How to configure or setup Log4Net with ASP.NET ( included MVC) C# on Visual Studio 2012 ~ ~

Question

I want to record software process logs to files. Rather than make my own log system, I am trying to use Log4Net with ASP.NET MVC, but I have run into problems setting it up in Visual Studio 2015, like:

How to setup web.config / Global.asax page?
How to install components in VS 2012 ~?
How to use it in my *.cs file?

What are the steps to properly configure Log4Net With ASP.NET MVC C# in Visual Studio 2015?

I also wrote a Q&A to set it up for ASP.NET WebForms, see How to use Log4net from Nuget with Visual Studio platform in the ASP.NET Web Form (Easy method).

Willie Cheng · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-15 01:18:55Z

87

Step1: To use the Nuget to get the log4net package:

Step2: tell log4net to initialize itself from the XML configuration (Web.config), by adding this call in the Global.asax.cs file under Application_Start():

log4net.Config.XmlConfigurator.Configure();

Step3: add the configuration section in Web.config between tag <configSections>...</configSections>:

  <section name="log4net" type="log4net.Config.Log4NetConfigurationSectionHandler, log4net" />

Step4: Insert the actual log4net configuration <log4net>...</log4net> (Within <configuration>...</configuration> but after the </configSections> tag) , see Apache log4net™ Config Examples for more examples:

<log4net debug="true">
    <appender name="RollingLogFileAppender" type="log4net.Appender.RollingFileAppender">
      <file value="logs\log.txt" />
      <appendToFile value="true" />
      <rollingStyle value="Size" />
      <maxSizeRollBackups value="10" />
      <maximumFileSize value="100KB" />
      <staticLogFileName value="true" />
      <layout type="log4net.Layout.PatternLayout">
        <conversionPattern value="%-5p %d %5rms %-22.22c{1} %-18.18M - %m%n" />
      </layout>
    </appender>
    <root>
      <level value="DEBUG" />
      <appender-ref ref="RollingLogFileAppender" />
    </root>
  </log4net>

Now you're ready to make calls to an ILog to write actual log statements to the configured appender(s):

ILog log = log4net.LogManager.GetLogger(typeof(HomeController));      

public ActionResult Index()
{
    log.Debug("Debug message");
    log.Warn("Warn message");
    log.Error("Error message");
    log.Fatal("Fatal message");
    ViewBag.Title = "Home Page";
    return View();
}

edited May 15, 2019 at 1:18

answered Mar 31, 2016 at 10:07

Willie Cheng

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7 Comments

marco6 Over a year ago

Is there an impelling reason for that static "Log" member? The way I see it is that all you need is the non-static member "log"...

marco6 Over a year ago

@WillieCheng My comment was about the fact that while using a static member is IMHO the most beneficial choice, your code uses a non-static instance to perform every action ("ILog log" is clearly non-static, while your static Log is never initialized). I would have done something like: "private static ILog Log {get;}=LogManager.GetLogger(typeof(HomeController));" and remove your second declaration.

andrejb-dev Over a year ago

+1 great answer, saved a lot of my time, just a little enhancement for devs: if you want to show the logged messages in the Visual Studio Output while debugging, use the TraceAppender from the apache log4net config exmaples link provided in the article :) ConsoleAppender did not worked for me.

Jean-Paul Over a year ago

@marco6 most people who use log4net use static to keep track of what class or method called the logger. They all start off with

private static readonly log4net.ILog log = log4net.LogManager.GetLogger(System.Reflection.MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod().DeclaringType);

as the start of every class. use stackify.com/log4net-guide-dotnet-logging for reference, specifically he says 'Declare it as static and use this little trick so you don’t have to hard code the class type.'

marco6 Over a year ago

@Jean-Paul agreed! That is exactly what my comment was about! :)

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