diff --git a/sources/bin/check_health.sh b/sources/bin/check_health.sh
index 2569f43..73802c8 100644
--- a/sources/bin/check_health.sh
+++ b/sources/bin/check_health.sh
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 
 # ------------------------- CONFIGURATION starts here -------------------------
 # define the version (YYYY-MM-DD)
-typeset -r SCRIPT_VERSION="2017-12-22"
+typeset -r SCRIPT_VERSION="2017-12-26"
 # location of parent directory containing KSH functions/HC plugins
 typeset -r FPATH_PARENT="/opt/hc/lib"
 # location of custom HC configuration files
@@ -60,6 +60,8 @@ typeset -r LOCK_DIR="${TMP_DIR}/.${SCRIPT_NAME}.lock"
 typeset -r HC_MSG_FILE="${TMP_DIR}/.${SCRIPT_NAME}.hc.msg.$$"   # plugin messages files
 typeset -r SEP="|"
 typeset -r LOG_DIR="/var/opt/hc"
+typeset -r LOG_FILE="${LOG_DIR}/${SCRIPT_NAME}.log"
+typeset -r ARCHIVE_DIR="${LOG_DIR}/archive"
 typeset -r EVENTS_DIR="${LOG_DIR}/events"
 typeset -r STATE_DIR="${LOG_DIR}/state"
 typeset -r STATE_PERM_DIR="${STATE_DIR}/persistent"
@@ -82,6 +84,9 @@ typeset HC_STDOUT_LOG=""
 typeset HC_STDERR_LOG=""
 typeset LINUX_DISTRO=""
 typeset LINUX_RELEASE=""
+typeset ARCHIVE_RC=0
+typeset DISABLE_RC=0
+typeset ENABLE_RC=0
 typeset RUN_RC=0
 typeset SORT_CMD=""
 typeset DEBUG_OPTS=""
@@ -96,6 +101,7 @@ typeset ARG_DISPLAY=""          # display is STDOUT by default
 typeset ARG_FAIL_ID=""
 typeset ARG_HC=""
 typeset ARG_HC_ARGS=""          # no extra arguments to HC plug-in by default
+typeset ARG_HISTORY=0           # include historical events is off by default
 typeset ARG_LAST=0              # report last events
 typeset ARG_LIST=""             # list all by default
 typeset ARG_LOCK=1              # lock for concurrent script executions is on by default
@@ -159,6 +165,18 @@ then
     print -u2 "ERROR: you must define a value for the EXEC_USER setting in $0"
     exit 1
 fi
+# SCRIPT_VERSION
+if [[ -z "${SCRIPT_VERSION}" ]]
+then
+    print -u2 "ERROR: you must define a value for the SCRIPT_VERSION setting in $0"
+    exit 1
+fi
+# TMP_DIR
+if [[ -z "${TMP_DIR}" ]]
+then
+    print -u2 "ERROR: you must define a value for the TMP_DIR setting in $0"
+    exit 1
+fi
 # FPATH_PARENT
 if [[ -z "${FPATH_PARENT}" ]]
 then
@@ -211,6 +229,11 @@ else
 fi
 
