How to configure tomcat to rollover catalina.log files

Question

I'm trying to configure my tomcat to rollover log files once a size limit is reached. I'm running tomcat as a windows service and am redirecting all my stdout to catalina.log. This is how I configured by logging.properties to set a size limit. But it is not working.

logging.properties

handlers = 1catalina.org.apache.juli.FileHandler, 2localhost.org.apache.juli.FileHandler, 3manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler, 4host-manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler, java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler

.handlers = 1catalina.org.apache.juli.FileHandler, java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler

############################################################
# Handler specific properties.
# Describes specific configuration info for Handlers.
############################################################

1catalina.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.level = FINE
1catalina.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.directory = e:/apache-tomcat/logs/server_111-1001
1catalina.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.prefix = catalina.
1catalina.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.limit = 100000 # size 100kb 
1catalina.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.count = 5


2localhost.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.level = FINE
2localhost.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.directory = e:/apache-tomcat/logs/server_111-1001
2localhost.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.prefix = localhost.

3manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.level = FINE
3manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.directory = e:/apache-tomcat/logs/server_111-1001
3manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.prefix = manager.

4host-manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.level = FINE
4host-manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.directory = e:/apache-tomcat/logs/server_111-1001
4host-manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.prefix = host-manager.

java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler.level = FINE
java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler.formatter = java.util.logging.SimpleFormatter


############################################################
# Facility specific properties.
# Provides extra control for each logger.
############################################################

org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.[Catalina].[localhost].level = INFO
org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.[Catalina].[localhost].handlers = 2localhost.org.apache.juli.FileHandler

org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.[Catalina].[localhost].[/manager].level = INFO
org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.[Catalina].[localhost].[/manager].handlers = 3manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler

org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.[Catalina].[localhost].[/host-manager].level = INFO
org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.[Catalina].[localhost].[/host-manager].handlers = 4host-manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler

# For example, set the com.xyz.foo logger to only log SEVERE
# messages:
#org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.level = FINE
#org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.level = FINE
#org.apache.catalina.session.ManagerBase.level = FINE
#org.apache.catalina.core.AprLifecycleListener.level=FINE

But 1catalina.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.limit = 100000 doesn't seem to be working

Caltrop

Why would you even write anything to the stdout in a web application?! This is going to kill your performance if you get any kind of load to talk of. Can't you use log4j or some other logging library? – Posehn

Because, when running tomcat as a service, the console messages are going directly to stdout.log. – Caltrop

Is there anyway I can rotate stdout.log atlease – Caltrop

Where are those console messages coming from? Do you have system.out.println all over your web app? – Posehn

Yes, the developers did a very bad job at this! – Caltrop

possible duplicate of How to configure Tomcat JULI logging to roll log files? – Bosanquet

Answer 1

org.apache.juli.FileHandler does not support rotation based on file size and does not have the limit and count properties you are trying to set (see docs). Instead, you can use the standard Java java.util.logging.FileHandler which supports size-based rotation. You should change the following lines in your configuration:

handlers = 1catalina.java.util.logging.FileHandler, 2localhost.org.apache.juli.FileHandler, 3manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler, 4host-manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler, java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler

.handlers = 1catalina.java.util.logging.FileHandler, java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler

Also note that Java FileHandler is configured slightly differently than Tomcat FileHandler

1catalina.java.util.logging.FileHandler.level = FINEST
1catalina.java.util.logging.FileHandler.pattern = <your log dir>/catalina%g.log
1catalina.java.util.logging.FileHandler.limit = 100000
1catalina.java.util.logging.FileHandler.count = 5
1catalina.java.util.logging.FileHandler.formatter = java.util.logging.SimpleFormatter

However, I'm not sure that redirecting standard out to the file written by the logger will work well and help you achieve what you want.

Forelimb

Answer 2

According to the Official Tomcat 7 documentation :

---

public class FileHandler extends java.util.logging.Handler

Implementation of Handler that appends log messages to a file named {prefix}{date}{suffix} in a configured directory.

The following configuration properties are available:

• directory - The directory where to create the log file. If the path is not absolute, it is relative to the current working directory of the application. The Apache Tomcat configuration files usually specify an absolute path for this property, ${catalina.base}/logs Default value: logs

• rotatable - If true, the log file will be rotated on the first write past midnight and the filename will be {prefix}{date}{suffix}, where date is yyyy-MM-dd. If false, the file will not be rotated and the filename will be {prefix}{suffix}. Default value: true

• prefix - The leading part of the log file name. Default value: juli.

• suffix - The trailing part of the log file name. Default value: .log

• bufferSize - Configures buffering. The value of 0 uses system default buffering (typically an 8K buffer will be used). A value of <0 forces a writer flush upon each log write. A value >0 uses a BufferedOutputStream with the defined value but note that the system default buffering will also be applied. Default value: -1

• encoding - Character set used by the log file. Default value: empty string, which means to use the system default character set.

• level - The level threshold for this Handler. See the java.util.logging.Level class for the possible levels. Default value: ALL

• filter - The java.util.logging.Filter implementation class name for this Handler. Default value: unset

• formatter - The java.util.logging.Formatter implementation class name for this Handler. Default value: java.util.logging.SimpleFormatter

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