Message Logging Feature

Since CXF 3.1 the message logging code was moved into a separate module and gathered some new features.

Auto logging for existing CXF endpoints
Uses slf4j MDC to log meta data separately
Adds meta data for Rest calls
Adds MD5 message id and exchange id for correlation
Simple interface for writing your own appenders

Manual Usage

CXF LoggingFeature

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

The LoggingFeature can also be used with JAXRS Endpoints and can also be specified using the @Features annoation.

Auto logging for existing CXF endpoints in Apache Karaf

To use the message logging in karaf it needs to be installed as a feature. It can then be activated for all endpoints using a config.

Logging feature in karaf

feature:repo-add cxf 3.1.0
feature:install cxf-features-logging
config:property-set -p org.apache.cxf.features.logging enabled true

Any CXF endpoints installed after the logging feature will automatically be enhanced with the message logging feature.

By default then all SOAP and Rest calls will be logged using slf4j. So the logging data will be processed by pax logging and by default end up in your karaf log.

A log entry looks like this:

Sample Log entry

2015-06-08 16:35:54,068 | INFO  | qtp1189348109-73 | REQ_IN                           | 90 - org.apache.cxf.cxf-rt-features-logging - 3.1.0 | <soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"><soap:Body><ns2:addPerson xmlns:ns2="http://model.personservice.cxf.karaf.tutorial.lr.net/" xmlns:ns3="http://person.jms2rest.camel.karaf.tutorial.lr.net"><arg0><id>3</id><name>Test2</name><url></url></arg0></ns2:addPerson></soap:Body></soap:Envelope>

This does not look very informative. You only see that it is an incoming request (REQ_IN) and the SOAP message in the log message. The logging feature provides a lot more information though. To leverage these the pax logging config can be changed to show the relevant MDC values.

Slf4j MDC values for meta data

This is the raw logging information you get for a SOAP call:

Field	Value
@timestamp	2015-06-08T14:43:27,097Z
MDC.address	http://localhost:8181/cxf/personService
MDC.bundle.id	90
MDC.bundle.name	org.apache.cxf.cxf-rt-features-logging
MDC.bundle.version	3.1.0
MDC.content-type	text/xml; charset=UTF-8
MDC.encoding	UTF-8
MDC.exchangeId	56b037e3-d254-4fe5-8723-f442835fa128
MDC.headers	{content-type=text/xml; charset=UTF-8, connection=keep-alive, Host=localhost:8181, Content-Length=251, SOAPAction="", User-Agent=Apache CXF 3.1.0, Accept=/, Pragma=no-cache, Cache-Control=no-cache}
MDC.httpMethod	POST
MDC.messageId	a46eebd2-60af-4975-ba42-8b8205ac884c
MDC.portName	PersonServiceImplPort
MDC.portTypeName	PersonService
MDC.serviceName	PersonServiceImplService
MDC.type	REQ_IN
level	INFO
loc.class	org.apache.cxf.ext.logging.slf4j.Slf4jEventSender
loc.file	Slf4jEventSender.java
loc.line	55
loc.method	send
loggerClass	org.ops4j.pax.logging.slf4j.Slf4jLogger
loggerName	org.apache.cxf.services.PersonService.REQ_IN
message	<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"><soap:Body><ns2:getAll xmlns:ns2="http://model.personservice.cxf.karaf.tutorial.lr.net/"; xmlns:ns3="http://person.jms2rest.camel.karaf.tutorial.lr.net"/></soap:Body></soap:Envelope>;
threadName	qtp80604361-78
timeStamp	1433774607097

Some things to note:

The logger name is <service namespace>.<ServiceName>.<type> karaf by default only cuts it to just the type.
A lot of the details are in the MDC values

You need to change your pax logging config to make these visible.

You can use the logger name to fine tune which services you want to log this way. For example set the debug level to WARN for noisy services to avoid that they are logged or log some services to another file.

Message id and exhange id

The messageId allows to uniquely identify messages even if you collect them from several servers. It is also transported over the wire so you can correlate a request sent on one machine with the request received on another machine.

The exchangeId will be the same for an incoming request and the response sent out or on the other side for an outgoing request and the response for it. This allows to correlate request and responses and so follow the conversations.

Simple interface to write custom appenders

Write a custom LogSender and set it on the LoggingFeature to do custom logging. All meta data can be access from the class LogEvent.

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