 # check for core directories
+[[ -d ${ARCHIVE_DIR} ]] || mkdir -p "${ARCHIVE_DIR}" >/dev/null 2>&1
+if [[ ! -d "${ARCHIVE_DIR}" ]] || [[ ! -w "${ARCHIVE_DIR}" ]]
+then
+    print -u2 "ERROR: unable to access the archive directory at ${ARCHIVE_DIR}"
+fi
 [[ -d ${EVENTS_DIR} ]] || mkdir -p "${EVENTS_DIR}" >/dev/null 2>&1
 if [[ ! -d "${EVENTS_DIR}" ]] || [[ ! -w "${EVENTS_DIR}" ]]
 then
@@ -297,7 +320,7 @@ then
         exit 1
     fi
 fi
-# --check-host,--check/--disable/--enable/--run/--show,--hc
+# --check-host,--check/--disable/--enable/--run/--show/--archive,--hc
 if [[ -n "${ARG_HC}" ]] && (( ARG_ACTION == 0 ))
 then
     print -u2 "ERROR: you must specify an action for the HC (--check/--disable/--enable/--run/--show)"
@@ -305,7 +328,7 @@ then
 fi
 if (( ARG_CHECK_HOST == 0 ))
 then
-    if (( ARG_ACTION < 6 )) && [[ -z "${ARG_HC}" ]]
+    if (( ARG_ACTION < 6 || ARG_ACTION == 10 )) && [[ -z "${ARG_HC}" ]]
     then
         print -u2 "ERROR: you specify a value for parameter '--hc'"
         exit 1
@@ -319,6 +342,15 @@ then
                 ;;
         esac
     fi
+    if (( ARG_ACTION == 10 )) || [[ -n "${ARG_HC_ARGS}" ]]
+    then
+        case "${ARG_HC}" in
+            *,*)
+                print -u2 "ERROR: you can only specify one value for '--hc' in combination with '--archive'"
+                exit 1
+                ;;
+        esac
+    fi
 else
     # host checking has no other messages to display
     ARG_VERBOSE=0
@@ -329,8 +361,8 @@ then
     ARG_VERBOSE=0
     ARG_LOG=0
 fi
-# --log-dir
-LOG_FILE="${LOG_DIR}/${SCRIPT_NAME}.log"
+
+# check log location
 if (( ARG_LOG != 0 ))
 then
     if [[ ! -d "${LOG_DIR}" ]] || [[ ! -w "${LOG_DIR}" ]]
@@ -428,10 +460,10 @@ Execute/report simple health checks (HC) on UNIX hosts.
 
 Syntax: ${SCRIPT_DIR}/${SCRIPT_NAME} [--help] | [--help-terse] | [--version] |
     [--list=<needle>] | [--list-core] | [--fix-symlinks] | (--disable-all | enable-all) |
-        (--check-host | ((--check | --enable | --disable | --run | --show) --hc=<list_of_checks> [--config-file=<configuration_file>] [hc-args="<arg1,arg2=val,arg3">]))
+        (--check-host | ((--archive | --check | --enable | --disable | --run | --show) --hc=<list_of_checks> [--config-file=<configuration_file>] [hc-args="<arg1,arg2=val,arg3">]))
             [--display=<method>] ([--debug] [--debug-level=<level>]) [--no-monitor] [--no-log] [--no-lock]
                 [--notify=<method_list>] [--mail-to=<address_list>] [--sms-to=<sms_rcpt> --sms-provider=<name>]
-                    [--report=<method> ( ([--last] | [--today]) | ([--reverse] [--id=<fail_id> [--detail]]) ) ]
+                    [--report=<method> ( ([--last] | [--today]) | ([--reverse] [--id=<fail_id> [--detail]] [--with-history]) ) ]
 
 EOT
 
@@ -440,6 +472,7 @@ then
     cat << EOT
 Parameters:
 
+--archive       : move events from the HC log file into archive log files
 --check         : display HC state.
 --check-host    : execute all configured HC(s) (see check_host.conf)
 --config-file   : custom configuration file for a HC, may only be specified when executing a single HC plugin.
@@ -477,6 +510,7 @@ Parameters:
 --sms-to        : name of person or group to which a sms alert will be send to [requires SMS core plugin]
 --today         : show today's events (HC and their combined STC value)
 --version       : show the timestamp of the script.
+--with-history  : also include events that have been archived already (reporting)
 
