Upgrading log4j 1.2.14 to 2.12.1 Error No Root logger was configured and No log file created

Question

We are upgrading log4j 1.2.14 to 2.12.1 and I have the log4j2.properties file as below

status = error

log4j2.appender.console.type = Console
log4j2.appender.console.name = LogToConsole
log4j2.appender.console.layout.type = PatternLayout
log4j2.appender.console.layout.pattern = [%-5level] %d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS} [%t] %c{1} - %msg%n

#log4j2.appender.file.type = File
#log4j2.appender.file.name = LogToFile
#log4j2.appender.file.fileName=logs/app.log
#log4j2.appender.file.layout.type=PatternLayout
#log4j2.appender.file.layout.pattern=[%-5level] %d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS} [%t] %c{1} - %msg%n

# Rotate log file
log4j2.appender.rolling.type = RollingRandomAccessFile 
log4j2.appender.rolling.name = LogToRollingRandomAccessFile
log4j2.appender.rolling.fileName = ${server.home}/logs/server.log
log4j2.appender.rolling.filePattern = logs/$${date:yyyy-MM}/app-%d{MM-dd-yyyy}-%i.log.gz
log4j2.appender.rolling.layout.type = PatternLayout
log4j2.appender.rolling.layout.pattern = %d %p %C{1.} [%t] %m%n
log4j2.appender.rolling.policies.type = Policies
log4j2.appender.rolling.policies.time.type = TimeBasedTriggeringPolicy
log4j2.appender.rolling.policies.size.type = SizeBasedTriggeringPolicy
log4j2.appender.rolling.policies.size.size=10MB
log4j2.appender.rolling.strategy.type = DefaultRolloverStrategy
log4j2.appender.rolling.strategy.max = 10

# Log to console and rolling file
#logger.app.type = AsyncLogger
log4j2.logger.app.name = com.ssl.server
log4j2.logger.app.level = info
log4j2.logger.app.additivity = false
log4j2.logger.app.appenderRef.rolling.ref = LogToRollingRandomAccessFile
log4j2.logger.app.appenderRef.console.ref = LogToConsole

log4j2.rootLogger.level = info
log4j2.rootLogger.appenderRef.stdout.ref = LogToConsole

I have below dependancies in my pom.xml

    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.apache.logging.log4j</groupId>
        <artifactId>log4j-api</artifactId>
        <version>2.12.1</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.apache.logging.log4j</groupId>
        <artifactId>log4j-core</artifactId>
        <version>2.12.1</version>
    </dependency>       

I am initializing the logger as below

private static final org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger LOG = org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager.getLogger(SSLServer.class.getName());

When I start the standalone Java application using the main() am getting below error and server.log file is not created, I did some research regarding the below error and most of the articles were referring to log4j2.xml configuration and none of the config changes worked in my log4j2.properties

log warn: org.apache.logging.log4j.status.StatusLogger - No Root logger was configured, creating default ERROR-level Root logger with Console appender
No Root logger was configured, creating default ERROR-level Root logger with Console appender

Forayer

Could you try getClass().getClassLoader().getResource("conf/log4j2.properties").getFile() ? – Boxer

@Villat, Thanks for the response, as per the official log4j doc I see that by default it will look for log4j-test.properties if log4j.configurationFile is not provided, can you please check my log4j2.properties and see why its not creating the log file – Forayer

Hey, the log4j2.properties file has priority over the log4j2.xml so, could you add your project structure to the post? Maybe a screenshot. – Boxer

Answer 1

Few things to look at:

• make sure you don't have any other log4j2 config files on your classpath. The list is not small and can trip up. See it in the documentation here.
• get debug info out of log4j2 by increasing status messages: status = info (debug or trace )
• remove log4j2. as the prefix from all your properties so that log4j2.appender.console.type = Console becomes appender.console.type = Console
• add file logging to your rootlogger:
  rootLogger.appenderRef.rolling.ref = LogToFile

