Play 2.8.18 won't start due to old SLF4J bindings

Play Version

Play 2.8.18

API

Scala 2.13.10

Operating System

Linux xxx-precision 6.0.0-1-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.0.2-1 (2022-10-16) x86_64 GNU/Linux

JDK

openjdk version "11.0.17" 2022-10-18
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 11.0.17+8-post-Debian-2)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 11.0.17+8-post-Debian-2, mixed mode, sharing)

Library Dependencies

Expected Behavior

sbt run should start Play server

Actual Behavior

sbt crashes with following messages :

SLF4J: No SLF4J providers were found.
SLF4J: Defaulting to no-operation (NOP) logger implementation
SLF4J: See https://www.slf4j.org/codes.html#noProviders for further details.
SLF4J: Class path contains SLF4J bindings targeting slf4j-api versions 1.7.x or earlier.
SLF4J: Ignoring binding found at [jar:file:/home/xxx/.cache/coursier/v1/https/repo1.maven.org/maven2/ch/qos/logback/logback-classic/1.2.11/logback-classic-1.2.11.jar!/org/slf4j/impl/StaticLoggerBinder.class]
SLF4J: See https://www.slf4j.org/codes.html#ignoredBindings for an explanation.
[error] java.lang.ClassCastException: class org.slf4j.helpers.NOPLoggerFactory cannot be cast to class ch.qos.logback.classic.LoggerContext (org.slf4j.helpers.NOPLoggerFactory and ch.qos.logback.classic.LoggerContext are in unnamed module of loader play.runsupport.NamedURLClassLoader @59c6e2f2)
[error] 	at play.api.libs.logback.LogbackLoggerConfigurator.configure(LogbackLoggerConfigurator.scala:91)
[error] 	at play.api.libs.logback.LogbackLoggerConfigurator.init(LogbackLoggerConfigurator.scala:31)
[error] 	at play.core.server.DevServerStart$.$anonfun$mainDev$1(DevServerStart.scala:106)
[error] 	at play.utils.Threads$.withContextClassLoader(Threads.scala:22)
[error] 	at play.core.server.DevServerStart$.mainDev(DevServerStart.scala:76)
[error] 	at play.core.server.DevServerStart$.mainDevHttpMode(DevServerStart.scala:50)
[error] 	at play.core.server.DevServerStart.mainDevHttpMode(DevServerStart.scala)
[error] 	at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
[error] 	at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
[error] 	at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
[error] 	at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:566)
[error] 	at play.runsupport.Reloader$.startDevMode(Reloader.scala:306)
[error] 	at play.sbt.run.PlayRun$.devModeServer$lzycompute$1(PlayRun.scala:100)
[error] 	at play.sbt.run.PlayRun$.devModeServer$1(PlayRun.scala:83)
[error] 	at play.sbt.run.PlayRun$.$anonfun$playRunTask$3(PlayRun.scala:107)
[error] 	at play.sbt.run.PlayRun$.$anonfun$playRunTask$3$adapted(PlayRun.scala:67)
[error] 	at scala.Function1.$anonfun$compose$1(Function1.scala:49)
[error] stack trace is suppressed; run last Compile / run for the full output
[error] (Compile / run) java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException

Bug probably due to outdated logback-classic dependency in Play 2.8.18. From dependencyTree output:

[info]   +-com.typesafe.play:play-logback_2.13:2.8.18 [S]
[info]   | +-ch.qos.logback:logback-classic:1.2.11
[info]   | | +-ch.qos.logback:logback-core:1.2.11
[info]   | | +-org.slf4j:slf4j-api:1.7.32 (evicted by: 2.0.1)
[info]   | | +-org.slf4j:slf4j-api:2.0.1

Adding a more recent logback dependency apparently solves the problem: libraryDependencies += "ch.qos.logback" % "logback-classic" % "1.4.4",

[mkurz]

Do you recommend doing that for this specific version of Play or do you see any future impacts of this update ?

@pasindusenevirathne I think you want to use logback-classic version 1.3.4 (because 1.4.x switched to jakarta.* namespace), which IMHO should be fine. We even thinking about to upgrade to logback-classic 1.3.x in the next Play 2.8.x release, see #11501

[mkurz]

@felipebonezi I guess you meant #11501? I linked them so if we merge it will close this issue 👍