diff --git a/files/etc/logrotate.conf b/files/etc/logrotate.conf
deleted file mode 100644
index 2cdc6f61..00000000
--- a/files/etc/logrotate.conf
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-# THIS FILE IS AUTOMATICALLY DISTRIBUTED BY PUPPET.  ANY CHANGES WILL BE
-# OVERWRITTEN.
-
-# Default values
-# rotate log files weekly
-weekly
-
-# keep 4 weeks worth of backlogs
-rotate 4
-
-# create new (empty) log files after rotating old ones
-create
-
-# packages drop log rotation information into this directory
-include /etc/logrotate.d
diff --git a/manifests/base.pp b/manifests/base.pp
index 706a0d43..87948f43 100644
--- a/manifests/base.pp
+++ b/manifests/base.pp
@@ -3,9 +3,16 @@
 # Examples
 #
 #   include logrotate::base
-class logrotate::base {
+class logrotate::base (
+  $compress      = true,
+  $compresscmd   = undef,
+  $compressext   = undef,
+  $dateext       = false,
+  $package_state = 'present',
+  $rotate        = 4
+){
   package { 'logrotate':
-    ensure => latest,
+    ensure => $package_state,
   }
 
   File {
@@ -18,7 +25,7 @@
     '/etc/logrotate.conf':
       ensure  => file,
       mode    => '0444',
-      source  => 'puppet:///modules/logrotate/etc/logrotate.conf';
+      content => template('logrotate/etc/logrotate.conf.erb'),;
     '/etc/logrotate.d':
       ensure  => directory,
       mode    => '0755';
diff --git a/spec/classes/base_spec.rb b/spec/classes/base_spec.rb
index 933b481d..9d1cb4de 100644
--- a/spec/classes/base_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/classes/base_spec.rb
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 describe 'logrotate::base' do
   it do
-    should contain_package('logrotate').with_ensure('latest')
+    should contain_package('logrotate').with_ensure('present')
 
     should contain_file('/etc/logrotate.conf').with({
       'ensure'  => 'file',
diff --git a/templates/etc/logrotate.conf.erb b/templates/etc/logrotate.conf.erb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cfc4f916
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/etc/logrotate.conf.erb
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+# THIS FILE IS AUTOMATICALLY DISTRIBUTED BY PUPPET.  ANY CHANGES WILL BE
+# OVERWRITTEN.
+
+# Default values
+# rotate log files weekly
+weekly
+
+# keep X weeks worth of backlogs
+rotate <%= @rotate %>
+
+# create new (empty) log files after rotating old ones
+create
+
+<% if @compress -%>
+compress
+<%- end -%>
+
+<% if @compresscmd -%>
+compresscmd <%= @compresscmd %>
+<%- end -%>
+
+<% if @compressext -%>
+compressext <%= @compressext %>
+<%- end -%>
+
+<% if @dateext -%>
+# use date as a suffix of the rotated file
+dateext
+<%- end -%>
+
+
+# packages drop log rotation information into this directory
+include /etc/logrotate.d