How to change SLF4J SimpleLogger filename? - java

My Java application uses SLF4J which I have configured to use the SimpleLogger implementation and redirect log messages to a file. That is working fine.
How do I subsequently change the name of the log file?
I have tried changing the LOG_FILE_KEY property but it seems to have no effect. The log messages continue to be output to the original log file.
This is what I've done:
System.setProperty(org.slf4j.impl.SimpleLogger.LOG_FILE_KEY, Paths.get("new-filename.txt").toString());

To set the file path to your liking, one simply has to set the following property, either in a file named simplelogger.properties on the classpath (e.g. by placing such a file under the resources directory) or through a -D JVM startup option.
The property name and syntax is simply:
org.slf4j.simpleLogger.logFile=your-file-path
See in this related answer for examples of providing a property through either of the two mentioned methods.

I think I figured out the answer with the help of this answer and looking at the source code for org.slf4j.impl.SimpleLogger.
The answer is you can't create a new log file as the logger properties are loaded only once - upon construction of the first logger instance. Subsequent loggers will use the same properties as the first one.

Related

log4j2 replacement for RollingFileAppender that set log directory programmatically

We are upgrading our Java application from log4j 1x to 2x.
In 1x we had an extension to RollingFileAppender specified in log4j.properties. As well as rolling the files, it would compute the path of the logs directory according to whether it was running in JBoss/Tomcat/Webserver, and file the logs there with a specific name.
It is not possible to extend RollingFileAppender in 2x.
My question is: What can I specify in log4j2.properties (or XML if necessary) that will allow me to set the log directory programmatically as before, and roll the files.
It's something like this question, but without having to set up an Environment Variable for every installation, if possible.
Log4j2 customize file path with rollingFileAppender (Java)
Log4j 2.x is very extensible. In your case you can write a StrLookup that computes the parameters you require and annotate it with:
#Plugin(name="some_prefix", category="Lookup")
The class must be compiled using the annotation processor in log4j-core and can be used in a configuration file as:
${some_prefix:key}
where key is the value that will be passed to StrLookup#lookup.

log4j - pointing to one out of multiple log4j.properties file

My code has a dependency on abc.jar file which internally uses log4j.jar and needs a configuration file. This configuration is used to set some of the required fields like ssl protocol, cert validate, port and also has a parameter, named debug, which is read by log4j.properties file (inside the abc.jar) to set the level of the logging.
The value of the debug parameter is restricted to all or none. Also, the abc.jar file has its own (custom) Logger class. So whenever I create an object of org.apache.log4j.Logger class, it creates object of the (custom) Logger class inside the abc.jar file. I guess because of this Log4j is unable to read my log4j.properties file.
I want to use my own log4j.properties file so that I can specify the level of logging. How can I do this?
You can set the property log4j.configurationFile to set the path of your config file you want to use.
On command line, you can write -Dlog4j.configurationFile=<path>
Doing that disables automatic configuration and use your manually set file for configuration
Have you seen this post? Uses PropertyConfigurator to set the log4j path in any init() like method.

Where to put logback.xml in Tomcat?

Where to put the logback.xml file in Tomcat when we want to have it configurable?
And how to make it accessible for the Java application(s) running inside?
You typically want to have logback.xml on the classpath. Per the Logback FAQ:
For web-applications, configuration files can be placed directly under WEB-INF/classes/.
You therefore need to put it in:
/webapps/your-app/WEB-INF/classes/
Logback has some conventions for where it looks for it. Those are documented here.
Logback tries to find a file called logback.groovy in the classpath.
If no such file is found, logback tries to find a file called logback-test.xml in the classpath.
If no such file is found, it checks for the file logback.xml in the classpath..
If neither file is found, logback configures itself automatically using the BasicConfigurator which will cause logging output to be
directed to the console.
But you can also tell it where to find the file.
You may specify the location of the default configuration file with a
system property named "logback.configurationFile". The value of this
property can be a URL, a resource on the class path or a path to a
file external to the application.
java -Dlogback.configurationFile=/path/to/config.xml chapters.configuration.MyApp1
Note that the file extension must be ".xml" or ".groovy". Other
extensions are ignored. Explicitly registering a status listener may
help debugging issues locating the configuration file.

log4j how to log in to files having path according to date

I am using log4j for logging in my java program.I need to log contents in a path according to date.For example, I need an error log as file name "error.log" and its path should be "log/13/6/11/error.log" when logging date is 11/June/2013.How i create log4j property file according to the above requirement?
Log4j provides a DailyRollingFileAppender that does this job. You can configure to wrap up the current file and start logging to a new one based on date and/or time.
Your log4j.properties would look something like (among other things like pattern)
log4j.appender.Appender2=org.apache.log4j.DailyRollingFileAppender
log4j.appender.Appender2.File=app.log
log4j.appender.Appender2.DatePattern='.'yyyy-MM-dd
This would have rolled yesterday's file as app.log.2013-06-10 while today's file would be app.log.
To name the files as log/13/6/11/error.log is not possible since file names cannot contain path separators. You may consider something like app.log_13-6-11_error.log as
log4j.appender.Appender2.File=app.log
log4j.appender.Appender2.DatePattern='_'yy-MM-dd'_error.log'
Your current file would then be named as app.log.
Thats not supported out of the box afaik. You can write your own appender or move the files with a simple script triggered by a cron job.

log4j properties file: how to configure?

My procedure for using log4j is this:
put a .properties file somewhere in a project folder
in an initialization method, that runs only once, invoke PropertyConfigurator.configure("path_to_file")
in every method we need to use logger we define a static logger variable and simply invoke getLogger(class)
Is this correct?
What happens if the initialization module is not defined? Where can I put the "log4j.properties" file such that I don't have to invoke propertyconfigurator.configure at all? If that's not possible, is it OK to invoke PropertyConfigurator.configure("path_to_file") in every method that uses a logger?
If you put it somewhere in the classpath, Log4J will automatically load it. A typical place for it is the source (or resource) root directory. That way it can get copied into the root directory of your jar too (if you create one from your class files).
The exact details for this depend on what build system you use. E.g. in Maven the convention is to put it in src/main/resources.
The default initialization procedure for log4j is documented in this section of the log4j tutorial. This explains in detail the steps that log4j takes to locate the logging configuration.
The simplest way to configure log4j is to put a the properties file somewhere that allows it to be found by the class loader using the name "/log4j.properties". There are other approaches that you can use as well that involve setting system properties, loading the properties file programmatically, or even instantiating the Loggers, Appenders and so on via the log4j APIs. (Not that the latter is a good idea ...)
(Putting the log4j properties file in "src/main/resources" in a Maven project is just one of a number of possible ways to get the file into your application's classpath root.)

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