Upgrade log4j1.2.x to log4j2.17 in Grails 2.5.4

Question

I'm upgrading log4j dependency in my grails 2.5.4 application from 1.2.17 to the latest version 2.17

I've excluded log4j from the BuildConfig.groovy and added the following dependencies pertaining to v2.17:

• log4j-api
• log4j-core
• log4j-1.2-api
• log4j-slf4j-impl

I'm using the log4-1.x bridge to reduce overall codebase change. When the application boots up, I get the following exception, even though the application boots up completely.

Error |
java.lang.RuntimeException: Reloading agent exited via exception, please raise a jira
Error |
    at org.springsource.loaded.agent.ClassPreProcessorAgentAdapter.transform(ClassPreProcessorAgentAdapter.java:110)
Error |
    at sun.instrument.TransformerManager.transform(TransformerManager.java:188)
Error |
    at sun.instrument.InstrumentationImpl.transform(InstrumentationImpl.java:428)
Error |
    at sun.misc.Unsafe.defineAnonymousClass(Native Method)
Error |
    at java.lang.invoke.InnerClassLambdaMetafactory.spinInnerClass(InnerClassLambdaMetafactory.java:326)
Error |
    at java.lang.invoke.InnerClassLambdaMetafactory.buildCallSite(InnerClassLambdaMetafactory.java:194)
Error |
    at java.lang.invoke.LambdaMetafactory.metafactory(LambdaMetafactory.java:304)
Error |
    at java.lang.invoke.CallSite.makeSite(CallSite.java:302)
Error |
    at java.lang.invoke.MethodHandleNatives.linkCallSiteImpl(MethodHandleNatives.java:307)
Error |
    at java.lang.invoke.MethodHandleNatives.linkCallSite(MethodHandleNatives.java:297)
Error |
    at org.apache.logging.log4j.util.PropertiesUtil$Environment.<init>(PropertiesUtil.java:430)
Error |
    at org.apache.logging.log4j.util.PropertiesUtil$Environment.<init>(PropertiesUtil.java:420)
Error |
    at org.apache.logging.log4j.util.PropertiesUtil.<init>(PropertiesUtil.java:74)
Error |
    at org.apache.logging.log4j.util.PropertiesUtil.<clinit>(PropertiesUtil.java:54)
Error |
    at org.apache.logging.log4j.util.Constants.<clinit>(Constants.java:30)
Error |
    at org.apache.logging.log4j.spi.AbstractLogger.createClassForProperty(AbstractLogger.java:207)
Error |
    at org.apache.logging.log4j.spi.AbstractLogger.<clinit>(AbstractLogger.java:95)
Error |
    at org.apache.logging.slf4j.Log4jLoggerFactory.<clinit>(Log4jLoggerFactory.java:35)
Error |
    at org.slf4j.impl.StaticLoggerBinder.<init>(StaticLoggerBinder.java:53)
Error |
    at org.slf4j.impl.StaticLoggerBinder.<clinit>(StaticLoggerBinder.java:41)
Error |
    at org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.bind(LoggerFactory.java:128)
Error |
    at org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.performInitialization(LoggerFactory.java:107)
Error |
    at org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.getILoggerFactory(LoggerFactory.java:295)
Error |
    at org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.getLogger(LoggerFactory.java:269)
Error |
    at org.apache.commons.logging.impl.SLF4JLogFactory.getInstance(SLF4JLogFactory.java:156)
Error |
    at org.apache.commons.logging.impl.SLF4JLogFactory.getInstance(SLF4JLogFactory.java:132)
Error |
    at org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory.getLog(LogFactory.java:274)
Error |
    at org.codehaus.groovy.grails.io.support.PathMatchingResourcePatternResolver.<clinit>(PathMatchingResourcePatternResolver.java:151)
Error |
    at org.codehaus.groovy.grails.cli.GrailsScriptRunner.getAvailableScripts(GrailsScriptRunner.java:824)
Error |
    at org.codehaus.groovy.grails.cli.GrailsScriptRunner.executeScriptWithCaching(GrailsScriptRunner.java:427)
Error |
    at org.codehaus.groovy.grails.cli.GrailsScriptRunner.callPluginOrGrailsScript(GrailsScriptRunner.java:414)
Error |
    at org.codehaus.groovy.grails.cli.GrailsScriptRunner.executeCommand(GrailsScriptRunner.java:378)
Error |
    at org.codehaus.groovy.grails.cli.GrailsScriptRunner.main(GrailsScriptRunner.java:226)
Error |
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
Error |
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
Error |
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
Error |
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498)
Error |
    at org.springsource.loaded.ri.ReflectiveInterceptor.jlrMethodInvoke(ReflectiveInterceptor.java:1426)
Error |
    at org.codehaus.groovy.grails.cli.support.GrailsStarter.rootLoader(GrailsStarter.java:236)
Error |
    at org.codehaus.groovy.grails.cli.support.GrailsStarter.main(GrailsStarter.java:264)
Error |
Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException
Error |
    at org.springsource.loaded.SystemPropertyConfiguredIsReloadableTypePlugin.shouldBeMadeReloadable(SystemPropertyConfiguredIsReloadableTypePlugin.java:121)
Error |
    at org.springsource.loaded.TypeRegistry.isReloadableTypeName(TypeRegistry.java:858)
Error |
    at org.springsource.loaded.agent.SpringLoadedPreProcessor.preProcess(SpringLoadedPreProcessor.java:192)
Error |
    at org.springsource.loaded.agent.ClassPreProcessorAgentAdapter.transform(ClassPreProcessorAgentAdapter.java:107)
Error |
    ... 39 more

I further observed that the application is using the default logging configuration which includes:

org.hibernate.engine.internal.StatisticalLoggingSessionEventListener end
INFO: Session Metrics

I've configured both log4j.properties and log4j2.properties file but still it's not reading any of them.

Could someone please help me to understand where I'm going wrong.