Shibboleth Developers

[Chad La Joie <>]

After fighting with Log4J, java.util.Logging, and Jakarta Commons
Logging on various JDKs and Servlet containers I finally switched to
used SLF4J + Logback.  Here's why:

- Logging classes are fully contained within the webapp classloader.
This in turn does two things.  First, it means that logging classes
aren't going to conflict with classes in your container or other
webapps.  Second, redeployment of the application should leak less
memory as all instantiated loggers should be garbage collected.

- Logback, the logging provider we're using behind the SLF4J logging
interface, allows us to log messages before the entire logging system is
initialized.  This should help people diagnose configurations problems
that occur during startup prior to logging coming online.

- Logback allows a clean mechanism for reloading its configuration
during runtime.  This will allow individuals, for example, to run their
IdPs at a level such as WARN until a problem is noticed and then change
to DEBUG to catch additional information.

So, for those testing, when you pull the latest update of the code you
should perform the following:
- Undo the logging changes made to your container per the instructions here:
https://spaces.internet2.edu/display/SHIB2/IdPApacheTomcatPrepare
https://spaces.internet2.edu/display/SHIB2/IdPJBossTomcatPrepare

- Find the new logging.xml configuration file in your IDP_HOME
directory.  Alter this file to turn on/off logging as you did under the
previous system.  You can find information on the Logback configuration
options in chapter 3-5 of their documentation.
http://logback.qos.ch/manual/index.html

--
SWITCH
Serving Swiss Universities
--------------------------
Chad La Joie, Software Engineer, Security
Werdstrasse 2, P.O. Box, 8021 Zurich, Switzerland
phone +41 44 268 15 75, fax +41 44 268 15 68
,
 http://www.switch.ch