log4j xml configuration error

Question

Every time I compile with maven I get the following exception.

log4j:ERROR setFile(null,true) call failed.
java.io.FileNotFoundException: /logs/jump_page.log (No such file or directory)
    at java.io.FileOutputStream.open(Native Method)
    at java.io.FileOutputStream.<init>(FileOutputStream.java:212)
    at java.io.FileOutputStream.<init>(FileOutputStream.java:136)
    at org.apache.log4j.FileAppender.setFile(FileAppender.java:294)
    at org.apache.log4j.FileAppender.activateOptions(FileAppender.java:165)
    at org.apache.log4j.DailyRollingFileAppender.activateOptions(DailyRollingFileAppender.java:223)
    at org.apache.log4j.config.PropertySetter.activate(PropertySetter.java:307)
    at org.apache.log4j.xml.DOMConfigurator.parseAppender(DOMConfigurator.java:295)
    at org.apache.log4j.xml.DOMConfigurator.findAppenderByName(DOMConfigurator.java:176)
    at org.apache.log4j.xml.DOMConfigurator.findAppenderByReference(DOMConfigurator.java:191)
    at org.apache.log4j.xml.DOMConfigurator.parseChildrenOfLoggerElement(DOMConfigurator.java:523)
    at org.apache.log4j.xml.DOMConfigurator.parseRoot(DOMConfigurator.java:492)
    at org.apache.log4j.xml.DOMConfigurator.parse(DOMConfigurator.java:1006)
    at org.apache.log4j.xml.DOMConfigurator.doConfigure(DOMConfigurator.java:872)
    at org.apache.log4j.xml.DOMConfigurator.doConfigure(DOMConfigurator.java:778)
    at org.apache.log4j.helpers.OptionConverter.selectAndConfigure(OptionConverter.java:526)
    at org.apache.log4j.LogManager.<clinit>(LogManager.java:127)
    at org.apache.log4j.Logger.getLogger(Logger.java:104)
    at org.apache.commons.logging.impl.Log4JLogger.getLogger(Log4JLogger.java:289)
    at org.apache.commons.logging.impl.Log4JLogger.<init>(Log4JLogger.java:109)
    at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.java:57)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.java:45)
    at java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance(Constructor.java:525)
    at org.apache.commons.logging.impl.LogFactoryImpl.createLogFromClass(LogFactoryImpl.java:1116)
    at org.apache.commons.logging.impl.LogFactoryImpl.discoverLogImplementation(LogFactoryImpl.java:914)
    at org.apache.commons.logging.impl.LogFactoryImpl.newInstance(LogFactoryImpl.java:604)
    at org.apache.commons.logging.impl.LogFactoryImpl.getInstance(LogFactoryImpl.java:336)
    at org.apache.commons.logging.impl.LogFactoryImpl.getInstance(LogFactoryImpl.java:310)
    at org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory.getLog(LogFactory.java:685)
    at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.<clinit>(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:91)
    at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.java:57)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.java:45)
    at java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance(Constructor.java:525)
    at org.junit.internal.builders.AnnotatedBuilder.buildRunner(AnnotatedBuilder.java:31)
    at org.junit.internal.builders.AnnotatedBuilder.runnerForClass(AnnotatedBuilder.java:24)
    at org.junit.runners.model.RunnerBuilder.safeRunnerForClass(RunnerBuilder.java:57)
    at org.junit.internal.builders.AllDefaultPossibilitiesBuilder.runnerForClass(AllDefaultPossibilitiesBuilder.java:29)
    at org.junit.runners.model.RunnerBuilder.safeRunnerForClass(RunnerBuilder.java:57)
    at org.junit.internal.requests.ClassRequest.getRunner(ClassRequest.java:24)
    at org.apache.maven.surefire.junit4.JUnit4TestSet.<init>(JUnit4TestSet.java:45)
    at org.apache.maven.surefire.junit4.JUnit4DirectoryTestSuite.createTestSet(JUnit4DirectoryTestSuite.java:56)
    at org.apache.maven.surefire.suite.AbstractDirectoryTestSuite.locateTestSets(AbstractDirectoryTestSuite.java:96)
    at org.apache.maven.surefire.Surefire.createSuiteFromDefinition(Surefire.java:209)
    at org.apache.maven.surefire.Surefire.run(Surefire.java:156)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:57)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:601)
    at org.apache.maven.surefire.booter.SurefireBooter.runSuitesInProcess(SurefireBooter.java:338)
    at org.apache.maven.surefire.booter.SurefireBooter.main(SurefireBooter.java:997)
log4j:ERROR Either File or DatePattern options are not set for appender [FILE].

I have this configuration in my log4j.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!-- TOMCAT SERVER FILE -->
<!DOCTYPE log4j:configuration SYSTEM "log4j.dtd">

<log4j:configuration xmlns:log4j="http://jakarta.apache.org/log4j/"
    debug="false">

    <!-- ============================== -->
    <!-- APPENDERS                      -->
    <!-- ============================== -->

    <appender name="FILE"
        class="org.apache.log4j.DailyRollingFileAppender">
        <param name="File" value="${catalina.base}/logs/jump_page.log" />
        <param name="Append" value="true" />
        <param name="Threshold" value="DEBUG" />
        <param name="DatePattern" value="'.'yyyy-MM-dd" />
        <layout class="org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout">
            <!-- The default pattern: Date Priority [Category] Message\n -->
            <param name="ConversionPattern"
                value="%d %-5p [%c{1}] [%t] [%x] %m%n" />
        </layout>
    </appender>

    <!-- ================================ -->
    <!-- CATEGORIES - APPLICATION LOGGING -->
    <!-- ================================ -->

    <!-- Limit the org.apache.commons category to INFO as its DEBUG is verbose -->
    <category name="net">
        <priority value="WARN" />
    </category>

    <category name="org.apache.commons">
        <priority value="WARN" />
    </category>

    <category name="org.springframework">
        <priority value="WARN" />
    </category>

    <!-- Setup the Travelocity categories -->
    <category name="com.travelocity">
        <priority value="INFO" />
    </category>





    <!-- ============================== -->
    <!-- ROOT CATEGORY                  -->
    <!-- ============================== -->
    <root>
        <priority value="INFO" />
        <appender-ref ref="FILE" />
    </root>

</log4j:configuration>

After searching a lot I always find the same answer about permissions, but it is no use in this situation.

It works when I use the absolute path.

Plase, help!

Thanks!

EDIT:

I'm using tomcat 6.0

-bash-3.00$ /opt/tomcat/instances/tomcat-8080/bin/startupDev.sh version
Using CATALINA_BASE:   /opt/tomcat/instances/tomcat-8080
Using CATALINA_HOME:   /opt/tomcat
Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: /opt/tomcat/instances/tomcat-8080/temp
Using JRE_HOME:       /usr/java

Answer 1

Please try out the following to diagnose this issue further and report it back in your question. Telling us on which platform you are would help also.

Enable debug output

In your catalina.properties file (located in the conf folder of your Tomcat installation, or /etc/tomcat? for Linux), please append this property to enable log4j debugging output.

log4j.debug=true

This should give you more hints on what's going wrong.

Test the file path with static and complete path configuration

Also, while the catalina.base system property should be set in a Tomcat's environment, is this possible that log4j actually tries to access the /logs folder from the filesystem root? As in, the catalina.base system property would not be set or considered? What happens if you put a complete and static path in your configuration?

Answer 2

${catalina.base} is resolving to an empty string. Try using another environment variable or absolute path here:

<param name="File" value="${catalina.base}/logs/jump_page.log" />