Disable Logback in SpringBoot

Question

It appears Springboot autoconfigures itself to use Logback with Tomcat. I would like to disable this and use the one I provide in my classpath.

The error message below.

LoggerFactory is not a Logback LoggerContext but Logback is on the classpath. Either remove Logback or the competing implementation (class org.slf4j.impl.SimpleLoggerFactory) Object of class [org.slf4j.impl.SimpleLoggerFactory] must be an instance of class ch.qos.logback.classic.LoggerContext

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <parent>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <version>1.0.1.RELEASE</version>
    </parent>

    <groupId>com.fe</groupId>
    <artifactId>cloudapp</artifactId>
    <version>1.0.0</version>
    <name>Withinet-PaaS</name>
    <description>Develop your web applications in on our infrastructure and we will worry about administration and scalability of your app.</description>

    <properties>
        <java.version>1.7</java.version>
        <guava.version>16.0.1</guava.version>
        <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
        <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
    </properties>

    <dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.sun.jersey</groupId>
        <artifactId>jersey-client</artifactId>
        <version>1.8</version>
    </dependency>
        <dependency>
        <groupId>com.withinet.cloudapp</groupId>
    <artifactId>slave</artifactId>
    <version>1.0.0</version>    
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.wicket</groupId>
            <artifactId>wicket-core</artifactId>
            <version>6.15.0</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>
            <artifactId>hibernate-core</artifactId>
            <version>4.3.0.Final</version>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>com.google.code.gson</groupId>
            <artifactId>gson</artifactId>
            <version>2.2.4</version>
        </dependency>

        <!-- Spring Boot -->

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

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

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

        <!-- Hibernate validator -->

        <dependency>
            <groupId>javax.validation</groupId>
            <artifactId>validation-api</artifactId>
            <version>1.1.0.Final</version>


        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>
            <artifactId>hibernate-validator-annotation-processor</artifactId>
            <version>4.1.0.Final</version>
        </dependency>

        <!-- Guava -->

        <dependency>
            <groupId>com.google.guava</groupId>
            <artifactId>guava</artifactId>
            <version>${guava.version}</version>
        </dependency>

        <!-- Java EE -->

        <dependency>
            <groupId>javax.inject</groupId>
            <artifactId>javax.inject</artifactId>
            <version>1</version>
        </dependency>

        <!--  Search -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.lucene</groupId>
            <artifactId>lucene-queryparser</artifactId>
            <version>4.8.0</version>
        </dependency>

        <!--  Security 
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-security</artifactId>
        </dependency>-->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-tomcat</artifactId>
            <scope>provided</scope>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>

    <build>

        <plugins>

            <!-- Spring Boot Maven -->

            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
                <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <configuration>
                    <mainClass>com.withinet.cloud.Application</mainClass>
                    <layout>JAR</layout>
                </configuration>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>repackage</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
            </plugin>

        </plugins>
    </build>
</project>

score 181 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 22 '15 at 01:17

181

Add exclusion to both the spring-boot-starter and spring-boot-starter-web to resolve the conflict.

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

edited Apr 22 '15 at 01:17

Brett Y

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answered Jun 02 '14 at 09:51

F.O.O

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It doesn't work for me because if I add those exclusions I get: `java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory`. – Ariel Sep 15 '14 at 11:10
3

Once you do this you will have to provide your own logger e.g log4j in your classpath. Why do you wish to exclude the default loggers from you application? – F.O.O Sep 16 '14 at 11:34
1

Is there a way to find out which jar declares logback without doing some 'exploration' in each jar? And, thanks! This helped me – vivek_ganesan Nov 15 '16 at 05:57
5

mvn dependency:tree -Dverbose -Dincludes=spring-boot-starter-logging – F.O.O Nov 15 '16 at 06:13
4

having to add this exclusion to each spring-boot-starter-* dependency is a huge hassle. It seems like Gradle at least allows a global exclusion. This alone is seriously making me consider switching from Maven. – scottysseus Apr 26 '19 at 20:46
I've done this but still finding additional SLF4J bindings in the classpath – Alex R Oct 06 '19 at 22:00
It worked! i was using slf4j explicitly and springboot's default logging was clashing with the slf4j and throws same exception. So had to exclude defaults. – Rayon May 12 '20 at 05:00
In my case (using a custom `assembly` build instead of the Boot Maven plugin) the exclusions didn't work for some reason - ended up excluding `ch.qos.logback:*` artifacts from the assembly XML itself – Janaka Bandara Jun 17 '20 at 12:11

