diff --git a/log_rotate.sh b/log_rotate.sh
index f267c81..d3dba0d 100644
--- a/log_rotate.sh
+++ b/log_rotate.sh
@@ -15,24 +15,123 @@
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along 
 # with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 # 
-# Usage: log_rotate.sh [days]
-#   days: rotate logs older than this many days (default 7).
-# Description: Compresses .log files older than X days in /var/log and deletes archives older than 90 days.
- 
-DAYS="$1"
-if ! [[ "$DAYS" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
-  DAYS=7
-fi
-if [ $EUID -ne 0 ]; then
-  echo "Please run as root to rotate system logs."
+# Usage: log_rotate.sh [--days N] [--purge-days N] [--dry-run] [--yes]
+#   --days N         compress .log files older than N days (default 7)
+#   --purge-days N   delete .gz archives older than N days (default: never)
+#   --dry-run        show what would happen, change nothing
+#   --yes            skip the confirmation prompt for --purge-days
+# Description: Compresses old .log files under /var/log, and optionally
+#   deletes old .gz archives.
+#
+# NOTE: this is a convenience wrapper, not a logrotate replacement. It
+# does not signal daemons or truncate in place, so it only touches files
+# nothing currently holds open -- see the comment above compress_logs.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+DAYS=7
+PURGE_DAYS=""
+DRY_RUN=false
+ASSUME_YES=false
+LOG_DIR=/var/log
+
+while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+  case "$1" in
+    --days)
+      [ "${2:-}" ] && [[ "$2" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || { echo "--days needs a number" >&2; exit 1; }
+      DAYS="$2"; shift ;;
+    --purge-days)
+      [ "${2:-}" ] && [[ "$2" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || { echo "--purge-days needs a number" >&2; exit 1; }
+      PURGE_DAYS="$2"; shift ;;
+    --dry-run) DRY_RUN=true ;;
+    --yes)     ASSUME_YES=true ;;
+    -h|--help) sed -n '/^# Usage:/,/^$/p' "$0" | sed 's/^# \{0,1\}//'; exit 0 ;;
+    [0-9]*)
+      # Backwards compatibility: the old interface was a bare day count.
+      DAYS="$1" ;;
+    *) echo "Unknown option: $1 (try --help)" >&2; exit 1 ;;
+  esac
+  shift
+done
+
+if [ "$EUID" -ne 0 ]; then
+  echo "Please run as root to rotate system logs." >&2
   exit 1
 fi
 
-echo "Rotating logs older than $DAYS days..."
-# Compress uncompressed .log files older than $DAYS days
-find /var/log -type f -name "*.log" -mtime +$DAYS ! -name "*.gz" -exec gzip {} \;
-echo "Compressed logs older than $DAYS days."
+# Compressing a log a daemon still holds open loses data: gzip writes
+# the .gz and unlinks the original, but the daemon keeps writing to the
+# now-unlinked inode, and those writes are unreachable. Real logrotate
+# avoids this with copytruncate or a postrotate signal. We have neither,
+# so skip any file that is currently open and leave it for logrotate.
+file_is_open() {
+  command -v lsof >/dev/null 2>&1 || return 1
+  lsof -- "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1
+}
 
-# Remove very old compressed logs (older than 90 days)
-find /var/log -type f -name "*.gz" -mtime +90 -exec rm -f {} \;
-echo "Removed log archives older than 90 days."
+compress_logs() {
+  local count=0 skipped=0 f
+  echo "Compressing *.log older than $DAYS days under $LOG_DIR..."
+  while IFS= read -r -d '' f; do
+    if file_is_open "$f"; then
+      echo "  skip (open by a running process): $f"
+      skipped=$((skipped + 1))
+      continue
+    fi
+    if [ "$DRY_RUN" = true ]; then
+      echo "  would compress: $f"
+    else
+      gzip -- "$f" && echo "  compressed: $f"
+    fi
+    count=$((count + 1))
+  done < <(find "$LOG_DIR" -type f -name '*.log' -mtime +"$DAYS" ! -name '*.gz' -print0)
+  echo "Compressed $count file(s); skipped $skipped still open."
+  if ! command -v lsof >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "WARNING: lsof not installed -- could not check whether files were open." >&2
+  fi
+}
+
+purge_archives() {
+  local list count
+  list="$(find "$LOG_DIR" -type f -name '*.gz' -mtime +"$PURGE_DAYS" -print)"
+  count="$(printf '%s' "$list" | grep -c . || true)"
+
+  if [ "$count" -eq 0 ]; then
+    echo "No .gz archives older than $PURGE_DAYS days."
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  echo "$count archive(s) older than $PURGE_DAYS days:"
+  printf '%s\n' "$list" | head -n 10 | sed 's/^/  /'
+  [ "$count" -gt 10 ] && echo "  ... and $((count - 10)) more"
+
+  if [ "$DRY_RUN" = true ]; then
+    echo "DRY RUN: nothing deleted."
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  if [ "$ASSUME_YES" != true ]; then
+    if [ ! -t 0 ]; then
+      echo "Refusing to delete without confirmation; pass --yes for unattended runs." >&2
+      exit 1
+    fi
+    read -r -p "Permanently delete these $count archive(s)? (yes/NO): " reply
+    [ "$reply" = "yes" ] || { echo "Cancelled."; return 0; }
+  fi
+
+  printf '%s\n' "$list" | while IFS= read -r f; do
+    [ -n "$f" ] && rm -f -- "$f"
+  done
+  echo "Deleted $count archive(s)."
+}
+
+compress_logs
+
+# Deletion is opt-in. This previously ran unconditionally at 90 days,
+# with no flag, no dry-run and no confirmation -- which quietly destroyed
+# archives on hosts with longer retention requirements.
+if [ -n "$PURGE_DAYS" ]; then
+  purge_archives
+else
+  echo "No --purge-days given; existing .gz archives left alone."
+fi