KB-1120 How to create custom log files in Appian

Purpose

This article outlines the process to create a custom log file in Appian. The custom file can have logs from specific Java classes which may or may not be included in the application server logs. This will help if troubleshooting a specific issue or logs containing sensitive data are required.

Instructions

To enable logging for the custom log:

1. Open the appian_log4j.properties file. For Appian 18.3 and later, this file can be found in <APPIAN_HOME>/deployment/web.war/WEB-INF/resources. For Appian 18.2 and earlier, this file can be found in <APPIAN_HOME>/ear/suite.ear/resources.
2. Add the following lines to the end of the file:
   

   ########### Custom Appenders 
   log4j.logger.<JAVA_CLASS_NAME>=DEBUG, CUSTOM_LOGGING
   log4j.additivity.<JAVA_CLASS_NAME>=false
   
   ###### Custom Logging file appender
   log4j.appender.CUSTOM_LOGGING=org.apache.log4j.RollingFileAppender
   log4j.appender.CUSTOM_LOGGING.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
   log4j.appender.CUSTOM_LOGGING.layout.ConversionPattern=%d [%t] %-5p %c - %m%n
   log4j.appender.CUSTOM_LOGGING.File=${AE_LOGS}/.log
   log4j.appender.CUSTOM_LOGGING.MaxFileSize=10MB
   log4j.appender.CUSTOM_LOGGING.MaxBackupIndex=1000
   log4j.appender.CUSTOM_LOGGING.encoding=UTF-8
   

   Note: In order to include the above logs in the default application server logs, change the value of log4j.additivity.<JAVA_CLASS_NAME> to true.
3. Save the changes and wait for 2-3 minutes for them to be picked up by the application server.

To disable logging for the custom log:

1. Return to the appian_log4j.properties file, and update the lines modified so that the value of log4j.logger.<JAVA_CLASS_NAME> is changed to to OFF, CUSTOM_LOGGING.
2. Save the file and check the custom log to verify that entries are no longer being recorded.
   Note: Do not completely remove the lines in order to disable the logging.

Affected Versions

This article applies to all versions of Appian.