score 85 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 08 '15 at 10:31

85

To add a better, more generic solution in Gradle (all instances will be excluded):

configurations {
    all*.exclude module : 'spring-boot-starter-logging'
}

From https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/dependency_management.html

answered Jun 08 '15 at 10:31

HankCa

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1

That works for me and at least 7 other people. I don't think a problem with your configuration or environment should be a downvote for my solution (I assumed the downvote i received was from your comment - apologies if I'm wrong). – HankCa Jun 08 '16 at 23:58
This doesn't work, I still see `spring-boot-starter-logging` – Adam Arold Jan 05 '19 at 18:45
This worked for me. Now gradle is able to run the tests without that log-related error. – Paulo Henrique Nov 26 '20 at 15:11

score 46 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 24 '15 at 17:26

To add a solution in gradle.

dependencies {
    compile ('org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter') {
        exclude module : 'spring-boot-starter-logging'
    }
    compile ('org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web') {
        exclude module : 'spring-boot-starter-logging'
    }
}

TechFree · Answer 4 · 2020-11-30T14:55:22.497

26

Correct way to exclude default logging, and configure log4j for logging.

<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>

Refer Spring Logging - How To.

In gradle, I needed to do this with several other dependencies:

configurations {
    all*.exclude module : 'spring-boot-starter-logging'
    all*.exclude module : 'logback-classic'
}

edited Nov 30 '20 at 14:55

answered Jun 25 '19 at 12:39

TechFree

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This should be considered the correct answer, and devs that land here should really think hard about which of these answers to follow. This answer cites the current spring boot docs, while many of he other answers are some form of "this is what worked for me". I would say that if one does what the Spring Boot docs say and it doesn't work, to look closely at your maven dependencies and figure out where things are going wrong. – Thomas Carlisle Dec 08 '20 at 14:01
Yes, because if you don't exclude "spring-boot-starter-logging" from "spring-boot-starter" specifically it will likely still find a way to get into your jars from some other Spring starter – ArturT Jan 30 '21 at 02:57

score 19 · Answer 5 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:26

I found that excluding the full spring-boot-starter-logging module is not necessary. All that is needed is to exclude the org.slf4j:slf4j-log4j12 module.

Adding this to a Gradle build file will resolve the issue:

configurations {
    runtime.exclude group: "org.slf4j", module: "slf4j-log4j12"
    compile.exclude group: "org.slf4j", module: "slf4j-log4j12"
}

See this other StackOverflow answer for more details.

Su Cheung · Answer 6 · 2017-08-31T03:48:35.860

13

For gradle,

You can see this solution at: http://www.idanfridman.com/how-to-exclude-libraries-from-dependcies-using-gradle/

Just need add exclude in configurations:

configurations {
    providedRuntime
    compile.exclude(group: 'ch.qos.logback')
}

edited Aug 31 '17 at 03:48

answered Aug 14 '17 at 14:37

Su Cheung

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score 12 · Answer 7 · edited Jun 26 '17 at 14:04

12

I do like this to solve my problem

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-log4j</artifactId>
    <exclusions>
        <exclusion>
            <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
            <artifactId>slf4j-log4j12</artifactId>
        </exclusion>
    </exclusions>
</dependency>

edited Jun 26 '17 at 14:04

Andrii Abramov

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answered Sep 27 '16 at 09:33

JiaweiQin

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score 11 · Answer 8 · edited Dec 20 '18 at 13:37

11

It might help if you say what your preferred logger is exactly, and what you did to try and install it. Anyway, Spring Boot tries to work with whatever is in the classpath, so if you don't want logback, take it off the classpath. There are instructions for log4j in the docs, but the same thing would apply to other supported logging systems (anything slf4j, log4j or java util).

edited Dec 20 '18 at 13:37

Robert Hunt

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answered Jun 01 '14 at 20:52

Dave Syer

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I use slf4j and I can't see logback in my maven pom file. – F.O.O Jun 01 '14 at 20:56
Logback *is* an slf4j logger. Maybe you can share your pom? – Dave Syer Jun 01 '14 at 20:57
I can't see any other slf4j implementations explicitly, so it must be coming in transitively. You can use tools like m2e (Eclipse) or "mvn dependency:tree" to visualize the dependencies. The Eclipse tooling also has a GUI for excluding dependencies (that's what you need to do - exclude one of them). It might be suffient to exclude "spring-boot-starter-logging" if you already have a complete slf4j (including the jcl bridge). – Dave Syer Jun 02 '14 at 06:17

score 11 · Answer 9 · edited Aug 02 '19 at 19:12

Find spring-boot-starter-test in your pom.xml and modify it as follows:

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

It fixed error like:

_Caused by: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException:_ **LoggerFactory** is not a **Logback LoggerContext** but *Logback* is on the classpath.

