How to configure log4j.properties for SpringJUnit4ClassRunner?

Question

Suddenly this keeps happening during a JUnit test. Everything was working, I wrote some new tests and this error occured. If I revert it, it won't go away. Why is that?

log4j:WARN No appenders could be found for logger (org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner).
log4j:WARN Please initialize the log4j system properly.
log4j:WARN See http://logging.apache.org/log4j/1.2/faq.html#noconfig for more info.

score 73 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 24 '14 at 17:47

73

The new tests you wrote (directly or indirectly) use classes that log using Log4j.

Log4J needs to be configured for this logging to work properly.

Put a log4j.properties (or log4j.xml) file in the root of your test classpath.

It should have some basic configuration such as

# Set root logger level to DEBUG and its only appender to A1.
log4j.rootLogger=DEBUG, A1

# A1 is set to be a ConsoleAppender.
log4j.appender.A1=org.apache.log4j.ConsoleAppender

# A1 uses PatternLayout.
log4j.appender.A1.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
log4j.appender.A1.layout.ConversionPattern=%-4r [%t] %-5p %c %x - %m%n

# An alternative logging format:
# log4j.appender.stdout.layout.ConversionPattern=%d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss} %-5p %c{1} - %m%n

An appender outputs to the console by default, but you can also explicitly set the target like this:

log4j.appender.A1.Target=System.out

This will redirect all output in a nice format to the console. More info can be found here in the Log4J manual,

Log4J Logging will then be properly configured and this warning will disappear.

edited Feb 24 '14 at 17:47

Ricibob

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answered Dec 31 '10 at 12:31

Axel Fontaine

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1

Just for reference, here is a link for the conversion pattern reference: http://logging.apache.org/log4j/1.2/apidocs/org/apache/log4j/EnhancedPatternLayout.html – lanoxx Feb 24 '14 at 17:31
1

Can you explain why are we doing this? – iLoveCamelCase Jul 10 '15 at 05:58
1

project/src/test/resources/log4j.properties – Josue Abarca Oct 23 '17 at 23:25
Can someone explain this with XML syntax please? – C.J. Oct 15 '19 at 17:09

score 50 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 15 '12 at 16:58

50

If you don't want to bother with a file, you can do something like this in your code:

static
{
    Logger rootLogger = Logger.getRootLogger();
    rootLogger.setLevel(Level.INFO);
    rootLogger.addAppender(new ConsoleAppender(
               new PatternLayout("%-6r [%p] %c - %m%n")));
}

answered Mar 15 '12 at 16:58

tster

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Saved a day! Thanks @tster. – Kevin Rave Oct 27 '14 at 16:31
Why didn't I think of that? Thank you! – Kronen Oct 31 '18 at 16:10

score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 31 '10 at 12:40

Add a log4j.properties(log4j.xml) file with at least one appender in root of your classpath.

The contents of the file(log4j.properties) can be as simple as

log4j.rootLogger=WARN,A1

# A1 is set to be a ConsoleAppender.
log4j.appender.A1=org.apache.log4j.ConsoleAppender
log4j.appender.A1.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
log4j.appender.A1.layout.ConversionPattern=%d{ISO8601} [%t] %-5p %c %x - %m%n

This will enable log4j logging with default log level as WARN and use the java console to log the messages.

score 4 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 02 '11 at 16:05

4

I have the log4j.properties configured properly. That's not the problem. After a while I discovered that the problem was in Eclipse IDE which had an old build in "cache" and didn't create a new one (Maven dependecy problem). I had to build the project manually and now it works.

answered Jan 02 '11 at 16:05

user219882

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Hi Tom, could you elaborate on this issue and workaround- think I'm experiencing it as well! Thanks – VLostBoy Aug 03 '11 at 09:47
@vlostboy: The solution which worked for me was building it from the command line: `mvn clean package` – user219882 Aug 03 '11 at 10:08
1

Thanks for getting back to me Tom- I *think* I solved the issue- mea culpa, had both log4j.properties AND log4j.xml in resources. I eliminated the properties file, trimmed down the xml config, and all appears to be working fine, but if I run into the issue again, I will certainly try a maven clean. – VLostBoy Aug 05 '11 at 12:17
omg, I've tearing my hair out for the last couple of hours, pretty sure this is it. – dwjohnston Aug 12 '15 at 05:36

score 3 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 21 '13 at 18:24

I was using Maven in eclipse and I did not want to have an additional copy of the properties file in the root folder. You can do the following in eclipse:

Open run dialog (click the little arrow next to the play button and go to run configurations)
Go to the "classpath" tab
Select the "User Entries" and click the "Advanced" button on the right side.
Now select the "Add External folder" radio button.
Select the resources folder

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered May 02 '16 at 18:26

I know this is old, but I was having trouble too. For Spring 3 using Maven and Eclipse, I needed to put the log4j.xml in src/test/resources for the Unit test to log properly. Placing in in the root of the test did not work for me. Hopefully this helps others.

score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Oct 25 '16 at 04:04

Because I don't like to have duplicate files (log4j.properties in test and main), and I have quite many test classes, they each runwith SpringJUnit4ClassRunner class, so I have to customize it. This is what I use：

import java.io.FileNotFoundException;

import org.junit.runners.model.InitializationError;
import org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner;
import org.springframework.util.Log4jConfigurer;

public class MySpringJUnit4ClassRunner extends SpringJUnit4ClassRunner {

    static {
        String log4jLocation = "classpath:log4j-oops.properties";
        try {
            Log4jConfigurer.initLogging(log4jLocation);
        } catch (FileNotFoundException ex) {
            System.err.println("Cannot Initialize log4j at location: " + log4jLocation);
        }
    }

    public MySpringJUnit4ClassRunner(Class<?> clazz) throws InitializationError {
        super(clazz);
    }
}

When you use it, replace SpringJUnit4ClassRunner with MySpringJUnit4ClassRunner

@RunWith(MySpringJUnit4ClassRunner.class) 
@ContextConfiguration("classpath:conf/applicationContext.xml") 
public class TestOrderController {
    private Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(this.getClass());

    private MockMvc mockMvc;
...
}

How to configure log4j.properties for SpringJUnit4ClassRunner?

7 Answers7

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