---
title: "Customize Jira logging with Log4j2 for better visibility"
canonical: "https://support.appfire.com/space/ACLI/1822230217/Customize%20Jira%20logging%20with%20Log4j2%20for%20better%20visibility"
format: markdown
---
> Macro (aura-html)

## Enable custom logging in Jira with Log4j2

Jira uses Log4j2 as its logging framework to capture and manage system logs. By customizing the `log4j2.xml` configuration, you can create targeted logs for specific actions, making monitoring and troubleshooting Jira processes easier. 

This guide walks you through adding a custom logger and appender to track CLI actions in a dedicated log file. Follow the steps below to configure your logging setup and generate detailed logs for better visibility into Jira operations.

## Configure Log4j2 for custom logging

Add the following logger and appender sections to your `log4j2.xml `file to enable custom logging. The file is located by default in: `<jira-installation-directory>/atlassian-jira/WEB-INF/classes`.

### Add an appender

In the `<Appenders>` section, add the following appender:

```
<JiraHomeAppender name="runcliactions"
          fileName="run-cli-actions.log"
          filePattern="run-cli-actions.log.%i">
    <PatternLayout alwaysWriteExceptions="false">
        <Pattern>%d %p: %m%n</Pattern>
    </PatternLayout>
    <Policies>
        <SizeBasedTriggerPolicy size="20480 KB"/>
    </Policies>
    <DefaultRolloverStrategy fileIndex="min" max="10"/>
</JiraHomeAppender>
```

### Add a logger

In the `<Loggers>` section, add the following logger:

```
<Logger name="org.swift.jira.acli.utilities.CliRunnerHelper.action" level="INFO" additivity="false">
    <AppenderRef ref="runcliactions"/>
</Logger>
```

### (Optional) Add an appender reference

To link the appender to the `com.atlassian.jira.util.log.LogMarker` logger, add the following reference:

```
<AppenderRef ref="runcliactions"/>
```

### Example output

After configuring custom logging, Jira generates log entries similar to the following:

```
2025-01-30 20:39:14,251 INFO:
Issue:     AT-5
User:      admin(JIRAUSER10000)
Context:   validator
Product:   jira
Action:    --action addComment --issue AT-5 --comment "Comment added via transition to In Progress" --user "admin" --token ***
Result:    SUCCESS
           Comment with id 10100 added to AT-5.

Message:   Comment with id 10100 added to AT-5.
```