 EOT
 fi
@@ -598,6 +632,9 @@ CMD_LINE="$*"
 for CMD_PARAMETER in ${CMD_LINE}
 do
     case ${CMD_PARAMETER} in
+        -archive|--archive)
+            ARG_ACTION=10
+            ;;
         -check|--check)
             ARG_ACTION=1
             ;;
@@ -647,6 +684,15 @@ do
         -enable-all|--enable-all)
             ARG_ACTION=7
             ;;
+        -f|-fix-symlinks|--fix-symlinks)
+            read_config
+            check_config
+            build_fpath
+            check_shell
+            check_user
+            fix_symlinks
+            exit 0
+            ;;
         -hc=*)
             ARG_HC="${CMD_PARAMETER#-hc=}"
             ;;
@@ -659,14 +705,8 @@ do
         --hc-args=*)
             ARG_HC_ARGS="${CMD_PARAMETER#--hc-args=}"
             ;;
-        -f|-fix-symlinks|--fix-symlinks)
-            read_config
-            check_config
-            build_fpath
-            check_shell
-            check_user
-            fix_symlinks
-            exit 0
+        -with-history|--with-history)
+            ARG_HISTORY=1
             ;;
         -id=*)
             ARG_FAIL_ID="${CMD_PARAMETER#-id=}"
@@ -1028,7 +1068,8 @@ case ${ARG_ACTION} in
             exists_hc "${HC_DISABLE}" && die "cannot find HC: ${HC_DISABLE}"
             log "disabling HC: ${HC_DISABLE}"
             touch "${STATE_PERM_DIR}/${HC_DISABLE}.disabled" >/dev/null 2>&1
-            if (( $? == 0 ))
+            DISABLE_RC=$1
+            if (( DISABLE_RC == 0 ))
             then
                 log "successfully disabled HC: ${HC_DISABLE}"
             else
@@ -1046,7 +1087,8 @@ case ${ARG_ACTION} in
             [[ -d ${STATE_PERM_DIR} ]] || \
                 die "state directory does not exist, all HC(s) are enabled"
             rm -f "${STATE_PERM_DIR}/${HC_ENABLE}.disabled" >/dev/null 2>&1
-            if (( $? == 0 ))
+            ENABLE_RC=$?
+            if (( ENABLE_RC == 0 ))
             then
                 log "successfully enabled HC: ${HC_ENABLE}"
             else
@@ -1061,6 +1103,24 @@ case ${ARG_ACTION} in
     9)  # list HC plugins
         list_hc "" "${ARG_LIST}"
         ;;
+    10) # archive log entries
+        exists_hc "${ARG_HC}" && die "cannot find HC: ${ARG_HC}"
+        log "archiving log entries for ${ARG_HC}..."
+        archive_hc "${ARG_HC}"
+        ARCHIVE_RC=$?
+        case ${ARCHIVE_RC} in
+            0)
+                log "no archiving needed for ${ARG_HC}"
+                ;;          
+            1)
+                log "successfully archived log entries for ${ARG_HC}"
+                ;;
+            2)
+                log "failed to archive log entries for ${ARG_HC} [RC=${ARCHIVE_RC}]"
+                EXIT_CODE=1
+                ;;
+        esac
+        ;;
 esac
 
 # finish up work
diff --git a/sources/lib/core/include_core.sh b/sources/lib/core/include_core.sh
index ad7d8a1..2e33c14 100644
--- a/sources/lib/core/include_core.sh
+++ b/sources/lib/core/include_core.sh
@@ -23,6 +23,64 @@
 # DO NOT CHANGE THIS FILE UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!
 #******************************************************************************
 