Either remove **Logback** or the competing implementation

(_class org.apache.logging.slf4j.Log4jLoggerFactory_
loaded from file: 

**${M2_HOME}/repository/org/apache/logging/log4j/log4j-slf4j-impl/2.6.2/log4j-slf4j-impl-2.6.2.jar**).

If you are using WebLogic you will need to add **'org.slf4j'** to prefer-application-packages in WEB-INF/weblogic.xml: **org.apache.logging.slf4j.Log4jLoggerFactory**

score 8 · Answer 10 · answered Aug 30 '18 at 13:05

8

Following works for me

<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>

answered Aug 30 '18 at 13:05

Harsimranjit Singh Kler

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With this I was still seeing the logback JARs in the final artifact (was using Assembly plugin instead of Boot's Maven plugin - so not sure if it actually works with Boot packaging) – Janaka Bandara Jun 17 '20 at 12:13

score 8 · Answer 11 · answered Dec 05 '20 at 16:46

Same problem for me.

If you are using log4j2

In the Spring boot 2.4.0

I resolve below,

<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>
    <exclusions>
        <exclusion>
            <groupId>org.apache.logging.log4j</groupId>
            <artifactId>log4j-slf4j-impl</artifactId> <-- exclude this artifactId
        </exclusion>
    </exclusions>
</dependency>

After, Maven Build > Clean > Run

Work for me.

why do you exclude log4j slf4j instead of logback classic? – Tan Yu Hau Sean Nov 29 '22 at 09:31 — Tan Yu Hau Sean, Nov 29 '22 at 09:31

score 7 · Answer 12 · answered Jun 27 '17 at 11:25

I resolved my problem through this below:

compile('org.mybatis.spring.boot:mybatis-spring-boot-starter:1.3.0'){
    exclude module: 'log4j-slf4j-impl'
    exclude module: 'logback-classic'
}
compile('org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web'){
    exclude module: 'log4j-slf4j-impl'
    exclude module: 'logback-classic'
}

score 7 · Answer 13 · answered Apr 08 '20 at 19:55

In my case, it was only required to exclude the spring-boot-starter-logging artifact from the spring-boot-starter-security one.

This is in a newly generated spring boot 2.2.6.RELEASE project including the following dependencies:

spring-boot-starter-security
spring-boot-starter-validation
spring-boot-starter-web
spring-boot-starter-test

I found out by running mvn dependency:tree and looking for ch.qos.logback.

The spring boot related <dependencies> in my pom.xml looks like this:

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

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

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

    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-devtools</artifactId>
        <scope>runtime</scope>
        <optional>true</optional>
    </dependency>

    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-configuration-processor</artifactId>
        <optional>true</optional>
    </dependency>

    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test</artifactId>
        <scope>test</scope>
        <exclusions>
            <exclusion>
                <groupId>org.junit.vintage</groupId>
                <artifactId>junit-vintage-engine</artifactId>
            </exclusion>
        </exclusions>
    </dependency>

    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.security</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-security-test</artifactId>
        <scope>test</scope>
    </dependency>



</dependencies>

It worked after excluding spring-boot-starter-logging – Prateek Mehta Apr 13 '20 at 08:43 — Prateek Mehta, Apr 13 '20 at 08:43

Dennis Gloss · Answer 14 · 2018-10-10T08:39:43.817

This worked for me just fine

configurations {
    all*.exclude module : 'spring-boot-starter-logging'
}

But it wouldn't work out for maven users. All my dependencies was in libs.gradle and I didn't want them in other files. So this problem was solved by adding exclude module : 'spring-boot-starter-logging in spring-boot-starter-data-jpa, spring-boot-starter-test and in practically everything with boot word.

