How to roll the log file on startup in logback

None of the other suggestions was appropriate for my situation. I didn't want to use a size-and-time-based solution, because it requires configuring a MaxFileSize, and we are using a strictly time-based policy. Here is how I accomplished rolling the file on startup with a TimeBasedRollingPolicy:

@NoAutoStart
public class StartupTimeBasedTriggeringPolicy<E> 
        extends DefaultTimeBasedFileNamingAndTriggeringPolicy<E> {

    @Override
    public void start() {
        super.start();
        nextCheck = 0L;
        isTriggeringEvent(null, null);
        try {
            tbrp.rollover();
        } catch (RolloverFailure e) {
            //Do nothing
        }
    }

}

The trick is to set the nextCheck time to 0L, so that isTriggeringEvent() will think it's time to roll the log file over. It will thus execute the code necessary to calculate the filename, as well as conveniently resetting the nextCheck time value. The subsequent call to rollover() causes the log file to be rolled. Since this only happens at startup, it is a more optimal solution than the ones that perform a comparison inside isTriggerEvent(). However small that comparison, it still degrades performance slightly when executed on every log message. This also forces the rollover to occur immediately at startup, instead of waiting for the first log event.

The @NoAutoStart annotation is important to prevent Joran from executing the start() method before all the other initialisation is complete. Otherwise, you get a NullPointerException.

Here is the config:

  <!-- Daily rollover appender that also appends timestamp and rolls over on startup -->
  <appender name="startupDailyRolloverAppender" class="ch.qos.logback.core.rolling.RollingFileAppender">
    <file>${LOG_FILE}</file>
    <rollingPolicy class="ch.qos.logback.core.rolling.TimeBasedRollingPolicy">
      <fileNamePattern>${LOG_FILE}.%d{yyyyMMdd}_%d{HHmmss,aux}</fileNamePattern>
      <TimeBasedFileNamingAndTriggeringPolicy class="my.package.StartupTimeBasedTriggeringPolicy" />
    </rollingPolicy>
    <encoder>
      <pattern>%d{HH:mm:ss.SSS} [%thread] %-5level %logger{36} - %msg%n</pattern>
    </encoder>
  </appender> 

Hope this helps!

For a solution using already existing components the logback suggests the uniquely named files: http://logback.qos.ch/manual/appenders.html#uniquelyNamed

During the application development phase or in the case of short-lived applications, e.g. batch applications, it is desirable to create a new log file at each new application launch. This is fairly easy to do with the help of the <timestamp> element.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<configuration>
    <timestamp key="startTimestamp" datePattern="yyyyMMddHHmmssSSS"/>
    <appender name="File"
    class="ch.qos.logback.core.rolling.RollingFileAppender">
        <layout class="ch.qos.logback.classic.PatternLayout">
            <Pattern>%d{HH:mm:ss.SSS} [%thread] %-5level %logger{36} - %msg \(%file:%line\)%n</Pattern>
        </layout>

        <file>server-${startTimestamp}.log</file>

        <rollingPolicy class="ch.qos.logback.core.rolling.TimeBasedRollingPolicy">
            <FileNamePattern>server-${startTimestamp}-%d{yyyy-MM-dd}-%i.log</FileNamePattern>
            <!-- keep 7 days' worth of history -->
            <MaxHistory>7</MaxHistory>

            <TimeBasedFileNamingAndTriggeringPolicy
            class="ch.qos.logback.core.rolling.SizeAndTimeBasedFNATP">
                <MaxFileSize>1KB</MaxFileSize>
            </TimeBasedFileNamingAndTriggeringPolicy>
        </rollingPolicy>
    </appender>
    <root level="DEBUG">
        <appender-ref ref="File" />
    </root>
</configuration>

UPDATED for logback-1.2.1

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<configuration>
    <timestamp key="startTimestamp" datePattern="yyyyMMddHHmmssSSS"/>
    <appender name="File"
    class="ch.qos.logback.core.rolling.RollingFileAppender">
        <layout class="ch.qos.logback.classic.PatternLayout">
            <Pattern>%d{HH:mm:ss.SSS} [%thread] %-5level %logger{36} - %msg \(%file:%line\)%n</Pattern>
        </layout>

        <file>server-${startTimestamp}.log</file>

        <rollingPolicy class="ch.qos.logback.core.rolling.SizeAndTimeBasedRollingPolicy">
            <fileNamePattern>server-${startTimestamp}-%d{yyyy-MM-dd}-%i.log</fileNamePattern>
            <maxFileSize>10MB</maxFileSize>
            <!-- keep 7 days' worth of history -->
            <maxHistory>7</maxHistory>
            <totalSizeCap>20GB</totalSizeCap>
        </rollingPolicy>
    </appender>
    <root level="DEBUG">
        <appender-ref ref="File" />
    </root>
</configuration>