intellij : log4j does not output log file - intellij-idea

Question

I am trying to set up log4j in IntelliJ and having an issue. I am able to see console output, but no log file. My config is located at src/main/resources/Log4j2.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Configuration status="DEBUG">
<Appenders>
<Console name="ConsoleAppender" target="SYSTEM_OUT">
<!--<PatternLayout pattern="%d{HH:mm:ss.SSS} [%t] %-5level %logger{36} - %msg%n" /> -->
<PatternLayout pattern="%d{HH:mm}%-5level %logger{36} - %msg%n" />
</Console>
<File name="FileAppender"
fileName="productivity.log"
immediateFlush="false"
append="true">
<PatternLayout pattern="%d{yyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS} [%t] %-5level %logger{36} - %msg%n"/>
</File>
</Appenders>
<Loggers>
<Root level="debug">
<AppenderRef ref="ConsoleAppender" />
<AppenderRef ref="FileAppender"/>
</Root>
</Loggers>
</Configuration>
I have done a lot of searching, most of the questions I found simply say to place the log4j2.xml file in src/main/resources, which I did. I also tried the suggestion here but that had no effect.
Also, this is a maven project...
I am currently just trying to run a test that prints one line of text, and no file is created. Any ideas?
Update
After some further testing and going thru the docs I was actually able to get log output, but only when the application context loadded.
When I run a unit test by itself, no log file is created, but I do get the console output.
The log4j2.xml still seems to be ignored, however. I my application.properties I entered
logging.file.path=log
logging.level.root=debug
logging.level.org.springframework.web=debug
and my logging output did come out in the log file, however, I defined my logger like so...
import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
// other code deleted for brevity...
private final static Logger logger = LogManager.getLogger(WidgetController.class);
I added this line in the method where the log message was called...
logger.info("in getAllWidgets");
logger.info("logger class : " + logger.getClass());
which created this output:
c.s.w.t.S.controller.WidgetController : in getAllWidgets
c.s.w.t.S.controller.WidgetController : logger class : class org.apache.logging.slf4j.SLF4JLogger
why is the class of the logger class org.apache.logging.slf4j.SLF4JLogger when it was clearly defined as a log4j logger?
if I look in my App/target/classes folder and see my log4j2.xml file there, does that mean it was successfully added to the classpath?
Also, this project was created by SpringInitializr.