How to log Apache CXF Soap Request and Soap Response using Log4j?

I am using the Apache CXF Framework. Inside my client program, I need to log CXF SOAP Requests and SOAP Responses. When I used

JaxWsProxyFactoryBean factory = new JaxWsProxyFactoryBean();
factory.setAddress(host);
factory.setServiceClass(MyService.class);
factory.getInInterceptors().add(new LoggingInInterceptor());
factory.getOutInterceptors().add(new LoggingOutInterceptor());

I got these SOAP Request and SOAP Responses in the console:

Nov 9, 2011 6:48:01 PM org.apache.cxf.interceptor.LoggingOutInterceptor$LoggingCallback onClose
INFO: Outbound Message
---------------------------
ID: 2
Encoding: UTF-8
Content-Type: text/xml
Headers: {}
Payload: <soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"><soap:Body><ns4:MYResponse
--------------------------------------

But my actual requirement is, instead of printing them to the server console, I need to have them inside the log file.

When I used log4j directly as shown

log4j(factory.getInInterceptors().add(new LoggingInInterceptor()));
log4j(factory.getOutInterceptors().add(new LoggingOutInterceptor()));

It is only printing true and true inside the log file.

Could anybody please let me know how to configure this?


You need to create a file named org.apache.cxf.Logger (that is: org.apache.cxf file with Logger extension) under /META-INF/cxf/ with the following contents:

org.apache.cxf.common.logging.Log4jLogger

Reference: Using Log4j Instead of java.util.logging.

Also if you replace standard:

<cxf:bus>
  <cxf:features>
    <cxf:logging/>
  </cxf:features>
</cxf:bus>

with much more verbose:

<bean id="abstractLoggingInterceptor" abstract="true">
    <property name="prettyLogging" value="true"/>
</bean>
<bean id="loggingInInterceptor" class="org.apache.cxf.interceptor.LoggingInInterceptor" parent="abstractLoggingInterceptor"/>
<bean id="loggingOutInterceptor" class="org.apache.cxf.interceptor.LoggingOutInterceptor" parent="abstractLoggingInterceptor"/>

<cxf:bus>
    <cxf:inInterceptors>
        <ref bean="loggingInInterceptor"/>
    </cxf:inInterceptors>
    <cxf:outInterceptors>
        <ref bean="loggingOutInterceptor"/>
    </cxf:outInterceptors>
    <cxf:outFaultInterceptors>
        <ref bean="loggingOutInterceptor"/>
    </cxf:outFaultInterceptors>
    <cxf:inFaultInterceptors>
        <ref bean="loggingInInterceptor"/>
    </cxf:inFaultInterceptors>
</cxf:bus>

Apache CXF will pretty print XML messages formatting them with proper indentation and line breaks. Very useful. More about it here.


Another easy way is to set the logger like this- ensure that you do it before you load the cxf web service related classes. You can use it in some static blocks.

YourClientConstructor() {

  LogUtils.setLoggerClass(org.apache.cxf.common.logging.Log4jLogger.class);

  URL wsdlURL = YOurURL;//

  //create the service
  YourService = new YourService(wsdlURL, SERVICE_NAME);
  port = yourService.getServicePort(); 

  Client client = ClientProxy.getClient(port);
  client.getInInterceptors().add(new LoggingInInterceptor());
  client.getOutInterceptors().add(new LoggingOutInterceptor());
}

Then the inbound and outbound messages will be printed to Log4j file instead of the console. Make sure your log4j is configured properly


Simplest way to achieve pretty logging in Preethi Jain szenario:

LoggingInInterceptor loggingInInterceptor = new LoggingInInterceptor();
loggingInInterceptor.setPrettyLogging(true);
LoggingOutInterceptor loggingOutInterceptor = new LoggingOutInterceptor();
loggingOutInterceptor.setPrettyLogging(true);
factory.getInInterceptors().add(loggingInInterceptor);
factory.getOutInterceptors().add(loggingOutInterceptor);

In your spring context configuring below would log the request and response soap messsage.

<bean id="loggingFeature" class="org.apache.cxf.feature.LoggingFeature">
    <property name="prettyLogging" value="true" />
</bean>

<cxf:bus>
    <cxf:features>
        <ref bean="loggingFeature" />
    </cxf:features>
</cxf:bus>

This worked for me.

Setup log4j as normal. Then use this code:

    // LOGGING 
    LoggingOutInterceptor loi = new LoggingOutInterceptor(); 
    loi.setPrettyLogging(true); 
    LoggingInInterceptor lii = new LoggingInInterceptor(); 
    lii.setPrettyLogging(true); 

    org.apache.cxf.endpoint.Client client = org.apache.cxf.frontend.ClientProxy.getClient(isalesService); 
    org.apache.cxf.endpoint.Endpoint cxfEndpoint = client.getEndpoint(); 

    cxfEndpoint.getOutInterceptors().add(loi); 
    cxfEndpoint.getInInterceptors().add(lii);