Main Tutorials

Spring Boot Log4j 2 example

spring boot log4j 2

In this tutorial, we will show you how to use Apache Log4j 2 in Spring Boot framework.

Technologies used :

  • Spring Boot 2.1.2.RELEASE
  • Spring 5.1.4.RELEASE
  • Log4j 2.11.1
  • Maven 3
  • Java 8

1. Project Directory

project directory

2. Maven

The key is exclude the default logback, and include log4j with spring-boot-starter-log4j2

pom.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0
	http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <artifactId>logging-log4j2</artifactId>
    <packaging>jar</packaging>
    <name>Spring Boot log4j2 Example</name>
    <url>https://www.mkyong.com</url>
    <version>1.0</version>

    <parent>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
        <version>2.1.2.RELEASE</version>
    </parent>

    <properties>
        <java.version>1.8</java.version>
    </properties>

    <dependencies>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-thymeleaf</artifactId>
        </dependency>

        <!-- exclude logback , add log4j2 -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter</artifactId>
            <exclusions>
                <exclusion>
                    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
                    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-logging</artifactId>
                </exclusion>
            </exclusions>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-log4j2</artifactId>
        </dependency>

        <!-- asynchronous loggers -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>com.lmax</groupId>
            <artifactId>disruptor</artifactId>
            <version>3.4.2</version>
        </dependency>

        <!-- for log4j2.yml, need jackson-databind and jackson-dataformat-yaml -->
        <!-- spring-boot-starter-web -> spring-boot-starter-json -> jackson-databind-->
        <!-- included by spring boot
        <dependency>
            <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
            <artifactId>jackson-databind</artifactId>
        </dependency>
        -->

        <dependency>
            <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat</groupId>
            <artifactId>jackson-dataformat-yaml</artifactId>
        </dependency>

    </dependencies>

    <build>
        <plugins>
            <!-- Package as an executable jar/war -->
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
                <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
            </plugin>

            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.22.0</version>
            </plugin>

        </plugins>
    </build>
</project>

Display the project dependencies.


$ mvn dependency:tree

[INFO] \- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-log4j2:jar:2.1.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO]    +- org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-slf4j-impl:jar:2.11.1:compile <--- slf4j to log4j bridge
[INFO]    |  \- org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-api:jar:2.11.1:compile
[INFO]    +- org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core:jar:2.11.1:compile
[INFO]    +- org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-jul:jar:2.11.1:compile
[INFO]    \- org.slf4j:jul-to-slf4j:jar:1.7.25:compile

$ mvn dependency:tree

[INFO] org.springframework.boot:logging-log4j2:jar:1.0
[INFO] +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web:jar:2.1.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-json:jar:2.1.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  |  +- com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:jar:2.9.8:compile
[INFO] |  |  |  \- com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-annotations:jar:2.9.0:compile
[INFO] |  |  +- com.fasterxml.jackson.datatype:jackson-datatype-jdk8:jar:2.9.8:compile
[INFO] |  |  +- com.fasterxml.jackson.datatype:jackson-datatype-jsr310:jar:2.9.8:compile
[INFO] |  |  \- com.fasterxml.jackson.module:jackson-module-parameter-names:jar:2.9.8:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-tomcat:jar:2.1.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  |  +- org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core:jar:9.0.14:compile
[INFO] |  |  +- org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-el:jar:9.0.14:compile
[INFO] |  |  \- org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-websocket:jar:9.0.14:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.hibernate.validator:hibernate-validator:jar:6.0.14.Final:compile
[INFO] |  |  +- javax.validation:validation-api:jar:2.0.1.Final:compile
[INFO] |  |  +- org.jboss.logging:jboss-logging:jar:3.3.2.Final:compile
[INFO] |  |  \- com.fasterxml:classmate:jar:1.4.0:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.springframework:spring-web:jar:5.1.4.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  |  \- org.springframework:spring-beans:jar:5.1.4.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  \- org.springframework:spring-webmvc:jar:5.1.4.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |     +- org.springframework:spring-aop:jar:5.1.4.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |     +- org.springframework:spring-context:jar:5.1.4.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |     \- org.springframework:spring-expression:jar:5.1.4.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-thymeleaf:jar:2.1.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.thymeleaf:thymeleaf-spring5:jar:3.0.11.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  |  +- org.thymeleaf:thymeleaf:jar:3.0.11.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  |  |  +- org.attoparser:attoparser:jar:2.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  |  |  \- org.unbescape:unbescape:jar:1.1.6.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  |  \- org.slf4j:slf4j-api:jar:1.7.25:compile
[INFO] |  \- org.thymeleaf.extras:thymeleaf-extras-java8time:jar:3.0.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter:jar:2.1.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot:jar:2.1.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-autoconfigure:jar:2.1.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  +- javax.annotation:javax.annotation-api:jar:1.3.2:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.springframework:spring-core:jar:5.1.4.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  |  \- org.springframework:spring-jcl:jar:5.1.4.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  \- org.yaml:snakeyaml:jar:1.23:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-log4j2:jar:2.1.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-slf4j-impl:jar:2.11.1:compile
[INFO] |  |  \- org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-api:jar:2.11.1:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core:jar:2.11.1:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-jul:jar:2.11.1:compile
[INFO] |  \- org.slf4j:jul-to-slf4j:jar:1.7.25:compile
[INFO] +- com.lmax:disruptor:jar:3.4.2:compile
[INFO] \- com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat:jackson-dataformat-yaml:jar:2.9.8:compile
[INFO]    \- com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-core:jar:2.9.8:compile

