AEM_SERVICE variable erros pollute my log in local SDK | Community
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MeasurableBusinessResults
MeasurableBusinessResults
Level 3
March 27, 2026
Solved

AEM_SERVICE variable erros pollute my log in local SDK

  • March 27, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 45 views

I am running my AEMaaCS local SDK and I keep getting ERROR like

com.adobe.aem.wcm.dataplane.rewriter.MetaTagExternalPageIdTransformer authorSourceLocator is null. AEM_SERVICE env var is missing or malformed

I am starting the AEM instance with 
java -jar aem-author-dev-p4502.jar -r author,dev,local

I tried setting 
AEM_SERVICE = “author”
environment variable (in addition to other vars I am setting), but it does not help


It may be harmless, but its polluting my logs and is annoying when trying to find real errors.
Whats the proper value to set, to silence this?

 

Best answer by AmitVishwakarma

Hi ​@MeasurableBusinessResults 

Those log lines come from the Sites Dataplane rewriter; on the local SDK the AEM_SERVICE variable is simply not wired the way it is on AEM as a Cloud Service.

  • There is no "correct" value you can set for AEM_SERVICE on the SDK that will make this go away.
  • The messages are harmless noise in local development.

If you just want to stop polluting error.log, the practical workaround is to redirect that logger to its own file:

  • Go to http://localhost:4502/system/console/configMgr.
  • Create a new "Apache Sling Logging Logger" (or edit existing if you already have one).
  • Set:
    • Log Level: ERROR
    • Log File: e.g. logs/dataplane-rewriter.log
    • Logger / Category: com.adobe.aem.wcm.dataplane.rewriter.MetaTagExternalPageIdTransformer
    • Save.
  • All those AEM_SERVICE env var is missing or malformed messages will go into dataplane-rewriter.log instead of cluttering error.log, and you can otherwise ignore them on the local SDK.

2 replies

giuseppebaglio
giuseppebaglio
Level 10
March 27, 2026

hi ​@MeasurableBusinessResults,

From the terminal line, ensure that spaces before or after the '=' character in the following format are removed:

AEM_SERVICE="author"


If this issue is still a concern, you can create a dedicated logger to monitor messages from the class com.adobe.aem.wcm.dataplane.rewriter.MetaTagExternalPageIdTransformer which you can even set to level OFF.

 

 

AmitVishwakarma
Community Advisor
AmitVishwakarmaCommunity AdvisorAccepted solution
Community Advisor
March 27, 2026

Hi ​@MeasurableBusinessResults 

Those log lines come from the Sites Dataplane rewriter; on the local SDK the AEM_SERVICE variable is simply not wired the way it is on AEM as a Cloud Service.

  • There is no "correct" value you can set for AEM_SERVICE on the SDK that will make this go away.
  • The messages are harmless noise in local development.

If you just want to stop polluting error.log, the practical workaround is to redirect that logger to its own file:

  • Go to http://localhost:4502/system/console/configMgr.
  • Create a new "Apache Sling Logging Logger" (or edit existing if you already have one).
  • Set:
    • Log Level: ERROR
    • Log File: e.g. logs/dataplane-rewriter.log
    • Logger / Category: com.adobe.aem.wcm.dataplane.rewriter.MetaTagExternalPageIdTransformer
    • Save.
  • All those AEM_SERVICE env var is missing or malformed messages will go into dataplane-rewriter.log instead of cluttering error.log, and you can otherwise ignore them on the local SDK.
Amit Vishwakarma - Adobe Commerce Champion 2025 | 16x Adobe certified | 4x Adobe SME
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