diff --git a/main/ui/src/main/java/org/cryptomator/ui/logging/ConfigurableFileAppender.java b/main/ui/src/main/java/org/cryptomator/ui/logging/ConfigurableFileAppender.java
index 7354fb544..375c51352 100644
--- a/main/ui/src/main/java/org/cryptomator/ui/logging/ConfigurableFileAppender.java
+++ b/main/ui/src/main/java/org/cryptomator/ui/logging/ConfigurableFileAppender.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.SystemUtils;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.Filter;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.Layout;
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.appender.AbstractAppender;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.appender.AbstractOutputStreamAppender;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.appender.FileManager;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.config.plugins.Plugin;
@@ -26,10 +27,11 @@ import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.config.plugins.PluginAttribute;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.config.plugins.PluginElement;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.config.plugins.PluginFactory;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.layout.PatternLayout;
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.util.Booleans;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.util.Strings;
 
 /**
- * A preconfigured FileAppender only relying on a configurable system property, e.g. <code>-DlogPath=/var/log/cryptomator.log</code>.<br/>
+ * A preconfigured FileAppender only relying on a configurable system property, e.g. <code>-Dcryptomator.logPath=/var/log/cryptomator.log</code>.<br/>
  * Other than the normal {@link org.apache.logging.log4j.core.appender.FileAppender} paths can be resolved relative to the users home directory.
  */
 @Plugin(name = "ConfigurableFile", category = "Core", elementType = "appender", printObject = true)
@@ -37,7 +39,6 @@ public class ConfigurableFileAppender extends AbstractOutputStreamAppender<FileM
 
 	private static final long serialVersionUID = -6548221568069606389L;
 	private static final int DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE = 8192;
-	private static final String DEFAULT_FILE_NAME = "cryptomator.log";
 	private static final Pattern DRIVE_LETTER_WITH_PRECEEDING_SLASH = Pattern.compile("^/[A-Z]:", Pattern.CASE_INSENSITIVE);
 
 	protected ConfigurableFileAppender(String name, Layout<? extends Serializable> layout, Filter filter, FileManager manager) {
@@ -46,9 +47,8 @@ public class ConfigurableFileAppender extends AbstractOutputStreamAppender<FileM
 	}
 
 	@PluginFactory
-	public static ConfigurableFileAppender createAppender(@PluginAttribute("name") final String name, @PluginAttribute("pathPropertyName") final String pathPropertyName,
+	public static AbstractAppender createAppender(@PluginAttribute("name") final String name, @PluginAttribute("pathPropertyName") final String pathPropertyName, @PluginAttribute("append") final String append,
 			@PluginElement("Layout") Layout<? extends Serializable> layout) {
-
 		if (name == null) {
 			LOGGER.error("No name provided for HomeDirectoryAwareFileAppender");
 			return null;
@@ -59,41 +59,16 @@ public class ConfigurableFileAppender extends AbstractOutputStreamAppender<FileM
 			return null;
 		}
 
-		String fileName = System.getProperty(pathPropertyName);
+		final String fileName = System.getProperty(pathPropertyName);
 		if (Strings.isEmpty(fileName)) {
-			fileName = DEFAULT_FILE_NAME;
+			LOGGER.warn("No log file location provided in system property \"" + pathPropertyName + "\"");
+			return null;
 		}
 
-		final Path filePath;
-		if (fileName.startsWith("~/")) {
-			// home-dir-relative Path:
-			final Path userHome = FileSystems.getDefault().getPath(SystemUtils.USER_HOME);
-			filePath = userHome.resolve(fileName.substring(2));
-		} else if (fileName.startsWith("/")) {
-			// absolute Path:
-			filePath = FileSystems.getDefault().getPath(fileName);
-		} else if (SystemUtils.IS_OS_WINDOWS && fileName.startsWith("%appdata%/")) {
-			final String appdata = System.getenv("APPDATA");
-			final Path appdataPath = appdata != null ? FileSystems.getDefault().getPath(appdata) : FileSystems.getDefault().getPath(SystemUtils.USER_HOME);
-			filePath = appdataPath.resolve(fileName.substring(10));
-		} else {
-			// relative Path:
-			try {
-				String jarFileLocation = ConfigurableFileAppender.class.getProtectionDomain().getCodeSource().getLocation().toURI().getPath();
-				if (SystemUtils.IS_OS_WINDOWS && DRIVE_LETTER_WITH_PRECEEDING_SLASH.matcher(jarFileLocation).find()) {
-					// on windows we need to remove a preceeding slash from "/C:/foo/bar":
-					jarFileLocation = jarFileLocation.substring(1);
-				}
-				final Path workingDir = FileSystems.getDefault().getPath(jarFileLocation).getParent();
-				filePath = workingDir.resolve(fileName);
-			} catch (URISyntaxException e) {
-				LOGGER.error("Unable to resolve working directory ", e);
-				return null;
-			}
-		}
-
-		if (layout == null) {
-			layout = PatternLayout.createDefaultLayout();
+		final Path filePath = parsePath(fileName);
+		if (filePath == null) {
+			LOGGER.warn("Invalid path \"" + fileName + "\"");
+			return null;
 		}
 
 		if (!Files.exists(filePath.getParent())) {
@@ -105,8 +80,42 @@ public class ConfigurableFileAppender extends AbstractOutputStreamAppender<FileM
 			}
 		}
 
