Develop Reference

How can I straighten out my Tomcat logging?

Am working on a Tomcat configuration I did not do and would like any help to fix the logging. For reasons unknown, there are three -D parameters related to logging passed into the startup. The process looks like:
./bin/java -Djava.util.logging.config.file=CATALINA_BASE_DIR_HERE/tomcat/conf/logging.properties
-Djava.util.logging.manager=org.apache.juli.ClassLoaderLogManager
-Dlog4j.configuration=file:CATALINA_BASE_DIR_HERE/tomcat/conf/log4j.properties ...
The relevant section of the logging.properties file looks as shown below. I believe this is standard.
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
...
2localhost.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.level = FINE
2localhost.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.directory = ${catalina.base}/logs
2localhost.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.prefix = localhost.
For completeness, here is relevant portion of the log4j.properties file:
log4j.rootLogger=INFO, logfile
log4j.appender.logfile=org.apache.log4j.DailyRollingFileAppender
log4j.appender.logfile.DatePattern='.'yyyy-MM-dd
log4j.appender.logfile.File=MY_DIR/my_log.txt
log4j.appender.logfile.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
log4j.appender.logfile.layout.ConversionPattern = [%d{ABSOLUTE}] [%t] %-5p [%c] - %m%n
log4j.appender.logfile.Append=true
# per first answer given below, added:
log4j.logger.org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.[Catalina].[localhost] = INFO, logfile
Prior to today, there were no real issues - all the log data went to the log4j file as desired. The war file deployed in this Tomcat uses Spring Data JPA and Hibernate. To debug, showSql was enabled. All the queries came out, but to the localhost.DATE.log file. Can anyone tell how to fix so that ALL the statements go to the log4j designated file?

If you set showSql to true, hibernate will print SQL statement to SystemOut. You should add log4j.logger.org.hibernate.SQL=DEBUG to log4j config, so hibernate can also log the SQL statement. (The reason can be found in this answer)
By default, Tomcat use java.util.logging API for all internal logging. So the output goto localhost.DATE.log as you mentioned.
You can change the configuration, please refer the section Using Log4j
(for Tomcat 6.x~8.x)

Tomcat not logging to catalina.out after log rotation using log4j in linux Environment

I have used log4j to rotate catalina.out .After the first log rotation tomcat started logging to newly created file by log4j not to catalina.out in linux environment.Every thing works fine in windows environment.
Here's my log4j.properties
log4j.rootLogger=ALL, file
log4j.appender.file=org.apache.log4j.DailyRollingFileAppender
log4j.appender.file.File=${catalina.home}/logs/catalina.out
log4j.appender.file.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
log4j.appender.file.layout.ConversionPattern=[Java] %d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss} - %5p - %c{1} : Line No. %L - %m%n
log4j.appender.file.DatePattern='.'yyyy-MM-dd-HH
log4j.appender.FILE.Append=true
Please suggest.

The catalina.out file is actually created by output redirection from the shell when you launch Tomcat using bin/catalina.sh and friends. If you try to rotate that file using log4j, you will clobber that file with your log4j logs. tomcat is still logging to the old catalina.out, which no longer exists.
You should point log4j at a different log file and not rotate catalina.out at all. If you absolutely must rotate catalina.out, use another technique.
If your catalina.out is filling up with System.out.println garbage from applications, read about the swallowOutput option in Tomcat. That will capture System.out and System.err and redirect it to a file instead of dumping it to standard output.

How to log stdout output in Tomcat?

Is there a way to log all stdout output to the catalina.log file in Tomcat? (i.e. everything that gets printed to System.out.println())
The console window that opens when you run TOMCAT/bin/startup.bat displays output from stdout, but it's not saved to TOMCAT/logs/catalina.<date>.log.
My specific problem is that I have a console appender defined in log4j to output to the console. These log messages appear correctly in the Tomcat console window, but they are not written to catalina.log. I'm running Tomcat 5.5 on Windows. Thanks.
EDIT:
Here is my log4j.properties file. It is located at TOMCAT/webapps/app/WEB-INF/classes/log4j.properties:
log4j.rootCategory=DEBUG, console
log4j.appender.console=org.apache.log4j.ConsoleAppender
log4j.appender.console.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
log4j.appender.console.layout.ConversionPattern=[%d{ABSOLUTE} %-5p %c{1}]: %m%n

