atop-daily** performs daily maintenance of [**pcp-atop**(1)](/pcp-atop/1.md) PCP archives. It is normally called from [**systemd**(1)](/systemd/1.md) via the **atop-daily.timer** unit, or automatically by [**pcp-atop**(1)](/pcp-atop/1.md) at startup.

When run without options, **atop-daily** creates the archive directory if absent, compresses prior-day archives using [**xz**(1)](/xz/1.md) for metadata and [**zstd**(1)](/zstd/1.md) for data volumes, and culls archives older than **LOGGENERATIONS** days (default 28).

Compression is non-blocking: files are atomically renamed then compressed by background processes so the caller and [**pcp-atop**(1)](/pcp-atop/1.md) can proceed immediately.

## OPTIONS

- **--compress-only**

  Compress prior-day archives only; do not cull old archives. This mode is used when called from [**pcp-atop**(1)](/pcp-atop/1.md) itself at startup.

- **--help**

  Display a usage message and exit.

## CONFIGURATION

The following environment variables may be set in the [**pcp-atop**(1)](/pcp-atop/1.md) sysconfig file (*/etc/sysconfig/atop* or */etc/default/atop*):

- **LOGPATH**

  Archive directory. Default: */var/log/atop*. May also be specified as a command line argument.

- **LOGGENERATIONS**

  Number of days of archives to retain. Default: 28. A value of 0 disables culling.

## FILES

- */var/log/atop*

  Default directory for [**pcp-atop**(1)](/pcp-atop/1.md) archive files.

## SEE ALSO

[**pcp-atop**(1)](/pcp-atop/1.md), [**pcp-atopsar**(1)](/pcp-atopsar/1.md), [**PCPIntro**(1)](/PCPIntro/1.md), [**systemd**(1)](/systemd/1.md), [**xz**(1)](/xz/1.md), [**zstd**(1)](/zstd/1.md), [**pcp.conf**(5)](/pcp.conf/5.md) and [**pcp.env**(5)](/pcp.env/5.md).