3. log4j2.xml

3.1 Create a log4j2.xml in the project class path, src/resources/

src/resources/log4j2.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Configuration status="DEBUG">
    <Appenders>
        <Console name="LogToConsole" target="SYSTEM_OUT">
            <PatternLayout pattern="%d{HH:mm:ss.SSS} [%t] %-5level %logger{36} - %msg%n"/>
        </Console>
        <File name="LogToFile" fileName="logs/app.log">
            <PatternLayout>
                <Pattern>%d %p %c{1.} [%t] %m%n</Pattern>
            </PatternLayout>
        </File>
    </Appenders>
    <Loggers>
        <Logger name="com.mkyong" level="debug" additivity="false">
            <AppenderRef ref="LogToFile"/>
            <AppenderRef ref="LogToConsole"/>
        </Logger>
        <Logger name="org.springframework.boot" level="error" additivity="false">
            <AppenderRef ref="LogToConsole"/>
        </Logger>
        <Root level="error">
            <AppenderRef ref="LogToFile"/>
            <AppenderRef ref="LogToConsole"/>
        </Root>
    </Loggers>
</Configuration>

3.2 For log4j2.yml, we need to include jackson-databind and jackson-dataformat-yaml, since the jackson-databind is already included with Spring Boot Starter, so, we just need to include jackson-dataformat-yaml

pom.xml

	<!-- spring-boot-starter-web -> spring-boot-starter-json -> jackson-databind-->
	<!-- included by spring boot
	<dependency>
		<groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
		<artifactId>jackson-databind</artifactId>
	</dependency>
	-->
	
	<dependency>
		<groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat</groupId>
		<artifactId>jackson-dataformat-yaml</artifactId>
	</dependency>
log4j2.yml

Configuration:
  status: debug

  appenders:
    Console:
      name: LogToConsole
      PatternLayout:
        Pattern: "[%-5level] %d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS} [%t] %c{1} - %msg%n"

    RollingFile:
      - name: LogToRollingFile
        fileName: logs/app.log
        filePattern: "logs/$${date:yyyy-MM}/app-%d{MM-dd-yyyy}-%i.log.gz"
        PatternLayout:
          pattern: "[%-5level] %d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS} [%t] %c{1} - %msg%n"
        Policies:
          SizeBasedTriggeringPolicy:
            size: 10MB
        DefaultRollOverStrategy:
          max: 10

  Loggers:
    logger:
      - name: com.mkyong
        level: debug
        additivity: false
        AppenderRef:
          - ref: LogToConsole
          - ref: LogToRollingFile

    Root:
      level: error
      AppenderRef:
        ref: LogToConsole

4. Hello log4j2

4.1 A simple Spring MVC web application, logging with log4j2.

HelloController.java

package com.mkyong;

import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.ui.Model;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;

import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;

@Controller
public class HelloController {

    private static final Logger logger = LogManager.getLogger(HelloController.class);

    private List<Integer> num = Arrays.asList(1, 2, 3, 4, 5);

    @GetMapping("/")
    public String main(Model model) {

        // pre-java 8
        if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
            logger.debug("Hello from Log4j 2 - num : {}", num);
        }

