How to use logback to roll log files everytime java program runs

Question

I've got a small java program that will run as a jar file on end users' desktops. This small program has one specific task to accomplish, and it is to run as a simple java program (not swing or anything like that).

I'm wanting to use logback for the purpose of capturing the output of this program, and I want the log file to roll each and every time that the program is run. In other words, the first time the program runs, I want a log file generated that is named c:\temp\logFile.log. The second time the program runs, I want the first log file renamed to logFile.1.log and a new logFile.log created. The third time the program runs, I want the first log file renamed to logFile.2.log, the second log file renamed to logFile.1.log, and a new logFile.log created. I want there to be a maximum of 5 archived files.

So far, I've been able to configure logback to roll the log file based on file size. I've gotten it to rename the log files exactly how I want and to keep the exact number of archives. The problem is that I don't want the log file to roll on file size, I want it to roll each and every time the program runs. How do I go about doing this? Here's what I've got in my logback.xml file so far:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<configuration>
<appender name="fileAppender" class="ch.qos.logback.core.rolling.RollingFileAppender">
    <file>C:\temp\logFile.log</file>
    <rollingPolicy class="ch.qos.logback.core.rolling.FixedWindowRollingPolicy">
      <fileNamePattern>C:\temp\logFile.%i.log</fileNamePattern>
      <minIndex>1</minIndex>
      <maxIndex>5</maxIndex>
    </rollingPolicy>
    <triggeringPolicy class="ch.qos.logback.core.rolling.SizeBasedTriggeringPolicy">
      <maxFileSize>5KB</maxFileSize>
    </triggeringPolicy>
    <encoder>
      <pattern>%-4relative [%thread] %-5level %logger{35} - %msg%n</pattern>
    </encoder>
</appender>
<root level="info">
    <appender-ref ref="fileAppender" />
</root>
</configuration>

I know that the maxFileSize triggering policy is what's causing my log files to roll based on file size. I have not been able to find a triggering policy that rolls the file based on the program running. Can anyone help me out?

Thanks!

-Stephen Spalding

Answer 1

The following configuration will create a new logfile (the file name will have a datestamp on it) and console output every time the program is run, please note that it does not use RollingFileAppender. For more information please refer to logback documentation https://logback.qos.ch/manual/configuration.html

<configuration>
    <timestamp key="bySecond" datePattern="yyyyMMdd'T'HHmmss"/>
    <appender name="STDOUT" class="ch.qos.logback.core.ConsoleAppender">
        <layout class="ch.qos.logback.classic.PatternLayout">
            <Pattern>%d{HH:mm:ss} [%thread] %-5level %logger{36} - %msg%n</Pattern>
        </layout>
    </appender>
    <appender name="FILE" class="ch.qos.logback.core.FileAppender">
        <file>logfile-${bySecond}.txt</file>
        <append>true</append>
        <encoder>
            <Pattern>%d{HH:mm:ss} [%thread] %-5level %logger{36} - %msg%n</Pattern>
        </encoder>
    </appender>
    <root level="info" additivity="false">
        <appender-ref ref="STDOUT"/>
        <appender-ref ref="FILE"></appender-ref>
    </root>
</configuration>