Chapter 17. Apache CXF Logging

Apache CXF uses the Java logging utility, java.util.logging. Logging is configured in a logging configuration file that is written using the standard java.util.Properties format. To run logging on an application, you can specify logging programmatically or by defining a property at the command that points to the logging configuration file when you start the application.

Apache CXF comes with a default logging.properties file, which is located in your InstallDir/etc directory. This file configures both the output destination for the log messages and the message level that is published. The default configuration sets the loggers to print message flagged with the WARNING level to the console. You can either use the default file without changing any of the configuration settings or you can change the configuration settings to suit your specific application.

Apache CXF includes a logging feature that can be plugged into your client or your service to enable logging. Example 17.1, “Configuration for Enabling Logging” shows the configuration to enable the logging feature.

<jaxws:endpoint...>
  <jaxws:features>
    <bean class="org.apache.cxf.feature.LoggingFeature"/>
  </jaxws:features>
</jaxws:endpoint>

<jaxws:endpoint...>
  <jaxws:features>
    <bean class="org.apache.cxf.feature.LoggingFeature"/>
  </jaxws:features>
</jaxws:endpoint>

For more information, see Section 17.6, “Logging Message Content”.

To run a simple example of logging follow the instructions outlined in a Section 17.2, “Simple Example of Using Logging”.

For more information on how logging works in Apache CXF, read this entire chapter.

The java.util.logging utility is one of the most widely used Java logging frameworks. There is a lot of information available online that describes how to use and extend this framework. As a starting point, however, the following documents gives a good overview of java.util.logging: