Log4j Maven Configuration Example

Log4j is a simple and flexible logging framework. Logging equips the developer with detailed context for application failures. With log4j it is possible to enable logging at runtime without modifying the application binary. The log4j package is designed so that these statements can remain in shipped code without incurring a heavy performance cost.

Below are the most basic steps to configure log4j logging support in your project.

1) Create a maven project

mvn archetype:generate -DgroupId=com.howtodoinjava -DartifactId=Log4jTestProject
 -DarchetypeArtifactId=maven-archetype-quickstart -DinteractiveMode=false

Run above command in your eclipse workspace or any other IDE you are working in. If you already have a project in your workspace, then directly go to step 3.

2) Convert the project to eclipse supported java project

mvn eclipse:eclipse

Above command will convert maven project to eclipse java project. Now, import the project to eclipse.

3) Update pom.xml file with log4j dependencies

Add below given dependencies to pom.xml.

<dependency>
	<groupId>log4j</groupId>
	<artifactId>log4j</artifactId>
	<version>1.2.17</version>
</dependency>

Run below command to download required jars in your local system and update project runtime dependencies also.

mvn eclipse:eclipse

4) Test the application with BasicConfigurator

package com.howtodoinjava;

import org.apache.log4j.BasicConfigurator;
import org.apache.log4j.Logger;

public class Log4jHelloWorld {

	static final Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(Log4jHelloWorld.class);

	public static void main(String[] args)
	{
		//Configure logger
		BasicConfigurator.configure();
		logger.debug("Hello World!");
	}
}

Output:

0 [main] DEBUG com.howtodoinjava.Log4jHelloWorld  - Hello World!

If you saw above message in your console then congrats, we have successfully configured log4j. If you have any problem the repeat all above steps again or drop me a comment.

Happy Learning !!