Java – Filename with date in Log4j

javalog4jloggingtomcat

I'm trying to append the current date to the log4j log file. So it would be something like this:

myApp-2011-01-07.log

The thing is that I do not want to use the DailyRollingFileAppender. Reason is that there will be another script that runs daily that will backup everything in the logs folder.
This is running under Tomcat5.5.

Is this possible in log4j?

Best Answer

I think you could just set a system property in code to contain the current date:

static{
    SimpleDateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd");
    System.setProperty("current.date", dateFormat.format(new Date()));
}

Then in your log4j.xml file you can use the system property when specifying the log file name in the appender:

<appender name="MYAPPENDER" class="org.apache.log4j.FileAppender">
    <param name="File" value="${user.home}/myApp-${current.date}.log" />

ETA: Now that I think about it you may have to setup the system property using a static initializer to make sure the property is set before log4j is configured.

Related Solutions

Java – Setting a log file name to include current date in Log4j

DailyRollingFileAppender is what you exactly searching for.

<appender name="roll" class="org.apache.log4j.DailyRollingFileAppender">
    <param name="File" value="application.log" />
    <param name="DatePattern" value=".yyyy-MM-dd" />
    <layout class="org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout"> 
      <param name="ConversionPattern" 
          value="%d{yyyy-MMM-dd HH:mm:ss,SSS} [%t] %c %x%n  %-5p %m%n"/>
    </layout>
  </appender>

Java – How to create an executable JAR with dependencies using Maven

<build>
  <plugins>
    <plugin>
      <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
      <configuration>
        <archive>
          <manifest>
            <mainClass>fully.qualified.MainClass</mainClass>
          </manifest>
        </archive>
        <descriptorRefs>
          <descriptorRef>jar-with-dependencies</descriptorRef>
        </descriptorRefs>
      </configuration>
    </plugin>
  </plugins>
</build>

and you run it with

mvn clean compile assembly:single

Compile goal should be added before assembly:single or otherwise the code on your own project is not included.

See more details in comments.

Commonly this goal is tied to a build phase to execute automatically. This ensures the JAR is built when executing mvn install or performing a deployment/release.

<plugin>
  <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
  <configuration>
    <archive>
      <manifest>
        <mainClass>fully.qualified.MainClass</mainClass>
      </manifest>
    </archive>
    <descriptorRefs>
      <descriptorRef>jar-with-dependencies</descriptorRef>
    </descriptorRefs>
  </configuration>
  <executions>
    <execution>
      <id>make-assembly</id> <!-- this is used for inheritance merges -->
      <phase>package</phase> <!-- bind to the packaging phase -->
      <goals>
        <goal>single</goal>
      </goals>
    </execution>
  </executions>
</plugin>

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Java – Setting a log file name to include current date in Log4j

Java – How to create an executable JAR with dependencies using Maven

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