SLF4J warning or error messages and their meanings

The method o.a.commons.logging.impl.SLF4FLogFactory#release was invoked.

Given the structure of the commons-logging API, in particular as implemented by SLF4J, the o.a.commons.logging.impl.SLF4FLogFactory#release() method should never be called. However, depending on the deployment of commons-logging.jar files in your servlet container, release() method may be unexpectedly invoked by a copy of org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory class shipping with commons-logging.jar.

This is a relatively common occurrence with recent versions of Tomcat, especially if you place jcl-over-slf4j.jar in WEB-INF/lib directory of your web-application instead of $TOMCAT_HOME/common/lib, where $TOMCAT_HOME stands for the directory where Tomcat is installed. In order to fully benefit from the stability offered by jcl-over-slf4j.jar, we recommend that you place jcl-over-slf4j.jar in $TOMCAT_HOME/common/lib without placing a copy in your web-applications.

Please also see bug #22.

Operation [suchAndSuch] is not supported in jcl-over-slf4j.

An UnsuportedOperationException is thrown whenever one of the protected methods introduced in JCL 1.1 are invoked. These methods are invoked by LogFactory implementations shipping with commons-logging.jar. However, the LogFactory implemented by jcl-over-slf4j.jar, namely SLF4FLogFactory, does not call any of these methods.

If you observe this problem, then it is highly probable that you have a copy of commons-logging.jar in your class path overriding the classes shipping with jcl-over-slf4j.jar. Note that this issue is very similar in nature to the warning issued when the "o.a.commons.logging.impl.SLF4FLogFactory.release()" method is invoked, discussed in the previous item.

Failed to load class org.slf4j.impl.StaticLoggerBinder

This error is reported when the org.slf4j.impl.StaticLoggerBinder class could not be loaded into memory. This happens when no appropriate SLF4J binding could be found on the class path. Placing one (and only one) of slf4j-nop.jar, slf4j-simple.jar, slf4j-log4j12.jar, slf4j-jdk14.jar or logback-classic.jar on the class path should solve the problem.

You can download SLF4J bindings from the project download page.

java.lang.IllegalAccessError: tried to access field org.slf4j.impl.StaticLoggerBinder.SINGLETON from class org.slf4j.LoggerFactory

When this errors occurs, the exception looks as follows:

java.lang.IllegalAccessError: tried to access field org.slf4j.impl.StaticLoggerBinder.SINGLETON \ from class org.slf4j.LoggerFactory at org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.<clinit>(LoggerFactory.java:60) ...

The error is caused by the static initilizer of the LoggerFactory class attempting to directly access the SINGLETON field of org.slf4j.impl.StaticLoggerBinder. While this was allowed in SLF4J 1.5.5 and earlier, in 1.5.6 and later the SINGLETON field has been marked as private access.

From a broader perspective, this issue is a manifestation of problems encountered when mixing different versions of SLF4J artifacts. Please also refer to the relevant FAQ entry.

Multiple bindings were found on the class path

SLF4J API is desinged to bind with one and only one underlying logging framework at a time. If more than one binding is present on the class path, SLF4J will emit a warning, listing the location of those bindings. When this happens, select the one and only one binding you wish to use, and remove the other bindings.

For example, if you have both slf4j-simple-1.5.8.jar and slf4j-nop-1.5.8.jar on the class path and you wish to use the nop (no-operation) binding, then remove slf4j-simple-1.5.8.jar from the class parh.

Logging factory implementation cannot be null

This error is reported when the LoggerFactory class could not find an appropriate binding. Placing one (and only one) of slf4j-nop.jar, slf4j-simple.jar, slf4j-log4j12.jar, slf4j-jdk14.jar or logback-classic.jar on the class path should prove to be an effective remedy.

Failed to load class "org.slf4j.impl.StaticMDCBinder"

This error indicates that appropriate SLF4J binding could not be found on the class path. Placing one (and only one) of slf4j-nop.jar, slf4j-simple.jar, slf4j-log4j12.jar, slf4j-jdk14.jar or logback-classic.jar on the class path should solve the problem.

MDCAdapter cannot be null

This error is reported when org.slf4j.MDC class has not been initialized correctly. Same cause and remedy as the previously listed item.

SLF4J versions 1.4.0 and later requires log4j 1.2.12 or later

The trace level was added to log4j in version 1.2.12 released on August 29, 2005. The trace level was added to the SLF4J API in version 1.4.0 on May 16th, 2007. Thus, starting with SLF4J 1.4.0, the log4j binding for SLF4J requires log4j version 1.2.12 or above.

However, as reported in bug 68, in some environments it may be difficult to upgrade the log4j version. To accommodate such circumstances, SLF4J's Log4jLoggerAdapter will map the TRACE level as DEBUG.

slf4j-api version does not match that of the binding

Mixing mixing different versions of slf4j artifacts can cause problems. For example, if you are using slf4j-api-1.5.5.jar, then you should also use slf4j-simple-1.5.5.jar, using slf4j-simple-1.4.2.jar will not work.

In general, you should take sure that the slf4j-api version matches that of the slf4j binding.

At initialization time, if SLF4J suspects that there may be a mismatch problem, it emits a warning about the said mismatch.

For the exact details of the version mismatch detection mechanism, please refer to the relevant entry in the FAQ.

Substitute loggers were created during the default configuration phase of the underlying logging system

Highly configurable logging systems such as logback and log4j may create components which invoke loggers during their own initialization. See issue lbcore-47 for a typical occurrence. However, since the binding process with SLF4J has not yet completed (because the underlying logging system was not yet completely loaded into memory), it is not possible to honor such logger creation requests, resulting in a NullPointerException.

To avoid this chicken-and-egg problem, SLF4J substitutes a no-operation logger factory during this initialization phase. However, the substitute loggers returned during this phase are not operational. They are nop implementations.

If any substitute logger had to be created, SLF4J will emit a warning listing such nop loggers. This warning is intended to let you know that you should not expect any logging output from these loggers.

The only way to obtain output from the listed loggers, is to isolate the components invoking these loggers and to exclude them from the default configuration. Both logback and log4j allow multi-step configuration. It follows that the problematic components should be configured in a second step separate from default configuration.

If you are not interested in the output from any of the substitute loggers, then no action is required on your part.