-		final FileManager manager = FileManager.getFileManager(filePath.toString(), false, false, true, null, layout, DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE);
+		final boolean shouldAppend = Booleans.parseBoolean(append, true);
+		if (layout == null) {
+			layout = PatternLayout.createDefaultLayout();
+		}
+
+		final FileManager manager = FileManager.getFileManager(filePath.toString(), shouldAppend, false, true, null, layout, DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE);
 		return new ConfigurableFileAppender(name, layout, null, manager);
 	}
 
+	private static Path parsePath(String path) {
+		if (path.startsWith("~/")) {
+			// home-dir-relative Path:
+			final Path userHome = FileSystems.getDefault().getPath(SystemUtils.USER_HOME);
+			return userHome.resolve(path.substring(2));
+		} else if (path.startsWith("/")) {
+			// absolute Path:
+			return FileSystems.getDefault().getPath(path);
+		} else if (SystemUtils.IS_OS_WINDOWS && path.startsWith("%appdata%/")) {
+			final String appdata = System.getenv("APPDATA");
+			final Path appdataPath = appdata != null ? FileSystems.getDefault().getPath(appdata) : FileSystems.getDefault().getPath(SystemUtils.USER_HOME);
+			return appdataPath.resolve(path.substring(10));
+		} else {
+			// relative Path:
+			try {
+				String jarFileLocation = ConfigurableFileAppender.class.getProtectionDomain().getCodeSource().getLocation().toURI().getPath();
+				if (SystemUtils.IS_OS_WINDOWS && DRIVE_LETTER_WITH_PRECEEDING_SLASH.matcher(jarFileLocation).find()) {
+					// on windows we need to remove a preceeding slash from "/C:/foo/bar":
+					jarFileLocation = jarFileLocation.substring(1);
+				}
+				final Path workingDir = FileSystems.getDefault().getPath(jarFileLocation).getParent();
+				return workingDir.resolve(path);
+			} catch (URISyntaxException e) {
+				LOGGER.error("Unable to resolve working directory ", e);
+				return null;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/main/ui/src/main/resources/log4j2.xml b/main/ui/src/main/resources/log4j2.xml
index 025f97279..c6476f356 100644
--- a/main/ui/src/main/resources/log4j2.xml
+++ b/main/ui/src/main/resources/log4j2.xml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 <Configuration status="WARN" packages="org.cryptomator.ui.logging">
 
 	<Appenders>
-		<Console name="Console" target="SYSTEM_OUT">
+		<Console name="StdOut" target="SYSTEM_OUT">
 			<PatternLayout pattern="%16d %-5p [%c{1}:%L] %m%n" />
 			<ThresholdFilter level="WARN" onMatch="DENY" onMismatch="ACCEPT" />
 		</Console>
@@ -18,21 +18,27 @@
 			<PatternLayout pattern="%16d %-5p [%c{1}:%L] %m%n" />
 			<ThresholdFilter level="WARN" onMatch="ACCEPT" onMismatch="DENY" />
 		</Console>
-		<!-- <File fileName="${sys:logPath}" ...> not feasible for paths like ~/foo/bar -->
-		<ConfigurableFile name="File" pathPropertyName="cryptomator.logPath">
+		<ConfigurableFile name="DefaultLog" pathPropertyName="cryptomator.logPath" append="false">
+			<PatternLayout pattern="%16d %-5p [%c{1}:%L] %m%n" />
+		</ConfigurableFile>
+		<ConfigurableFile name="UpgradeLog" pathPropertyName="cryptomator.upgradeLogPath" append="true">
 			<PatternLayout pattern="%16d %-5p [%c{1}:%L] %m%n" />
 		</ConfigurableFile>
 	</Appenders>
 
 	<Loggers>
-		<!-- show our own debug messages: -->
+		<!-- package-specific config: -->
 		<Logger name="org.cryptomator" level="DEBUG" />
 		<Logger name="org.eclipse.jetty.server.Server" level="DEBUG" />
-		<!-- mute dependencies: -->
+		<Logger name="org.cryptomator.ui.model" level="INFO">
+			<AppenderRef ref="UpgradeLog" />
+		</Logger>
+		
+		<!-- defaults: -->
 		<Root level="INFO">
-			<AppenderRef ref="Console" />
+			<AppenderRef ref="StdOut" />
 			<AppenderRef ref="StdErr" />
-			<AppenderRef ref="File" />
+			<AppenderRef ref="DefaultLog" />
 		</Root>
 	</Loggers>