Conscription

Answer 2

I adapted your configuration to work. Please check this out:

# Print configuration errors only
status=error

# Console appender
appender.console.type=Console
appender.console.name=LogToConsole
appender.console.layout.type=PatternLayout
appender.console.layout.pattern=[%-5level] %d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS} [%t] %c{1} - %msg%n

# Rotate log file
appender.rolling.type=RollingRandomAccessFile
appender.rolling.name=LogToRollingRandomAccessFile
appender.rolling.fileName=${SERVER_HOME}/logs/server.log
appender.rolling.filePattern=logs/${date:yyyy-MM}/app-%d{MM-dd-yyyy}-%i.log.gz
appender.rolling.layout.type=PatternLayout
appender.rolling.layout.pattern=%d %p %C{1.} [%t] %m%n
appender.rolling.policies.type=Policies
appender.rolling.policies.time.type=TimeBasedTriggeringPolicy
appender.rolling.policies.size.type=SizeBasedTriggeringPolicy
appender.rolling.policies.size.size=1KB                        <-- for testing only!
appender.rolling.strategy.type=DefaultRolloverStrategy
appender.rolling.strategy.max=10

# Root logger
rootLogger.level=info
rootLogger.appenderRef.console.ref=LogToConsole
rootLogger.appenderRef.rolling.ref=LogToRollingRandomAccessFile

Please make sure you have the SERVER_HOME variable in your environment.

Harris

Answer 3

I don't see where you are declaring a root logger in you log4j.properties file.

I see, at the bottom, where you are setting the "level" on the rootlogger but I don't see where you've established the rootLogger.

My log4j.properties file start out like this:

log4j.rootLogger=WARN, FILE, CONSOLE


log4j.appender.CONSOLE=org.apache.log4j.ConsoleAppender
log4j.appender.CONSOLE.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
log4j.appender.CONSOLE.layout.ConversionPattern=%d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss} %5p %20t %25F:%L - %m%n

Brownfield

Answer 4

I think you need two modifications in your properties configuration:

• Remove the prefix "log4j2."

• Remove the space after "appender.rolling.type = RollingRandomAccessFile "

Also check if your package name is correct:

• logger.app.name = com.ssl.server

status = error

appender.console.type = Console
appender.console.name = LogToConsole
appender.console.layout.type = PatternLayout
appender.console.layout.pattern = [%-5level] %d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS} [%t] %c{1} - %msg%n

#appender.file.type = File
#appender.file.name = LogToFile
#appender.file.fileName=logs/app.log
#appender.file.layout.type=PatternLayout
#appender.file.layout.pattern=[%-5level] %d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS} [%t] %c{1} - %msg%n

# Rotate log file
appender.rolling.type = RollingRandomAccessFile
appender.rolling.name = LogToRollingRandomAccessFile
appender.rolling.fileName = logs/server.log
appender.rolling.fileName = ${server.home}/logs/server.log
appender.rolling.filePattern = logs/$${date:yyyy-MM}/app-%d{MM-dd-yyyy}-%i.log.gz
appender.rolling.layout.type = PatternLayout
appender.rolling.layout.pattern = %d %p %C{1.} [%t] %m%n
appender.rolling.policies.type = Policies
appender.rolling.policies.time.type = TimeBasedTriggeringPolicy
appender.rolling.policies.size.type = SizeBasedTriggeringPolicy
appender.rolling.policies.size.size=10MB
appender.rolling.strategy.type = DefaultRolloverStrategy
appender.rolling.strategy.max = 10

# Log to console and rolling file
#logger.app.type = AsyncLogger
logger.app.name = com.ssl.server
logger.app.level = info
logger.app.additivity = false
logger.app.appenderRef.rolling.ref = LogToRollingRandomAccessFile
logger.app.appenderRef.console.ref = LogToConsole

rootLogger.level = info
rootLogger.appenderRef.stdout.ref = LogToConsole

Caprification