I've come across similar questions before, and haven't found a way to do this by logging System.out in Windows unless you are running Tomcat as a Windows service. This seems to work by default in Unix since startup.sh points to catalina.sh which logs stdout to the catalina.out file like below
org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap "$#" start >> "$CATALINA_BASE"/logs/catalina.out 2>&1 &
In log4j, ConsoleAppender by itself does not append to a File, only to System.out
However, I've modified your log4j properties to add a FileAppender and this config works, but of course this logs into a separate log file.
New config
# Set root logger level to DEBUG.
log4j.rootLogger=DEBUG, console, myFile
log4j.appender.console=org.apache.log4j.ConsoleAppender
log4j.appender.console.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
log4j.appender.console.layout.ConversionPattern=[%d{ABSOLUTE} %-5p %c{1}]: %m%n
# myFile writes to file
log4j.appender.myFile=org.apache.log4j.RollingFileAppender
log4j.appender.myFile.File=logs/tomcatlog4j.log
log4j.appender.myFile.MaxFileSize=100KB
log4j.appender.myFile.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
log4j.appender.myFile.layout.ConversionPattern==[%d{ABSOLUTE} %-5p %c{1}]: %m%n
Output
=[15:24:03,819 INFO A1]: In my.jsp
=[15:24:03,975 INFO A1]: Out of my.jsp
=[15:24:04,880 INFO A1]: In my.jsp
=[15:24:04,880 INFO A1]: Out of my.jsp
also see
How to log exceptions from a specific package deployed in tomcat
log select events into a separate file
https://serverfault.com/questions/201178/tomcat-5-5-how-to-redirect-the-logging-output-to-one-file-per-web-application

Did you checked, whether the log4j.properties file can be found from your application?
Maybe you can check, by setting a hardcoded file path like
-Dlog4j.configuration=file:///C:\Dev\log4j.properties
If the logs are written after these change, the relativ path to the log4j file is wrong.

If I look at the default logging config of tomcat 5.5 in logging.properties:
org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.[Catalina].[localhost].level = INFO
org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.[Catalina].[localhost].handlers = 2localhost.org.apache.juli.FileHandler
That looks to me as if stdout of web applications might be logged to files only for level INFO and above, regading that http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-5.5-doc/logging.html states that in tomcat JULI logging configuration loggers do not use parent's handlers when they are assigned their own handlers. Also the file should be prefixed localhost and not catalina. But then I do not understand how the output comes to your output window :/

Application is not logging log, how to debug log 4j starting or not

I have created a very simple application, where I am trying to use the Log4J, but my application is not logging any log.
Can anyone please tell me how can I debug the same as my log4j started or not?
I have kept the file in classes folder of WEB-INF/classes
Thanks
following is my log4j.properties
log4j.rootLogger=debug, stdout, ABC
log4j.appender.stdout=org.apache.log4j.ConsoleAppender
log4j.appender.stdout.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
# Pattern to output the caller's file name and line number.
log4j.appender.stdout.layout.ConversionPattern=%5p [%t] (%F:%L) - %m%n
log4j.appender.ABC=org.apache.log4j.RollingFileAppender
log4j.appender.ABC.File=D://abc//dams_workflow_application.log
log4j.appender.ABC.MaxFileSize=3000KB
# Keep one backup file
log4j.appender.ABC.MaxBackupIndex=10
log4j.appender.ABC.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
log4j.appender.ABC.layout.ConversionPattern=%5p [%t] (%F:%L) - %m%n
following is the sample line for using log 4j..
Logger log = Logger.getLogger("ABC");
log.info("my message");

If you're writing a web application, you can view the Log4J Default Initialization Under Tomcat. Even it states Tomcat, the same applies in other Containers/Web application servers.

Console will print this if log4j is not started :
log4j:WARN No log4j configuration information found.
log4j:WARN Changed non-configured level from DEBUG to ERROR.
log4j:WARN The log4j system is not properly configured!
You could have a look at Log4j - Looking for a good 'Getting started' tutorial or blog
to get started.
Regards,
Stéphane

Make sure the log4j jar is in the lib directory for your webapp or in the lib directory in tomcat.
Log4j doesn't seem to work properly for me unless i put the log4j properties file in the default package in the webapp's source directory within the project.
All of my log4j properties files typically look similar to the following
# Define a logger called "processLog" using the FileAppender implementation of the
# Log interface
log4j.appender.processLog=org.apache.log4j.DailyRollingFileAppender
log4j.appender.processLog.File.DateFormat='.'yyyy-ww
# Define the output location
log4j.appender.processLog.File=C:/logs/myapp.log
# Define what the output is going to look like for your log
log4j.appender.processLog.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
log4j.appender.processLog.layout.ConversionPattern=%d{yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm a} %5p %c{1}: Line#%L - %m%n
# log4j.rootLogger specifies the default logging level and output location.
# The first parameter is the level (debug > info > warn > error > fatal).
log4j.rootLogger=INFO, processLog
That's how I do it anyway. There may be a better way but this one always works for me.