        // java 8 lambda, no need to check log level
        logger.debug("Hello from Log4j 2 - num : {}", () -> num);

        model.addAttribute("tasks", num);
        return "welcome"; //view
    }

    private int getNum() {
        return 100;
    }

}

4.2 Template

src/resources/templates/welcome.html

<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html lang="en" xmlns:th="http://www.thymeleaf.org">
<head></head>
<body>

<h1>Spring Boot + log4j2 example</h1>
<ul>
    <li th:each="task : ${tasks}" th:text="${task}"></li>
</ul>

</body>
</html>

5. Demo

5.1 Start Spring Boot

StartApplication.java

package com.mkyong;

import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;

@SpringBootApplication
public class StartApplication {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SpringApplication.run(StartApplication.class, args);
    }

}

http://localhost:8080

demo

Review the logging :

Terminal

19:10:08.723 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] DEBUG com.mkyong.HelloController - Hello from Log4j 2 - num : [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
19:10:08.724 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] DEBUG com.mkyong.HelloController - Hello from Log4j 2 - num : [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

6. Log4j 2 – Asynchronous Loggers

6.1 To enable asynchronous logging, we need to include disruptor

pom.xml

	<dependency>
		<groupId>com.lmax</groupId>
		<artifactId>disruptor</artifactId>
		<version>3.4.2</version>
	</dependency>

6.2 Set the system property log4j2.contextSelector=org.apache.logging.log4j.core.async.AsyncLoggerContextSelector

Terminal

$ mvn package 

$ java -Dlog4j2.contextSelector=org.apache.logging.log4j.core.async.AsyncLoggerContextSelector -jar target/logging-log4j2-1.0.jar

019-03-27 19:28:57,185 main DEBUG Registering MBean org.apache.logging.log4j2:type=AsyncContext@578486a3
2019-03-27 19:28:57,189 main DEBUG Registering MBean org.apache.logging.log4j2:type=AsyncContext@578486a3,component=AsyncLoggerRingBuffer
2019-03-27 19:28:57,194 main DEBUG Registering MBean org.apache.logging.log4j2:type=AsyncContext@578486a3,component=StatusLogger
2019-03-27 19:28:57,195 main DEBUG Registering MBean org.apache.logging.log4j2:type=AsyncContext@578486a3,component=ContextSelector
2019-03-27 19:28:57,195 main DEBUG Registering MBean org.apache.logging.log4j2:type=AsyncContext@578486a3,component=Loggers,name=org.springframework.boot
2019-03-27 19:28:57,196 main DEBUG Registering MBean org.apache.logging.log4j2:type=AsyncContext@578486a3,component=Loggers,name=
2019-03-27 19:28:57,196 main DEBUG Registering MBean org.apache.logging.log4j2:type=AsyncContext@578486a3,component=Loggers,name=com.mkyong
2019-03-27 19:28:57,197 main DEBUG Registering MBean org.apache.logging.log4j2:type=AsyncContext@578486a3,component=Appenders,name=LogToConsole
2019-03-27 19:28:57,200 main DEBUG Registering MBean org.apache.logging.log4j2:type=AsyncContext@578486a3,component=Appenders,name=LogToFile

Download Source Code

$ git clone https://github.com/mkyong/spring-boot.git
$ cd logging-log4j2
$ mvn spring-boot:run
Access localhost:8080

$ mvn package
$ java -Dlog4j2.contextSelector=org.apache.logging.log4j.core.async.AsyncLoggerContextSelector -jar target/logging-log4j2-1.0.jar
Access localhost:8080

References

About Author

author image
Founder of Mkyong.com, love Java and open source stuff. Follow him on Twitter. If you like my tutorials, consider make a donation to these charities.

Comments

Subscribe
Notify of
7 Comments
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Narendra Achari
3 years ago

Good one but small correction – Need to exclude logger from spring.boot.starter.web

<dependency>
   <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
   <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
   <exclusions>
      <exclusion>
         <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
         <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-logging</artifactId>
      </exclusion>
   </exclusions>
</dependency>
ozzy
3 years ago

I really wonder why someone uses spring boot uses log4j2, isnt it logback enough for anything ?

Someone
2 years ago
Reply to  ozzy

For Log4Shell

Ronak Jain
4 years ago

what changes are required if i want to change only logging level in log4j2.xml from application.properties. ? ex:
i want to change error to info or debug or anything from application.properties

Jack
9 months ago

why don’t you use SLF4 for creating the logger?

Pablo
2 years ago

Hi! Where does logger output file is saved?

Rekhs
3 years ago

This is pretty good. Can you give working example of SMTP appender setup in yaml file