Log4j is not printing debug logs on console

Question

This is my log4j.xml

<!-- ============================== -->
<!-- Append messages to the console -->
<!-- ============================== -->

<!--  DAILY ROLLING -->
<appender name="file" class="org.apache.log4j.RollingFileAppender">
    <param name="MaxFileSize" value="10240KB" />
    <!-- Keep one backup file -->
    <param name="MaxBackupIndex" value="10" />
    <param name="ImmediateFlush" value="true" />
    <param name="Append" value="true" />
    <param name="File" value="/usr/local/xmld/log/xmld-core.log" />
    <layout class="org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout">
        <param name="ConversionPattern" value="XMLD2[%t] [loadId(%X{loadID}) - %X{customer} - %X{configuration} - %X{filename}]: %-5p - %d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss,SSS} (%F:%M:%L) %m%n" />
    </layout>
</appender>

<!--  SYSLOG -->
<appender name="syslog" class="org.apache.log4j.net.SyslogAppender">
    <param name="syslogHost" value="${hostName}" />
    <param name="facility" value="LOCAL6" />
    <param name="facilityPrinting" value="false" />
    <layout class="org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout">
        <param name="ConversionPattern" value="XMLD2[%t] [loadId(%X{loadID}) - %X{customer} - %X{configuration} - %X{filename}]: %-5p - %d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss,SSS} (%F:%M:%L) %m%n" />
    </layout>
</appender>

<appender name="console" class="org.apache.log4j.ConsoleAppender">
    <layout class="org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout">
        <param name="ConversionPattern" value="XMLD2[%t] ${hostName} [loadId(%X{loadID}) - %X{customer} - %X{configuration} - %X{filename}]: %-5p - %d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss,SSS} (%F:%M:%L) %m%n" />
        <!-- %d (%c{1})[%5p] %m%n -->
    </layout>
</appender>

<!-- ====== Categories ===== -->
<!-- core -->
<logger name="com.my.xmldelivery2.core">
    <level value="DEBUG" />
    <appender-ref ref="syslog" />
    <appender-ref ref="console" />
    <appender-ref ref="file" />
</logger>

<logger name="com.my.commons.utils">
    <level value="DEBUG" />
    <appender-ref ref="syslog" />
    <appender-ref ref="console" />
    <appender-ref ref="file" />
</logger>

<!-- hibernate -->
<logger name="org.hibernate">
    <level value="INFO" />
    <appender-ref ref="syslog" />
    <appender-ref ref="console" />
    <appender-ref ref="file" />
</logger>

<!-- Apache VFS2 -->
<logger name="org.apache.commons.vfs2">
    <level value="INFO" />
    <appender-ref ref="syslog" />
    <appender-ref ref="console" />
    <appender-ref ref="file" />
</logger>

The package com.my.commons.utils is a dependency whereas com.my.xmldelivery2.core is my software. This is the log4j.xml generated after maven install .

But in the console log I can't see anything about the utils package. The package name is correct. I really don't understand what I'm doing wrong. I have to say that the last two packages are also used in the first two packages.

Answer 1

try this:

1) add root logger configuration, all log events are populated to the root:

<root>
   <level value="DEBUG" />
    <appender-ref ref="syslog" />
    <appender-ref ref="console" />
    <appender-ref ref="file" />
</root>

2) remove all your DEBUG logger configuration

3) configure just INFO level. DEBUG will not pass up to the root

<!-- hibernate -->
<logger name="org.hibernate">
    <level value="INFO" />
</logger>

<!-- Apache VFS2 -->
<logger name="org.apache.commons.vfs2">
    <level value="INFO" />
</logger>

Answer 2

First, if the com.my.commons.utils package is in a dependency, can you tell for sure that the classes in that dependency use loggers by the name of the class name? If com.my.commons.utils.MyClass is using a logger named MyFancyLogger , you won't have anything printed.

So, assuming that classes inside the utils package follow the "logger name matching class name" practice: are any of your Log4J instructions seem to work? Do you know for certain that your log4j.xml is indeed taking effect?

At any case, you can use the -Dlog4j.debug=true system property to see exactly what's going on behind the scenes.