How do I log from inside my web application in Tomcat 6

How do I log from within my web application deployed on Tomcat 6? Where should I expect the logging output to go (internal tomcat log files, or will another logfile be generated)? I see a ton of documentation but am having a hard time finding a direct answer to the above questions. Where should I expect the logging to show up (currently it is log4j is not generating a log file and it is not showing up in my console). I am trying to follow http://www.laliluna.de/articles/log4j-tutorial.html .
### direct log messages to stdout ###
log4j.appender.stdout=org.apache.log4j.ConsoleAppender
log4j.appender.stdout.Target=System.out
log4j.appender.stdout.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
log4j.appender.stdout.layout.ConversionPattern=%d{ABSOLUTE} %5p %c{1}:%L - %m%n
### file appender
log4j.appender.file=org.apache.log4j.RollingFileAppender
log4j.appender.file.maxFileSize=100KB
log4j.appender.file.maxBackupIndex=5
log4j.appender.file.File=test.log
log4j.appender.file.threshold=info
log4j.appender.file.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
log4j.appender.file.layout.ConversionPattern=%d{ABSOLUTE} %5p %c{1}:%L - %m%n
log4j.rootLogger=debug, stdout
In my application I define a log object:
private static org.apache.log4j.Logger log = Logger.getLogger(MyClass.class);
log.error("LOGGING!");
Thanks for the help.

2 things to try:
1: Change test.log to /tmp/test.log so you know exactly where the file is supossed to be.
2: Put your log4j.properties config file in your apache-tomcat-6.0.x/lib directory together with the log4j-1.2.15.jar file. And don't have any log4j files in your webapps/*/WEB-INF/lib
That's the way I am doing it, and its working for me. Here is a usefull snippet from my log4j.properties (Remember to do a mk /tmp/logs if you use this config)
log4j.rootLogger=debug, root
log4j.appender.root=org.apache.log4j.FileAppender
log4j.appender.root.layout = org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
log4j.appender.root.layout.conversionPattern = %d [%t] %-5p %c - %m%n
log4j.appender.root.file = /tmp/logs/root.log
log4j.appender.root.append = true
log4j.category.mside = DEBUG,msideAppender
log4j.category.javashare = DEBUG,msideAppender
log4j.additivity.mside = false
log4j.additivity.mside.msideAppender = false
log4j.additivity.javashare = false
#Define msideAppender.
log4j.appender.msideAppender = org.apache.log4j.RollingFileAppender
log4j.appender.msideAppender.MaxFileSize=10MB
log4j.appender.msideAppender.MaxBackupIndex=7
log4j.appender.msideAppender.file = /tmp/logs/mside.log
log4j.appender.msideAppender.layout = org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
log4j.appender.msideAppender.layout.conversionPattern = %d [%t] %-5p %c - %m%n
log4j.appender.msideAppender.append = true

IIRC Tomcat v4/v5 sends standard output to the catalina.out file, so any log4j output using a console appender would go to that file as well. Not sure if this still the case with newer versions of Tomcat, though.

Your log4j configuration will be picked up by log4j if you put it into the classpath of your web application, e.g. in WEB-INF/classes/. Make sure that your log4j.jar is in WEB-INF/lib.
The output of the ConsoleAppender that you defined, which is logging on stdout, will go to ${CATALINA_BASE}/logs/catalina.out, as any Tomcat stdout output.
As to the RollingFileAppender, you should define the correct path. If you want your web application's logs to appear in Tomcat's logs directory, change the file for this appender to:
log4j.appender.file.File=${catalina.base}/logs/test.log

BTW, use the system property -Dlog4j.debug system property. That should tell you where the heck log4j is sending its output.
Also, if your tomcat install is in a *nix system, or if you are running on Windows with cygwin installed, you could use the find command to detect what files get changed right after you send a HTTP request to Tomcat (which you know should produce a logging output)
cd <your tomcat install>
ls -ltr `find . -type f -ls` | tail -10
That should show you the last 10 files that were updated or changed. It won't work if there are files in your app with spaces in their file names, though.

I have tried following way and make sure it works well:
put your own log4j.properties place at a path;
then update your catalina.sh under tomcat, add below similar line:
JAVA_OPTS="-Dlog4j.configuration=file:${yourownlog4jpath}"