UPDATE

New project of mine needed an update, turns out spring-boot-starter-test 1.5 and older didn't have spring-boot-starter-logging. 2.0 has it

score 5 · Answer 15 · answered Jun 13 '16 at 06:32

Add this in your build.gradle

configurations.all {
    exclude group: 'org.springframework.boot', module: 'spring-boot-starter-tomcat'
    exclude group: 'org.springframework.boot', module: 'spring-boot-starter-logging'
    exclude group: 'org.springframework.boot', module: 'logback-classic'
}

Pierre C · Answer 16 · 2021-01-22T17:14:52.847

Using Gradle & Lombok, here is the simplest configuration for Log4j2 that worked for me using the latest Spring Boot (2.4.1 at this time) :

build.gradle (partial)

configurations {
    compileOnly { extendsFrom annotationProcessor }
    compile.exclude module: 'spring-boot-starter-logging'
}


dependencies {
    implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web'
    implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-security' 
    implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web-services'
    implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-log4j2'

    compileOnly 'org.projectlombok:lombok'

    // (*** other dependencies ***)

    annotationProcessor 'org.projectlombok:lombok'
    testImplementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-test'
    testImplementation 'org.springframework.security:spring-security-test'
}

I noticed you will get errors if you include spring-bbot-starter-log4j2 as a compileOnly dependency instead of as an implementation.

Just annotate your classes with @Log4j2 (or @Slf4j) and lombok will make available a log variable you can use for logging.

As usual, provide a log4j2.xml configuration file in your /src/main/resources folder.

score 2 · Answer 17 · answered Mar 15 '19 at 09:59

If this error occurred in SpringBoot when you are trying to use log4j2 then do these steps:

Remove the jar from while packeging by adding this "excludeGroupIds log4j-slf4j-impl /excludeGroupIds"
Find out the which library is depends on "logback-classic" by using command "mvn dependecy:tree"
Wherever you find it exclude it from the dependency.

This error occurred because logback override the log4j2 changes. SO if you want to use log4j2 then you have to remove logback library and dependencies.

Hope this will help someone.

score 1 · Answer 18 · answered Apr 23 '17 at 01:31

1

Just add logback.xml configuration in your classpath and add all your configuration with root appender added. Once the Spring boot completes the bean loading, it will start logging based on your configuration.

answered Apr 23 '17 at 01:31

CodersDream

53
4

score 1 · Answer 19 · answered Jul 22 '19 at 13:31

To add an exclusion for logback from Netbeans IDE

Access the >Projects explorer section for your project
Proceed to >Dependencies as displayed below
Trace 'spring-boot-starter-logging-X.X.X.jar'

Right click on the jar and select Exclude Dependency as shown below. This excludes the logback jar on the pom.xml like this;

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

score 1 · Answer 20 · answered Sep 06 '19 at 08:03

In my case below exclusion works!!

    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.xyz.util</groupId>
        <artifactId>xyz-web-util</artifactId>
        <exclusions>
            <exclusion>
                <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
                <artifactId>slf4j-log4j12</artifactId>
            </exclusion>
        </exclusions>
    </dependency>

score 1 · Answer 21 · answered Oct 03 '19 at 05:22

Adding exclusions was not enough for me. I had to provide a fake jar:

    <dependency>
        <groupId>ch.qos.logback</groupId>
        <artifactId>logback-classic</artifactId>
        <scope>system</scope>
        <systemPath>${project.basedir}/empty.jar</systemPath>
    </dependency>

score 1 · Answer 22 · answered Oct 30 '19 at 07:22

The reason is, spring boot comes with logback as its default log configuration whereas camel uses log4j. Thats the reason of conflict. You have two options, either remove logback from spring boot as mentioned in above answers or remove log4j from camel.

<dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.camel</groupId>
            <artifactId>camel-spring-boot-starter</artifactId>
            <version>${camel.version}</version>
            <exclusions>
                <exclusion>
                    <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
                    <artifactId>slf4j-log4j12</artifactId>
                </exclusion>
            </exclusions>
        </dependency>

score 1 · Answer 23 · answered Dec 17 '21 at 12:58

Disable spring boot starter logging

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

Disable LogBack OR Log4j From Spring Boot Starter

    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
        <exclusions>                                  
            <exclusion>                                     
            <groupId>org.apache.logging.log4j</groupId>         
            <artifactId>log4j-to-slf4j</artifactId>             
            </exclusion>
    
            <exclusion>                                     
                <groupId>ch.qos.logback</groupId>               
                <artifactId>logback-classic</artifactId>     
            </exclusion>
        </exclusions>
    </dependency>

Disable Logback in SpringBoot

23 Answers23

build.gradle (partial)

Linked