Is is possible to log in JSON format in AEM 6.5

Hi @smrithigo,

Yes, JSON logging is possible in AEM 6.5. Since AEM uses Logback underneath the Sling logger API, you can enable JSON logging by adding a custom Logback configuration and encoder through your codebase. Below are the steps:

Add Logstash Logback Encoder library to your project

(This enables JSON output)

pom.xml

<dependency>
    <groupId>net.logstash.logback</groupId>
    <artifactId>logstash-logback-encoder</artifactId>
    <version>7.3</version>
</dependency>

Deploy this via your AEM project bundle package.

Create / override Logback config

Add file in:

/crx-quickstart/conf/logback.xml

Example JSON logger config:

<configuration>

    <appender name="JSON_LOG" class="ch.qos.logback.core.rolling.RollingFileAppender">
        <file>logs/aem-json.log</file>
        <rollingPolicy class="ch.qos.logback.core.rolling.TimeBasedRollingPolicy">
            <fileNamePattern>logs/aem-json-%d{yyyy-MM-dd}.log</fileNamePattern>
            <maxHistory>7</maxHistory>
        </rollingPolicy>

        <encoder class="net.logstash.logback.encoder.LoggingEventEncoder">
            <provider class="net.logstash.logback.composite.loggingevent.LoggingEventPatternJsonProvider">
                <pattern>
                    {"timestamp":"%d{yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZ}", "level":"%level", "logger":"%logger", "message":"%msg"}
                </pattern>
            </provider>
        </encoder>
    </appender>

    <logger name="com.mycompany" level="INFO" additivity="false">
        <appender-ref ref="JSON_LOG"/>
    </logger>

</configuration>

This generates structured JSON logs that Elastic can map to ECS fields.

Logging from code remains unchanged

Use the standard SLF4J API:

private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(MyService.class);
log.info("Customer onboarding started");

JSON formatting will be applied automatically

Deploy & restart AEM

JSON logs will show up under:

crx-quickstart/logs/aem-json.log

Hi @smrithigo,

Yes, this is definitely possible in AEM 6.5. Since AEM uses Logback internally, you can easily output logs in JSON format by adding a JSON encoder and defining a custom appender.

Here’s the simplest way to achieve it:

1. Add the dependency
Include the Logstash Logback Encoder in your project’s pom.xml:

<dependency>

  <groupId>net.logstash.logback</groupId>

  <artifactId>logstash-logback-encoder</artifactId>

  <version>7.3</version>

</dependency>

2. Create a JSON log appender
   In /crx-quickstart/conf/logback.xml, add:

<appender name="JSON" class="ch.qos.logback.core.FileAppender">

  <file>${crx.home}/logs/aem-json.log</file>

  <encoder class="net.logstash.logback.encoder.LogstashEncoder" />

</appender>

<logger name="com.mycompany" level="INFO" additivity="false">

  <appender-ref ref="JSON" />

</logger>

3. Deploy & restart AEM
   Logs for your package will now be written in JSON format under /crx-quickstart/logs/aem-json.log.
4. Connect with Elastic Agent
   Point your Elastic Agent/Fleet configuration to read this file as JSON. The structured output will map cleanly to ECS fields and can be correlated with Elastic APM.

This is the most lightweight and clean approach — no core AEM changes, only one encoder dependency and one config file update.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Manvi Sharma