diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/from_md/release-notes/rl-2205.section.xml b/nixos/doc/manual/from_md/release-notes/rl-2205.section.xml
index 4acdcd7d60f9b..6d36fb609f9b4 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/from_md/release-notes/rl-2205.section.xml
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/from_md/release-notes/rl-2205.section.xml
@@ -970,6 +970,13 @@
           Plugins are automatically repackaged using autoPatchelf.
         </para>
       </listitem>
+      <listitem>
+        <para>
+          <literal>services.logrotate.enable</literal> now defaults to
+          true if any rotate path has been defined, and some paths have
+          been added by default.
+        </para>
+      </listitem>
       <listitem>
         <para>
           The <literal>zrepl</literal> package has been updated from
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2205.section.md b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2205.section.md
index e81bdd884d068..e0a7c4108cff3 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2205.section.md
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2205.section.md
@@ -323,6 +323,9 @@ In addition to numerous new and upgraded packages, this release has the followin
 - `services.mattermost.plugins` has been added to allow the declarative installation of Mattermost plugins.
   Plugins are automatically repackaged using autoPatchelf.
 
+- `services.logrotate.enable` now defaults to true if any rotate path has
+  been defined, and some paths have been added by default.
+
 - The `zrepl` package has been updated from 0.4.0 to 0.5:
 
   - The RPC protocol version was bumped; all zrepl daemons in a setup must be updated and restarted before replication can resume.
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/logging/logrotate.nix b/nixos/modules/services/logging/logrotate.nix
index 8cef4e8c083a9..77e4fc3959817 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/logging/logrotate.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/logging/logrotate.nix
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ with lib;
 
 let
   cfg = config.services.logrotate;
-  inherit (config.users) groups;
 
   pathOpts = { name, ... }:  {
     options = {
@@ -85,10 +84,6 @@ let
     };
 
     config.name = name;
-    config.extraConfig = ''
-      missingok
-      notifempty
-    '';
   };
 
   mkConf = pathOpts: ''
@@ -102,7 +97,11 @@ let
   '';
 
   paths = sortProperties (attrValues (filterAttrs (_: pathOpts: pathOpts.enable) cfg.paths));
-  configFile = pkgs.writeText "logrotate.conf" (concatStringsSep "\n" ((map mkConf paths) ++ [ cfg.extraConfig ]));
+  configFile = pkgs.writeText "logrotate.conf" (
+    concatStringsSep "\n" (
+      [ "missingok" "notifempty" cfg.extraConfig ] ++ (map mkConf paths)
+    )
+  );
 
 in
 {
@@ -112,7 +111,10 @@ in
 
   options = {
     services.logrotate = {
-      enable = mkEnableOption "the logrotate systemd service";
+      enable = mkEnableOption "the logrotate systemd service" // {
+        default = foldr (n: a: a || n.enable) false (attrValues cfg.paths);
+        defaultText = literalExpression "cfg.paths != {}";
+      };
 
       paths = mkOption {
         type = with types; attrsOf (submodule pathOpts);
@@ -163,25 +165,6 @@ in
       }
     ) cfg.paths;
 
-    services.logrotate = {
-      paths = {
-        "/var/log/btmp" = {
-          frequency = mkDefault "monthly";
-          keep = mkDefault 1;
-          extraConfig = ''
-            create 0660 root ${groups.utmp.name}
-          '';
-        };
-        "/var/log/wtmp" = {
-          frequency = mkDefault "monthly";
-          keep = mkDefault 1;
-          extraConfig = ''
-            create 0664 root ${groups.utmp.name}
-          '';
-        };
-      };
-    };
-
     systemd.services.logrotate = {
       description = "Logrotate Service";
       wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/web-servers/nginx/default.nix b/nixos/modules/services/web-servers/nginx/default.nix
index 6876dbf39d84b..7daf0f158b35d 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/web-servers/nginx/default.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/web-servers/nginx/default.nix
@@ -988,5 +988,17 @@ in
       nginx.gid = config.ids.gids.nginx;
     };
 