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# @(#) FUNCTION: archive_hc()
+# DOES: archive log entries for a given HC
+# EXPECTS: HC name [string]
+# RETURNS: 0=no archiving needed; 1=archiving OK; 2=archiving NOK
+# REQUIRES: n/a
+function archive_hc
+{
+(( ARG_DEBUG != 0 && ARG_DEBUG_LEVEL > 0 )) && set "${DEBUG_OPTS}"
+typeset HC_NAME="$1"
+typeset ARCHIVE_FILE=""
+typeset YEAR_MONTH=""
+typeset LOG_COUNT=0
+typeset ARCHIVE_RC=0
+typeset SAVE_HC_LOG="${HC_LOG}.$$"
+typeset TMP_FILE="${TMP_DIR}/.$0.tmp.archive.$$"
+
+# set local trap for cleanup
+trap "rm -f ${TMP_FILE} ${SAVE_LOG_FILE} >/dev/null 2>&1; return 1" 1 2 3 15
+
+# isolate messages from HC, find unique %Y-%m combinations
+grep ".*${SEP}${HC_NAME}${SEP}" ${HC_LOG} 2>/dev/null |\
+	cut -f1 -d"${SEP}" | cut -f1 -d' ' | cut -f1-2 -d'-' | sort -u |\
+	while read YEAR_MONTH
+do
+    # find all messages for that YEAR-MONTH combination
+    grep "${YEAR_MONTH}.*${SEP}${HC_NAME}${SEP}" ${HC_LOG} >${TMP_FILE}
+    LOG_COUNT=$(wc -l ${TMP_FILE} | cut -f1 -d' ')
+    log "# of new entries to archive: ${LOG_COUNT}"
+
+    # combine existing archived messages and resort
+    ARCHIVE_FILE="${ARCHIVE_DIR}/hc.${YEAR_MONTH}.log"
+    cat ${ARCHIVE_FILE} ${TMP_FILE} | sort -u >${ARCHIVE_FILE}
+    LOG_COUNT=$(wc -l ${ARCHIVE_FILE} | cut -f1 -d' ')
+    log "# entries in ${ARCHIVE_FILE} now: ${LOG_COUNT}"
+
+    # remove archived messages from the $HC_LOG (but create a backup first!)
+    cp -p ${HC_LOG} ${SAVE_HC_LOG} 2>/dev/null
+    comm -23 ${HC_LOG} ${ARCHIVE_FILE} 2>/dev/null >${TMP_FILE}
+    if [[ -s ${TMP_FILE} ]]
+    then
+        mv ${TMP_FILE} ${HC_LOG} 2>/dev/null
+        LOG_COUNT=$(wc -l ${HC_LOG} | cut -f1 -d' ')
+        log "# entries in ${HC_LOG} now: ${LOG_COUNT}"
+		ARCHIVE_RC=1
+    else
+        warn "a problem occurred. Rolling back archival"
+        mv ${SAVE_HC_LOG} ${HC_LOG} 2>/dev/null
+        ARCHIVE_RC=2
+    fi
+done
+
+# clean up temporary file(s)
+rm -f ${TMP_FILE} ${SAVE_HC_LOG} >/dev/null 2>&1
+
+return ${ARCHIVE_RC}
+}
+
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # @(#) FUNCTION: debug()
 # DOES: handle debug messages
@@ -391,7 +449,7 @@ if (( DO_NOTIFY_SMS != 0 )) && [[ -z "${ARG_SMS_PROVIDER}" ]]
 then
     die "you cannot specify '--notify=sms' without '--sms-provider'"
 fi
-# --report/--detail/--id/--reverse/--last/--today
+# --report/--detail/--id/--reverse/--last/--today/--with-history
 if (( DO_REPORT_STD != 0 ))
 then
     if (( ARG_DETAIL != 0 )) && [[ -z "${ARG_FAIL_ID}" ]]
@@ -426,6 +484,11 @@ then
     then
         die "you cannot specify '--today' with '--id'"
     fi
+	# switch on history for --last & --today
+    if (( ARG_LAST != 0 )) || (( ARG_TODAY != 0 ))
+    then
+		ARG_HISTORY=1
+    fi	
 fi
 if (( DO_REPORT_STD == 0 )) && (( ARG_LAST != 0 ))
 then
@@ -439,6 +502,10 @@ if (( DO_REPORT_STD == 0 )) && (( ARG_DETAIL != 0 ))
 then
     die "you cannot specify '--detail' without '--report'"
 fi
+if (( DO_REPORT_STD == 0 )) && (( ARG_HISTORY != 0 ))
+then
+    die "you cannot specify '--with-history' without '--report'"
+fi
 if (( DO_REPORT_STD == 0 )) && [[ -n "${ARG_FAIL_ID}" ]]
 then
     die "you cannot specify '--id' without '--report'"
diff --git a/sources/lib/core/report_std.sh b/sources/lib/core/report_std.sh
index d3c318f..4ac0314 100644
--- a/sources/lib/core/report_std.sh
+++ b/sources/lib/core/report_std.sh
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 function report_std
 {
 # ------------------------- CONFIGURATION starts here -------------------------
-typeset _VERSION="2017-12-15"                               # YYYY-MM-DD
+typeset _VERSION="2017-12-26"                               # YYYY-MM-DD
 typeset _SUPPORTED_PLATFORMS="AIX,HP-UX,Linux"              # uname -s match
 # ------------------------- CONFIGURATION ends here ---------------------------
 
