How to resolve org.springframework.boot.context.properties.bind.BindException: failed to bind properties under logging.level to java.util.Map

Jan 27, 2025

Cowrie

Dev @ Bswen

1. Introduction

In this post, I will demonstrate how to resolve the org.springframework.boot.context.properties.bind.BindException: failed to bind properties under logging.level to java.util.Map error in Spring Boot.

2. Environment

• Spring Boot 2
• Java 1.8+

3. The Exception

When defining the application.properties like this:

application.properties

logging.level.=ERROR
#logging.level.org.springframework.web=DEBUG  # this logger is commented

If we restart the Spring Boot application, we would get the following exception:

2019-07-03 20:38:56.542 ERROR 14003 --- [           main] o.s.boot.SpringApplication               : Application run failed

org.springframework.boot.context.properties.bind.BindException: Failed to bind properties under 'logging.level' to java.util.Map<java.lang.String, java.lang.String>
    at org.springframework.boot.context.properties.bind.Binder.handleBindError(Binder.java:250) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.properties.bind.Binder.bind(Binder.java:226) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.properties.bind.Binder.bind(Binder.java:210) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.properties.bind.Binder.bind(Binder.java:166) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.logging.LoggingApplicationListener.setLogLevels(LoggingApplicationListener.java:307) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.logging.LoggingApplicationListener.initializeFinalLoggingLevels(LoggingApplicationListener.java:290) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.logging.LoggingApplicationListener.initialize(LoggingApplicationListener.java:238) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.logging.LoggingApplicationListener.onApplicationEnvironmentPreparedEvent(LoggingApplicationListener.java:200) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.logging.LoggingApplicationListener.onApplicationEvent(LoggingApplicationListener.java:173) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.context.event.SimpleApplicationEventMulticaster.doInvokeListener(SimpleApplicationEventMulticaster.java:172) ~[spring-context-5.0.6.RELEASE.jar:5.0.6.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.context.event.SimpleApplicationEventMulticaster.invokeListener(SimpleApplicationEventMulticaster.java:165) ~[spring-context-5.0.6.RELEASE.jar:5.0.6.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.context.event.SimpleApplicationEventMulticaster.multicastEvent(SimpleApplicationEventMulticaster.java:139) ~[spring-context-5.0.6.RELEASE.jar:5.0.6.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.context.event.SimpleApplicationEventMulticaster.multicastEvent(SimpleApplicationEventMulticaster.java:127) ~[spring-context-5.0.6.RELEASE.jar:5.0.6.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.event.EventPublishingRunListener.environmentPrepared(EventPublishingRunListener.java:74) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplicationRunListeners.environmentPrepared(SpringApplicationRunListeners.java:54) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.prepareEnvironment(SpringApplication.java:358) [spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:317) [spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:1255) [spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:1243) [spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at com.bswen.sbmvc.Application.main(Application.java:10) [classes/:na]
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) ~[na:1.8.0_121]
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62) ~[na:1.8.0_121]
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43) ~[na:1.8.0_121]
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498) ~[na:1.8.0_121]
    at com.intellij.rt.execution.application.AppMain.main(AppMain.java:147) [idea_rt.jar:na]
Caused by: org.springframework.core.convert.ConverterNotFoundException: No converter found capable of converting from type [java.lang.String] to type [java.util.Map<java.lang.String, java.lang.String>]
    at org.springframework.core.convert.support.GenericConversionService.handleConverterNotFound(GenericConversionService.java:321) ~[spring-core-5.0.6.RELEASE.jar:5.0.6.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.core.convert.support.GenericConversionService.convert(GenericConversionService.java:194) ~[spring-core-5.0.6.RELEASE.jar:5.0.6.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.properties.bind.BindConverter$CompositeConversionService.convert(BindConverter.java:162) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.properties.bind.BindConverter.convert(BindConverter.java:96) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.properties.bind.BindConverter.convert(BindConverter.java:88) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.properties.bind.MapBinder.bindAggregate(MapBinder.java:67) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.properties.bind.AggregateBinder.bind(AggregateBinder.java:58) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.properties.bind.Binder.lambda$bindAggregate$2(Binder.java:306) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.properties.bind.Binder$Context.withIncreasedDepth(Binder.java:442) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.properties.bind.Binder$Context.access$100(Binder.java:382) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.properties.bind.Binder.bindAggregate(Binder.java:305) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.properties.bind.Binder.bindObject(Binder.java:263) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.properties.bind.Binder.bind(Binder.java:221) ~[spring-boot-2.0.2.RELEASE.jar:2.0.2.RELEASE]
    ... 23 common frames omitted

4. How to resolve this problem?

4.1 Add a logger

The problem is triggered by commenting the only non-root-logger, so we add it again:

application.properties

logging.level.=ERROR
logging.level.org.springframework.web=DEBUG  # This logger is back

Start the app, and everything works fine.

4.2 Change the root logger

If you don’t want the logger, you can change your root logger like this:

application.properties

logging.level.root=ERROR
#logging.level.org.springframework.web=DEBUG  # This logger is commented

Start the app, and everything still works fine.

5. Why did this happen?

According to the Spring Boot documentation, for Spring Boot 2, you should specify the logger name:

Spring Boot 2 Logging Configuration

Spring Boot 2 uses logging.level.<logger-name>=<level> where level is one of TRACE, DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR, FATAL, or OFF.

For Spring Boot 1.x, you can skip the logger name by using a wildcard:

Spring Boot 1.x Logging Configuration

Spring Boot 1.x uses logging.level.*=LEVEL where LEVEL is one of TRACE, DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR, FATAL, or OFF.

6. Summary

This post explained how to resolve the BindException error in Spring Boot 2 when configuring logging levels in application.properties. The key takeaway is to ensure that logging configurations are compatible with the version of Spring Boot you are using. Specifically, Spring Boot 2 requires explicit logger names, unlike Spring Boot 1.x, which allows wildcard configurations. Always double-check your logging configurations when upgrading Spring Boot versions to avoid such issues.

Final Words + More Resources

My intention with this article was to help others who might be considering solving such a problem. So I hope that’s been the case here. If you still have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask me by email: Email me

Here are also the most important links from this article along with some further resources that will help you in this scope:

• 👨‍💻 stackoverflow Q/A

Oh, and if you found these resources useful, don’t forget to support me by starring the repo on GitHub!

Tags:

• springboot

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