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2.13.0 (2019-12-11)

This release contains bugfixes and minor enhancements. Some of the new features in this release are:

  • Log4j 2 now requires Java 8 or higher to build and run.

  • Experimental support for Log4j 1 configuration files. See Log4j 2 Compatiblity with Log4j 1.

  • The Logger API has been enhanced to support a builder pattern. This can dramatically improve the overhead of capturing location information. See Log Builder.

  • Better integration with Spring Boot by providing access to Spring variables in Log4j 2 configuration files and allowing Log4j 2 system properties to be defined in the Spring configuration. See Logging in the Cloud.

  • Support for accessing Kubernetes information via a Log4j 2 Lookup.

  • The Gelf Layout now allows the message to be formatted using a PatternLayout pattern. Logging in the Cloud provides an example of this, as well as the use of the Spring and Kubernetes Lookups.

Due to a break in compatibility in the SLF4J binding, Log4j now ships with two versions of the SLF4J to Log4j adapters. log4j-slf4j-impl should be used with SLF4J 1.7.x and earlier and log4j-slf4j18-impl should be used with SLF4J 1.8.x and later.

Note that the XML, JSON and YAML formats changed in the 2.11.0 release: they no longer have the timeMillis attribute and instead have an Instant element with epochSecond and nanoOfSecond attributes.

The Log4j 2.13.0 API, as well as many core components, maintains binary compatibility with previous releases.

Log4j 2.13.0 requires a minimum of Java 8 to build and run. Log4j 2.3 was the last release that supported Java 6 and Log4j 2.11.2 is the last release to support Java 7.

For complete information on Apache Log4j 2, including instructions on how to submit bug reports, patches, or suggestions for improvement, see the Apache Log4j 2 website.

Changes

Added

  • Add builder pattern to Logger interface. (for LOG4J2-2639 by Ralph Goers)

  • Allow Spring Boot application properties to be accessed in the Log4j 2 configuration. Add lower and upper case Lookups. (for LOG4J2-2710 by Ralph Goers)

  • Add the ability to lookup Kubernetes attributes in the Log4j configuration. Allow Log4j properties to be retrieved from the Spring environment if it is available. (for LOG4J2-2716 by Ralph Goers)

  • Add a Level Pattern Selector. (for LOG4J2-2731 by Ralph Goers)

  • Add ThreadContext.putIfNotNull method. (for LOG4J2-2732 by Ralph Goers, Matt Pavlovich)

  • Add experimental support for Log4j 1 configuration files. (for LOG4J2-63 by Ralph Goers)

Changed

  • Update Jackson to 2.9.10. (for LOG4J2-2701 by Ralph Goers)

  • Allow message portion of GELF layout to be formatted using a PatternLayout. Allow ThreadContext attributes to be explicitly included or excluded in the GelfLayout. (for LOG4J2-2709 by Ralph Goers)

Fixed

  • Prevent recursive calls to java.util.LogManager.getLogger(). (for LOG4J2-2058 by Ralph Goers)

  • Wrong java version check in ThreadNameCachingStrategy. (for LOG4J2-2635 by Ralph Goers, Filipp Gunbin)

  • Validation blocks definition of script in properties configuration. (for LOG4J2-2647 by Matt Sicker)

  • Add automatic module names where missing. (for LOG4J2-2672 by Ralph Goers, Stephen Colebourne)

  • OutputStreamAppender.Builder ignores setFilter(). (for LOG4J2-2673 by Gary Gregory, Yuichi Sugimura)

  • Use a less confusing name for the CompositeConfiguration source. (for LOG4J2-2674 by Ralph Goers, Anton Korenkov)

  • Set result of rename action to true if file was copied. (for LOG4J2-2680 by Ralph Goers, Guillermo Xavier Hurtado Garcia)

  • @PluginValue does not support attribute names besides "value". (for LOG4J2-2693 by Matt Sicker)

  • ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException could occur with MAC address longer than 6 bytes. (for LOG4J2-2707 by Ralph Goers, Christian Frank)

  • The rolling file appenders would fail to compress the file after rollover if the file name matched the file pattern. (for LOG4J2-2712 by Ralph Goers)

  • LOG4J2-2725 - Added try/finally around event.execute() for RingBufferLogEventHandler to clear memory correctly in case of exception/error (for LOG4J2-2725 by Carter Kozak, Dzmitry Anikechanka)

  • Prevent a memory leak when async loggers throw errors. (for LOG4J2-2725 by Carter Kozak, Dzmitry Anikechanka)

  • Add setKey method to Kafka Appender Builder. (for LOG4J2-2727 by Ralph Goers, Clément Mathieu)