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Better Stack Java logging
Start logging in 5 minutes
Collect logs from your Java applications using Logback .
1. Dependencies
Add Logback Better Stack to your pom.xml or build.gradle file:
Maven (pom.xml)
Gradle (build.gradle)
<dependency>
<groupId>com.logtail</groupId>
<artifactId>logback-logtail</artifactId>
<version>0.2.0</version>
</dependency>dependencies {
implementation 'com.logtail:logback-logtail:0.2.0'
}You will need a JAX-RS v2 implementation with a Jackson JSON mapper.
Don't have one in your project yet?
Add these dependencies to your pom.xml or build.gradle file:
Maven (pom.xml)
Gradle (build.gradle)
<dependency>
<groupId>ch.qos.logback</groupId>
<artifactId>logback-classic</artifactId>
<version>1.2.11</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>ch.qos.logback</groupId>
<artifactId>logback-core</artifactId>
<version>1.2.11</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.jaxrs</groupId>
<artifactId>jackson-jaxrs-json-provider</artifactId>
<version>2.13.3</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>jakarta.ws.rs</groupId>
<artifactId>jakarta.ws.rs-api</artifactId>
<version>3.0.0</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>jakarta.inject</groupId>
<artifactId>jakarta.inject-api</artifactId>
<version>2.0.1</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>jakarta.activation</groupId>
<artifactId>jakarta.activation-api</artifactId>
<version>2.1.0</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>jakarta.annotation</groupId>
<artifactId>jakarta.annotation-api</artifactId>
<version>2.1.1</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.glassfish.jersey.core</groupId>
<artifactId>jersey-client</artifactId>
<version>3.0.4</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.glassfish.jersey.core</groupId>
<artifactId>jersey-common</artifactId>
<version>3.0.4</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.glassfish.jersey.inject</groupId>
<artifactId>jersey-hk2</artifactId>
<version>3.0.4</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
<artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
<version>1.7.7</version>
</dependency>dependencies {
implementation 'com.logtail:logback-logtail:0.1.2'
implementation 'ch.qos.logback:logback-classic:1.2.11'
implementation 'ch.qos.logback:logback-core:1.2.11'
implementation 'com.fasterxml.jackson.jaxrs:jackson-jaxrs-json-provider:2.13.3'
implementation 'jakarta.ws.rs:jakarta.ws.rs-api:3.0.0'
implementation 'jakarta.inject:jakarta.inject-api:2.0.1'
implementation 'jakarta.activation:jakarta.activation-api:2.1.0'
implementation 'jakarta.annotation:jakarta.annotation-api:2.1.1'
implementation 'org.glassfish.jersey.core:jersey-client:3.0.4'
implementation 'org.glassfish.jersey.core:jersey-common:3.0.4'
implementation 'org.glassfish.jersey.inject:jersey-hk2:3.0.4'
implementation 'org.slf4j:slf4j-api:1.7.7'
}2. Setup
Set up log appenders in your logback.xml configuration:
Logback config
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<configuration>
<appender name="LogtailHttp" class="com.logtail.logback.LogtailAppender">
<appName>MyApp</appName>
<sourceToken>$SOURCE_TOKEN</sourceToken>
<mdcFields>requestId,requestTime</mdcFields>
<mdcTypes>string,int</mdcTypes>
</appender>
<appender name="Logtail" class="ch.qos.logback.classic.AsyncAppender">
<appender-ref ref="LogtailHttp" />
<queueSize>500</queueSize>
<discardingThreshold>0</discardingThreshold>
<includeCallerData>true</includeCallerData>
</appender>
<appender name="Console" class="ch.qos.logback.core.ConsoleAppender">
<encoder>
<pattern>%d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS} %-5level %msg%n</pattern>
</encoder>
</appender>
<root level="INFO">
<appender-ref ref="Logtail" />
<appender-ref ref="Console" />
</root>
</configuration>
3. Start logging 🎉
Import and use the logger:
Send logs to Logtail
import org.slf4j.Logger;
import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
public class App {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(App.class);
logger.error("Something bad happened.");
String json = "{ \"item\": \"Orange soda\", \"price\": 100.00 }";
logger.info("Log message with structured logging " + json);
}
}
You should see your logs in Better Stack → Live tail .
Find structured data under the message_json field.
Better Stack parses any JSON at the end of the log line.
Need help?
Please let us know at hello@betterstack.com.
We're happy to help! 🙏
Additional information
New to logging in Java? Check out our Intro guide to logging in Java.
Want to learn more about Logback AsyncAppender options like
queueSizeanddiscardingThreshold? Read the official Logback documentation .
Example project
Want to try a more detailed example with Maven or Gradle?
See our Java Logtail example project on GitHub .