Turn off java.util.logging for a specific package

Question

I am using an SDK that uses Apache CXF internally. Apache CXF uses the java.util.logging package for logging by default.

I want to change the logging level from INFO to WARNING or turn it off completely. Can I do this programmatically in the main method of my application?

Answer 1

You can use Log4j instead of java.util.logging as is documented. This is a 100% programmatic way to configure a Log4j appender for apache CXF based on this answer

//equivalent to -Dorg.apache.cxf.Logger=org.apache.cxf.common.logging.Log4jLogger     
System.setProperty("org.apache.cxf.Logger","org.apache.cxf.common.logging.Log4jLogger");

//Creates the file appender
FileAppender fa = new FileAppender();
fa.setName("FileLogger");
fa.setFile("mylog.log");
fa.setLayout(new PatternLayout("%d %-5p [%c{1}] %m%n"));
fa.setThreshold(Level.WARN);
fa.setAppend(true);
fa.activateOptions();

//Add the appender to CXF logger
Logger.getLogger("org.apache.cxf").addAppender(fa);

You will need log4j.jar in the classpath and execute the code before any CXF initialization

Answer 2

The link below from Apache CXF has a well understood documentation whether it's java.util.logging or log4j or sl4j:

http://cxf.apache.org/docs/general-cxf-logging.html

It would be very easy if you are using log4j.

You can configure log4j for Apache CXF and then append something like as follows in log4j.properties file which will turn off apache cxf logging.

log4j.apache.cxf = WARN

Answer 3

There is a way to do this programatically, but it's not intuitive. Changing to SLF4J or Log4J may be better if you end up needing control at a a finer level or over multiple classes

The issue is that Loggers are cached using WeakReferences. From the time you call Logger.setLevel() until the Logger is actually used, it may be GC'ed. So, the Logger that logs isn't the Logger you set the level on! This is especially true in frameworks where there is a lot of GC at startup.

The solution is to programatically set the configuration, not the actual Loggers.

String logConfig = ".level=" + java.util.logging.Level.INFO + '\n';
logConfig += "handlers=java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler\n";
// ensure ConsoleHandler does not filter
logConfig += "java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler" + ".level=" + java.util.logging.Level.FINEST + '\n';

//set your custom levels
logConfig += "org.apache.cxf" + ".level=" + java.util.logging.Level.WARNING + "\n";

try {
  java.util.logging.LogManager.getLogManager().readConfiguration(new java.io.ByteArrayInputStream(logConfig.getBytes("UTF-8")));
  // no need to close ByteArrayInputStream -- it is a no-op
}
catch (IOException ioe) {
  System.err.println("cannot fully configure logging");
  ioe.printStackTrace();
}

Note there are a few issues with this approach:

1. You are overwriting the built-in configuration, so you have to set the root handler. If you set -Djava.util.logging.config.file, it will also be overwritten.
2. Total hack - might not be maintainable or understandable later.
3. Your config string has to be valid. Note all lines have to end with \n.
4. Has to be called very early, preferably the first line in main(). If this is not possible, you may also need to iterate all the existing Loggers and update their config using setLevel() too.

Answer 4

Configuring logging levels

In the /etc folder of the CXF distribution there is a sample Java SE logging.properties file you can use to configure logging. For example, if you want to change the console logging level from WARNING to FINE, you need to update two properties in this logging.properties file as below:

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

N.B: If you want to change FINE to other LEVEL, just change FINE to others

Once this is done, you will need to set the -Djava.util.logging.config.file property to the location of the logging.properties file. As an example, the Ant target below has this property set:

<target name="runClient">
   <java classname="client.WSClient" fork="true">         
      <classpath>
         <pathelement location="${build.classes.dir}"/>
         <fileset dir="${env.CXF_HOME}/lib">
            <include name="*.jar"/>
         </fileset>
      </classpath>
      <jvmarg value="-Djava.util.logging.config.file=/usr/myclientapp/logging.properties"/>
   </java>
</target>

Alternatively, for SOAP clients, you can modify the Java-wide logging.properties file in the JDK_HOME/jre/lib folder, or for servlet-hosted web service providers, placing a logging.properties file in the WEB-INF/classes folder (see here for more details.)

Resource Link:

1. http://cxf.apache.org/docs/general-cxf-logging.html

Enables/Disable CXF Logging (payload)

To remove cxf logging just comment out or remove code the following code from your cxf configuration xml file.

<cxf:bus>
      <cxf:features>
          <cxf:logging></cxf:logging>
      </cxf:features>
</cxf:bus>

Turn off extra logging:

To turn off extra logging, change the org.apache.cxf Logger level to ERROR. Add this line to log4j.properties:

log4j.logger.org.apache.cxf=ERROR

Resource Link:

How can I turn off extra logging?