Root log4j logger levels are not restored during initialization

[membersound]

Up to 1.1.9.RELEASE spring-boot was able to find log4j2.xml itself from src/main/resources. It was picked up and loaded correctly by just dropping the required maven dependencies in.

Since 1.2.0.RELEASE this is not the case anymore. I have to explicit set

logging.config=classpath:log4j2.xml

to load it.

Of course I configured the maven pom as advised:

          <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter</artifactId>
            <exclusions>
                <exclusion>
                    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
                    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-logging</artifactId>
                </exclusion>
            </exclusions>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-log4j2</artifactId>
        </dependency>

Root cause is probably in AbstractLoggingSystem.initialize(), which has been massively refactored between 1.1.9 and 1.2.0.

[philwebb]

I'm having trouble replicating this. The spring-boot-sample-actuator-log4j2 sample seems to detect and load log4j2.xml without issue.

Could you try with the latest 1.2.1-BUILD-SNAPSHOT and perhaps provide a sample application that replicates the issue?

[membersound]

Can you try to remove the "logging.file" attribute in application.properties?

Because when using a custom log4j2.xml, the logfile name is usually directly inside the xml, thus no need to set any logfile name or location explicit from within properties.

When the "logging.file" entry is missing, the log4j2.xml seems not to be loaded.

[philwebb]

I tried commenting out the logging.file entry and I added the following to log4j2.xml:

<Logger name="org.springframework" level="info" />

The application started with INFO logging. Changing the entry to:

<Logger name="org.springframework" level="debug" />

Gave me DEBUG output.

This is using the latest 1.2.1-BUILD-SNAPSHOT.

Are you able to provide a sample application where the file isn't loaded? If your log4j2.xml file in your main jar or in a nested library?

[membersound]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0qVi9D7R5MZMXVGMndFbVBrR1U/view?usp=sharing

This is an adapted log4j2 actuator sample, just without the web-mvc stuff, and using 1.2.1-BUILD-SNAPSHOT. I just confirmed that commenting out the logging.file statement in application.properties prevents any logging output.

By default the sample should log "hello world", but it does not.

[philwebb]

Thanks. That helped track it down. The config is loaded but Boot has accidentally set the root logger level. I'm working on a fix now.