@@ -52,9 +52,19 @@ typeset _HC_LAST_FAIL_ID="-"
 typeset _HC_LAST_EVENT_FAIL_ID=0
 typeset _HC_LAST_EVENT_STC=""
 typeset _ID_NEEDLE=""
+typeset _LOG_STASH=""
 typeset _REPORT_LINE=""
 typeset _SORT_CMD=""
 
+# which files do we need to examine
+if (( ARG_HISTORY != 0 ))
+then
+    set +f  # file globbing must be on
+    _LOG_STASH="${HC_LOG} ${ARCHIVE_DIR}/hc.*.log"
+else
+    _LOG_STASH="${HC_LOG}"
+fi
+
 # --last report
 if (( ARG_LAST != 0 ))
 then
@@ -68,14 +78,14 @@ then
         _HC_LAST_FAIL_ID="-"
         # find last event or block of events (same timestamp)
         # (but unfortunately this is only accurate to events within the SAME second!)
-        _HC_LAST_TIME="$(grep ${_HC_LAST} ${HC_LOG} 2>/dev/null | sort -n | cut -f1 -d${SEP} | uniq | tail -1)"
+        _HC_LAST_TIME="$(grep -h ${_HC_LAST} ${_LOG_STASH} 2>/dev/null | sort -n | cut -f1 -d${SEP} | uniq | tail -1)"
         if [[ -z "${_HC_LAST_TIME}" ]]
         then
             _HC_LAST_TIME="-"
             _HC_LAST_STC="-"
         else
             # find all STC codes for the last event and add them up
-            grep "${_HC_LAST_TIME}${SEP}${HC_LAST}" ${HC_LOG} 2>/dev/null |\
+            grep -h "${_HC_LAST_TIME}${SEP}${HC_LAST}" ${_LOG_STASH} 2>/dev/null |\
             while read -r _REPORT_LINE
             do
                 _HC_LAST_EVENT_STC=$(print "${_REPORT_LINE}" | cut -f3 -d"${SEP}")
@@ -99,7 +109,7 @@ else
     (( ARG_TODAY != 0 )) && _ID_NEEDLE="$(date '+%Y%m%d')"    # refers to timestamp of HC FAIL_ID
 
     # check fail count (look for unique IDs in the 5th field of the HC log)
-    _FAIL_COUNT=$(cut -f5 -d"${SEP}" ${HC_LOG} 2>/dev/null | grep -E -e "${_ID_NEEDLE}" | uniq | wc -l)
+    _FAIL_COUNT=$(cut -f5 -d"${SEP}" ${_LOG_STASH} 2>/dev/null | grep -E -e "${_ID_NEEDLE}" | uniq | wc -l)
     if (( _FAIL_COUNT != 0 ))
     then
         # check for detail or not?
@@ -123,7 +133,7 @@ else
 
             # print failed events
             # no extended grep here and no end $SEP!
-            grep ".*${SEP}.*${SEP}.*${SEP}.*${SEP}${_ID_NEEDLE}" ${HC_LOG} 2>/dev/null |\
+            grep -h ".*${SEP}.*${SEP}.*${SEP}.*${SEP}${_ID_NEEDLE}" ${_LOG_STASH} 2>/dev/null |\
                 ${_SORT_CMD} | while read -r _REPORT_LINE
             do
                 _FAIL_F1=$(print "${_REPORT_LINE}" | cut -f1 -d"${SEP}")
@@ -141,7 +151,7 @@ else
             _EVENT_COUNT=1
             _DIR_PREFIX="$(expr substr ${ARG_FAIL_ID} 1 4)-$(expr substr ${ARG_FAIL_ID} 5 2)"
             # no extended grep here!
-            grep ".*${SEP}.*${SEP}.*${SEP}.*${SEP}${_ID_NEEDLE}${SEP}" ${HC_LOG} 2>/dev/null |\
+            grep -h ".*${SEP}.*${SEP}.*${SEP}.*${SEP}${_ID_NEEDLE}${SEP}" ${_LOG_STASH} 2>/dev/null |\
                 ${_SORT_CMD} | while read -r _REPORT_LINE
             do
                 _FAIL_F1=$(print "${_REPORT_LINE}" | cut -f1 -d"${SEP}")