Empty or Delete a log files in Linux or UNIX

My web server’s log file size is quite huge or large. How do I delete a log file in Linux without disturbing running application? Is there a proper way to clear log files on Unix?

You can simply truncate a log file using > filename syntax. For example if log file name is /var/log/foo, try > /var/log/foo as root user.

How to clear the contents of a log file from the command line

Say you want to clear the contents of a log file named /var/log/messages, run:
# >/var/log/messages
The following is compatible with various Linux or Unix shells:
: > /var/log/messages
Verify file size:
# ls -l /var/log/messages
If you really wanted to delete or remove a file type the following rm command:
# rm /var/log/message

Delete a log files in Linux or UNIX using truncate

Use the truncate command to shrink or extend the size of each FILE to the specified size. So a proper way to clear log file named www.cyberciti.biz_access.log is to run the following command:
# cd /var/log/nginx/
# ls -lh www.cyberciti.biz_access.log
# truncate -s 0 www.cyberciti.biz_access.log
# ls -lh www.cyberciti.biz_access.log