1 Introduction and Roadmap

This section describes the contents and organization of this guide - Configuring Log Files and Filtering Log Messages.

Document Scope and Audience

This document describes how you use WebLogic Server logging services to monitor server, subsystem, and application events. It explains how you configure WebLogic Server to write messages to log files and listen for the log messages that WebLogic Server broadcasts. It also describes how to view log messages through the WebLogic Server Administration Console.

This document is a resource for system administrators who configure WebLogic logging services and monitor server and subsystem events, and for Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) application developers who want to integrate their application logs with WebLogic Server logs. This document is relevant to all phases of a software project, from development through test and production phases.

This document does not address application logging or localization and internationalization of log message catalogs. For links to information on these topics, see Related Documentation.

It is assumed that the reader is familiar with Java EE and Web technologies, object-oriented programming techniques, and the Java programming language.

Guide to This Document

The document is organized as follows:

Related Documentation

The corporate Web site provides all documentation for WebLogic Server. Specifically, "View and configure logs" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Help describes how to view and configure log files that a WebLogic Server instance generates, and Using Logging Services for Application Logging for Oracle WebLogic Server describes how you can use WebLogic Server message catalogs, non-catalog logging, and servlet logging to produce log messages from your application or a remote Java client, and describes WebLogic's support for internationalization and localization of log messages.

Logging Samples and Tutorials

In addition to this document, Oracle provides a variety of logging code samples that show logging configuration and API use.

Avitek Medical Records Application (MedRec) and Tutorials

MedRec is an end-to-end sample Java EE application shipped with WebLogic Server that simulates an independent, centralized medical record management system. The MedRec application provides a framework for patients, doctors, and administrators to manage patient data using a variety of different clients.

MedRec demonstrates WebLogic Server and Java EE features, and highlights recommended best practices. MedRec is included in the WebLogic Server distribution, and can be accessed from the Start menu on Windows machines. For Linux and other platforms, you can start MedRec from the WL_HOME\samples\domains\medrec directory, where WL_HOME is the top-level installation directory for WebLogic Server.

Log4j Integration in MedRec

The MedRec domain installed with WebLogic Server is configured to enable Log4j logging. Several action classes and MedRec utility classes use the weblogic.logging.log4j.Log4jLoggingHelper class to create a new logger, access a Log4j Appender, and register the Appender with the logger. Classes extending the base classes then use the logger to write informational messages to the WebLogic Server log file.

Logging Examples in the WebLogic Server Distribution

WebLogic Server optionally installs API code examples in WL_HOME\samples\server\examples\src\examples, where WL_HOME is the top-level directory of your WebLogic Server installation. You can start the examples server, and obtain information about the samples and how to run them from the WebLogic Server Start menu.

New and Changed Logging Features in This Release

For a comprehensive listing of the new WebLogic Server features introduced in this release, see What's New in Oracle WebLogic Server.