+    services.logrotate.paths.nginx = mapAttrs (_: mkDefault) {
+      path = "/var/log/nginx/*.log";
+      frequency = "weekly";
+      keep = 26;
+      extraConfig = ''
+        compress
+        delaycompress
+        postrotate
+          [ ! -f /var/run/nginx/nginx.pid ] || kill -USR1 `cat /var/run/nginx/nginx.pid`
+        endscript
+      '';
+    };
   };
 }
diff --git a/nixos/modules/system/boot/systemd.nix b/nixos/modules/system/boot/systemd.nix
index 1f2dd618698c6..441faa03af00b 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/system/boot/systemd.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/system/boot/systemd.nix
@@ -1217,6 +1217,23 @@ in
     boot.kernel.sysctl."kernel.pid_max" = mkIf pkgs.stdenv.is64bit (lib.mkDefault 4194304);
 
     boot.kernelParams = optional (!cfg.enableUnifiedCgroupHierarchy) "systemd.unified_cgroup_hierarchy=0";
+
+    services.logrotate.paths = {
+      "/var/log/btmp" = mapAttrs (_: mkDefault) {
+        frequency = "monthly";
+        keep = 1;
+        extraConfig = ''
+          create 0660 root ${config.users.groups.utmp.name}
+        '';
+      };
+      "/var/log/wtmp" = mapAttrs (_: mkDefault) {
+        frequency = "monthly";
+        keep = 1;
+        extraConfig = ''
+          create 0664 root ${config.users.groups.utmp.name}
+        '';
+      };
+    };
   };
 
   # FIXME: Remove these eventually.
diff --git a/nixos/tests/all-tests.nix b/nixos/tests/all-tests.nix
index 515a3c7208ce4..90f9f4c013736 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/all-tests.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/all-tests.nix
@@ -270,6 +270,7 @@ in
   litestream = handleTest ./litestream.nix {};
   locate = handleTest ./locate.nix {};
   login = handleTest ./login.nix {};
+  logrotate = handleTest ./logrotate.nix {};
   loki = handleTest ./loki.nix {};
   lxd = handleTest ./lxd.nix {};
   lxd-image = handleTest ./lxd-image.nix {};
diff --git a/nixos/tests/logrotate.nix b/nixos/tests/logrotate.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..0f6b59f071d45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nixos/tests/logrotate.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+# Test logrotate service works and is enabled by default
+
+import ./make-test-python.nix ({ pkgs, ...} : rec {
+  name = "logrotate";
+  meta = with pkgs.lib.maintainers; {
+    maintainers = [ martinetd ];
+  };
+
+  # default machine
+  machine = { ... }: {
+  };
+
+  testScript =
+    ''
+      with subtest("whether logrotate works"):
+          machine.succeed(
+              # we must rotate once first to create logrotate stamp
+              "systemctl start --wait logrotate.service",
+
+              # wtmp is present in default config.
+              "rm -f /var/log/wtmp*",
+              "echo test > /var/log/wtmp",
+
+              # move into the future and rotate
+              "date -s 'now + 1 month + 1 day'",
+              # systemd will run logrotate from logrotate.timer automatically
+              # on date change, but if we want to wait for it to terminate
+              # it's easier to run again...
+              "systemctl start --wait logrotate.service",
+
+              # check rotate worked
+              "[ -e /var/log/wtmp.1 ]",
+          )
+    '';
+})
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/system/logrotate/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/system/logrotate/default.nix
index 97d920ce918e1..f0ce08383359c 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/system/logrotate/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/system/logrotate/default.nix
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 { lib, stdenv, fetchFromGitHub, gzip, popt, autoreconfHook
 , mailutils ? null
 , aclSupport ? true, acl
+, nixosTests
 }:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
@@ -25,6 +26,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   nativeBuildInputs = [ autoreconfHook ];
   buildInputs = [ popt ] ++ lib.optionals aclSupport [ acl ];
 
+  passthru.tests = {
+    nixos-logrotate = nixosTests.logrotate;
+  };
+
   meta = with lib; {
     homepage = "https://github.com/logrotate/logrotate";
     description = "Rotates and compresses system logs";