diff --git a/src/alert-debuglog.c b/src/alert-debuglog.c
index 4090f23808..a0ea4c5687 100644
--- a/src/alert-debuglog.c
+++ b/src/alert-debuglog.c
@@ -466,25 +466,26 @@ OutputCtx *AlertDebugLogInitCtx(ConfNode *conf)
 int AlertDebugLogOpenFileCtx(LogFileCtx *file_ctx, const char *filename, const
                                 char *mode)
 {
-    int ret=0;
+    char log_path[PATH_MAX];
+    char *log_dir;
 
-    char log_path[PATH_MAX], *log_dir;
     if (ConfGet("default-log-dir", &log_dir) != 1)
         log_dir = DEFAULT_LOG_DIR;
+
     snprintf(log_path, PATH_MAX, "%s/%s", log_dir, filename);
-    if (strncmp(mode, "yes", sizeof(mode)) == 0) {
+
+    if (strcasecmp(mode, "yes") == 0) {
         file_ctx->fp = fopen(log_path, "a");
     } else {
         file_ctx->fp = fopen(log_path, "w");
     }
 
     if (file_ctx->fp == NULL) {
-        SCLogError(SC_ERR_FOPEN, "ERROR: failed to open %s: %s", log_path,
+        SCLogError(SC_ERR_FOPEN, "failed to open %s: %s", log_path,
             strerror(errno));
         return -1;
     }
 
-    return ret;
+    return 0;
 }
 
-
diff --git a/src/alert-fastlog.c b/src/alert-fastlog.c
index af7d4f5c15..24cd1096bf 100644
--- a/src/alert-fastlog.c
+++ b/src/alert-fastlog.c
@@ -354,19 +354,22 @@ static void AlertFastLogDeInitCtx(OutputCtx *output_ctx)
 static int AlertFastLogOpenFileCtx(LogFileCtx *file_ctx, const char *filename,
                                     const char *mode)
 {
-    char log_path[PATH_MAX], *log_dir;
+    char log_path[PATH_MAX];
+    char *log_dir;
+
     if (ConfGet("default-log-dir", &log_dir) != 1)
         log_dir = DEFAULT_LOG_DIR;
+
     snprintf(log_path, PATH_MAX, "%s/%s", log_dir, filename);
 
-    if (strncmp(mode, "yes", sizeof(mode)) == 0) {
+    if (strcasecmp(mode, "yes") == 0) {
         file_ctx->fp = fopen(log_path, "a");
     } else {
         file_ctx->fp = fopen(log_path, "w");
     }
 
     if (file_ctx->fp == NULL) {
-        SCLogError(SC_ERR_FOPEN, "ERROR: failed to open %s: %s", log_path,
+        SCLogError(SC_ERR_FOPEN, "failed to open %s: %s", log_path,
                 strerror(errno));
         return -1;
     }
diff --git a/src/counters.c b/src/counters.c
index 27c0fb49cf..aff50ea098 100644
--- a/src/counters.c
+++ b/src/counters.c
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ static time_t sc_start_time;
 static uint32_t sc_counter_tts = SC_PERF_MGMTT_TTS;
 /** is the stats counter enabled? */
 static char sc_counter_enabled = TRUE;
+/** append or overwrite? 1: append, 0: overwrite */
+static char sc_counter_append = TRUE;
 
 /**
  * \brief Adds a value of type uint64_t to the local counter.
@@ -330,6 +332,10 @@ static void SCPerfInitOPCtx(void)
         const char *interval = ConfNodeLookupChildValue(stats, "interval");
         if (interval != NULL)
             sc_counter_tts = (uint32_t) atoi(interval);
+
+        const char *append = ConfNodeLookupChildValue(stats, "append");
+        if (append != NULL)
+            sc_counter_append = (strcasecmp(append,"yes") == 0);
     }
 
     /* Store the engine start time */
@@ -347,7 +353,13 @@ static void SCPerfInitOPCtx(void)
         SCLogInfo("Error retrieving Perf Counter API output file path");
     }
 
-    if ( (sc_perf_op_ctx->fp = fopen(sc_perf_op_ctx->file, "w+")) == NULL) {
+    char *mode;
+    if (sc_counter_append)
+        mode = "a+";
+    else
+        mode = "w+";
+
+    if ( (sc_perf_op_ctx->fp = fopen(sc_perf_op_ctx->file, mode)) == NULL) {
         SCLogError(SC_ERR_FOPEN, "fopen error opening file \"%s\".  Resorting "
                    "to using the standard output for output",
                    sc_perf_op_ctx->file);
diff --git a/src/log-httplog.c b/src/log-httplog.c
index 676423cf77..647498a037 100644
--- a/src/log-httplog.c
+++ b/src/log-httplog.c
@@ -457,19 +457,22 @@ static void LogHttpLogDeInitCtx(OutputCtx *output_ctx)
 int LogHttpLogOpenFileCtx(LogFileCtx *file_ctx, const char *filename, const
                             char *mode)
 {
-    char log_path[PATH_MAX], *log_dir;
+    char log_path[PATH_MAX];
+    char *log_dir;
+
     if (ConfGet("default-log-dir", &log_dir) != 1)
         log_dir = DEFAULT_LOG_DIR;
+
     snprintf(log_path, PATH_MAX, "%s/%s", log_dir, filename);
 
-    if (strncmp(mode, "yes", sizeof(mode)) == 0) {
+    if (strcasecmp(mode, "yes") == 0) {
         file_ctx->fp = fopen(log_path, "a");
     } else {
         file_ctx->fp = fopen(log_path, "w");
     }
 
     if (file_ctx->fp == NULL) {
-        SCLogError(SC_ERR_FOPEN, "ERROR: failed to open %s: %s", log_path,
+        SCLogError(SC_ERR_FOPEN, "failed to open %s: %s", log_path,
             strerror(errno));
         return -1;
     }
@@ -477,4 +480,3 @@ int LogHttpLogOpenFileCtx(LogFileCtx *file_ctx, const char *filename, const
     return 0;
 }
 
-