log4j works with maven tomcat7:run but not with tomcat7:deploy

Question

When I use mvn tomcat7:run log4j works perfectly but when I use mvn tomcat7:deploy to run in on the tomcat on my local machine I get filenotfoundexception for the log4j.properties files. Any ideas how can I fix this?

 <build>

    <plugins>

    <plugin>
        <groupId>org.apache.tomcat.maven</groupId>
        <artifactId>tomcat7-maven-plugin</artifactId>
        <!--  --> <version>2.1</version> 

        <configuration>
            <url>http://localhost:8080/manager/text</url>
            <server>localhost</server>


        </configuration>
    </plugin>
</plugins>

UPDATE

In log4j.properties I am using file appender to log to a file called "loging.log". This file is creatd in the tomcat/bin directory but it is empty.

Answer 1

Found answer from here

Had to change from

PropertyConfigurator.configure("log4j.properties");

to this

ClassLoader classLoader = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader(); 
PropertyConfigurator.configure(classLoader.getResource("log4j.properties"));

Another solution is to hard code the path of the log4j.properties file but I dont recommend it:

PropertyConfigurator.configure("C:/User/...../log4j.properties");

Answer 2

your log4j.properties file need to be in src/test/resources or src/main/resources