Chapter 18. Logging

You can configure the logging level for each logger in the <logger name>.level line after the logger name, as shown in the following example for the apache.activemq.artemis.core.server logger:

logger.artemis_server.name=org.apache.activemq.artemis.core.server
logger.artemis_server.level=INFO

The default logging level for audit loggers is OFF, which means that logging is disabled. The default logging level for the other loggers available in AMQ Broker is INFO. For information on the logging levels available in Log4j 2, see the Log4j 2 documentation.

Three audit loggers are available for you to enable; a base audit logger, a message audit logger, and a resource audit logger.

You can enable each audit logger independently of the others. By default, the logging level is set to OFF, which means logging is disabled, for each audit logger. To enable one of the audit loggers, change the logging level from OFF to INFO. For example:

logger.audit_base = INFO, audit_log_file

If you want to enable logging on a client, you need to include a logging implementation in your application that supports the SLF4J facade. If you are using Maven, add the following dependencies for Log4j 2:

<dependency>
   <groupId>org.apache.activemq</groupId>
   <artifactId>artemis-jms-client</artifactId>
   <version>2.28.0</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
   <groupId>org.apache.logging.log4j</groupId>
   <artifactId>log4j-slf4j-impl</artifactId>
   <version>2.19.0</version>
</dependency>

You can supply the Log4j 2 configuration in a log4j2.properties file in the classpath. Or, you can specify a custom configuration file by using the log4j2.configurationFile system property. For example:

-Dlog4j2.configurationFile=file:///path/to/custom-log4j2-config.properties

The following is an example log4j2.properties file for a client:

# Log4J 2 configuration

# Monitor config file every X seconds for updates
monitorInterval = 5

rootLogger = INFO, console, log_file

logger.activemq.name=org.apache.activemq
logger.activemq.level=INFO

# Console appender
appender.console.type=Console
appender.console.name=console
appender.console.layout.type=PatternLayout
appender.console.layout.pattern=%d %-5level [%logger] %msg%n

# Log file appender
appender.log_file.type = RollingFile
appender.log_file.name = log_file
appender.log_file.fileName = log/application.log
appender.log_file.filePattern = log/application.log.%d{yyyy-MM-dd}
appender.log_file.layout.type = PatternLayout
appender.log_file.layout.pattern = %d %-5level [%logger] %msg%n
appender.log_file.policies.type = Policies
appender.log_file.policies.cron.type = CronTriggeringPolicy
appender.log_file.policies.cron.schedule = 0 0 0 * * ?
appender.log_file.policies.cron.evaluateOnStartup = true

AMQ supports custom plugins. You can use plugins to log information about many different types of events that would otherwise only be available through debug logs. Multiple plugins can be registered, tied, and executed together. The plugins are executed based on the order of the registration, that is, the first plugin registered is always executed first.

You can create custom plugins and implement them using the ActiveMQServerPlugin interface. This interface ensures that the plugin is on the classpath, and is registered with the broker. As all the interface methods are implemented by default, you have to add only the required behavior that needs to be implemented.

<broker-plugins>
   <broker-plugin class-name="some.plugin.UserPlugin">
      <property key="property1" value="val_1" />
      <property key="property2" value="val_2" />
   </broker-plugin>
 </broker-plugins>

Configuration config = new ConfigurationImpl();

config.registerBrokerPlugin(new UserPlugin());

<configuration ...>
...
<!-- Uncomment the following if you want to use the Standard LoggingActiveMQServerPlugin plugin to log in events -->
           <broker-plugins>
         <broker-plugin class-name="org.apache.activemq.artemis.core.server.plugin.impl.LoggingActiveMQServerPlugin">
            <property key="LOG_ALL_EVENTS" value="true"/>
            <property key="LOG_CONNECTION_EVENTS" value="true"/>
            <property key="LOG_SESSION_EVENTS" value="true"/>
            <property key="LOG_CONSUMER_EVENTS" value="true"/>
            <property key="LOG_DELIVERING_EVENTS" value="true"/>
            <property key="LOG_SENDING_EVENTS" value="true"/>
            <property key="LOG_INTERNAL_EVENTS" value="true"/>
         </broker-plugin>
      </broker-plugins>
...
</configuration>