Serilog Date Format using appsettings.json

Question

I am having an issue formatting the date in the filename using the appsettings.json file for a C# worker service.

My current config looks like this:

Serilog": {
    "WriteTo": [
        {
            "Name": "File",
            "Args": {
                "path": "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Alarm\\AlarmServiceLogs\\AlarmService.txt",
                "rollingInterval": "Day"
            }
        }
    ]
}

It's very basic. I tried adding {Date: yyyy-DD-MM} and other variations as well as using pathFormat rather than path, but that all just seems to add the verbatum text to the log file name.

Is this doable from the .json file? Otherwise I will do it directly in code as I have with other logs. Just trying to be consistent with my log file naming.

Possible duplicate: stackoverflow.com/q/60228026/8017690. But unfortunately still not achievable by specifying the date format in path. — Yong Shun
– Yong Shun, Commented Nov 25 at 4:57

Changer · Accepted Answer · 2025-11-25 08:33:11Z

0

First you have to make sure you configured you application to load the config correctly:
Example from Serilog:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    var configuration = new ConfigurationBuilder()
        .SetBasePath(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory())
        .AddJsonFile("appsettings.json")
        .AddJsonFile($"appsettings.{Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT") ?? "Production"}.json", true)
        .Build();

    var logger = new LoggerConfiguration()
        .ReadFrom.Configuration(configuration)
        .CreateLogger();

    logger.Information("Hello, world!");
}

If you did this you have to correctly structure your json like this: https://github.com/serilog/serilog-sinks-rollingfile?tab=readme-ov-file#controlling-event-formatting

{
  "Serilog": {
    "WriteTo": [
      { "Name": "RollingFile", "Args": { "pathFormat": "log-{Date}.txt" } }
    ]
  }
}

answered Nov 25 at 8:33

Changer

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3 Comments

mason Nov 26 at 14:07

Your example here is using the rolling file sink, which has been deprecated for a long time. Instead, the file sink should be used, which supports rolling functionality.

Nathan 2 days ago

Do you have a code sample for that?

mason yesterday

The page I linked to has documentation.

Changer · Accepted Answer · 2025-11-28 06:02:44Z

0

@Nathan you can find a [code sample here](https://github.com/serilog/serilog-settings-configuration/blob/dev/sample/Sample)

Appsettings should work with the following:

{
  "Serilog": {
    "WriteTo": [
      { "Name": "File", "Args": { "path": "log-{Date}.txt", "rollingInterval": "Day" } }
    ]
  }
}

answered 2 days ago

Changer

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