Ship .NET logs

log4net
NLog
LoggerFactory

Configure log4net

Before you begin, you’ll need:

log4net 2.0.8 or higher
.NET Core SDK version 2.0 or higher
.NET Framework version 4.6.1 or higher

Add the dependency to your project

If you’re on Windows, navigate to your project’s folder in the command line, and run this command to install the dependency.

Install-Package Logzio.DotNet.Log4net

If you’re on a Mac or Linux machine, you can install the package using Visual Studio. Select Project > Add NuGet Packages..., and then search for Logzio.DotNet.Log4net.

Configure the appender

You can configure the appender in a configuration file or directly in the code. Use the samples in the code blocks below as a starting point, and replace them with a configuration that matches your needs. See log4net documentation 🔗 to learn more about configuration options.

For a complete list of options, see the configuration parameters below the code blocks.👇

Option 1: In a configuration file

<log4net>
    <appender name="LogzioAppender" type="Logzio.DotNet.Log4net.LogzioAppender, Logzio.DotNet.Log4net">
    	<!-- 
		Required fields 
	-->
	<!-- Your Logz.io API token -->
	<token><<LOG-SHIPPING-TOKEN>></token>
			
	<!-- 
		Optional fields (with their default values) 
	-->
	<!-- The type field will be added to each log message, making it 
	easier for you to differ between different types of logs. -->
    	<type>log4net</type>
	<!-- The URL of the Lgz.io listener -->
    	<listenerUrl>https://<<LISTENER-HOST>>:8071</listenerUrl>
        <!--Optional proxy server address:
        proxyAddress = "http://your.proxy.com:port" -->
	<!-- The maximum number of log lines to send in each bulk -->
    	<bufferSize>100</bufferSize>
	<!-- The maximum time to wait for more log lines, in a hh:mm:ss.fff format -->
    	<bufferTimeout>00:00:05</bufferTimeout>
	<!-- If connection to Logz.io API fails, how many times to retry -->
    	<retriesMaxAttempts>3</retriesMaxAttempts>
    	<!-- Time to wait between retries, in a hh:mm:ss.fff format -->
	<retriesInterval>00:00:02</retriesInterval>
	<!-- Set the appender to compress the message before sending it -->
	<gzip>true</gzip>
	<!-- Uncomment this to enable sending logs in Json format -->
	<!--<parseJsonMessage>true</parseJsonMessage>-->
	<!-- Enable the appender's internal debug logger (sent to the console output and trace log) -->
	<debug>false</debug>
	<!-- If you have custom fields keys that start with capital letter and want to see the fields 
	with capital letter in Logz.io, set this field to true. The default is false 
	(first letter will be small letter). -->
	<jsonKeysCamelCase>false</jsonKeysCamelCase>
    </appender>
    
    <root>
    	<level value="INFO" />
    	<appender-ref ref="LogzioAppender" />
    </root>
</log4net>

Add a reference to the configuration file in your code, as shown in the example here.

Code sample

using System.IO;
using log4net;
using log4net.Config;
using System.Reflection;

namespace dotnet_log4net
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var logger = LogManager.GetLogger(typeof(Program));
            var logRepository = LogManager.GetRepository(Assembly.GetEntryAssembly());

            // Replace "App.config" with the config file that holds your log4net configuration
            XmlConfigurator.Configure(logRepository, new FileInfo("App.config"));

            logger.Info("Now I don't blame him 'cause he run and hid");
            logger.Info("But the meanest thing he ever did");
            logger.Info("Before he left was he went and named me Sue");

            LogManager.Shutdown();
        }
    }
}

Option 2: In the code

var hierarchy = (Hierarchy)LogManager.GetRepository();
var logzioAppender = new LogzioAppender();
logzioAppender.AddToken("<<LOG-SHIPPING-TOKEN>>");
logzioAppender.AddListenerUrl("<<LISTENER-HOST>>");
// <-- Uncomment and edit this line to enable proxy routing: --> 
// logzioAppender.AddProxyAddress("http://your.proxy.com:port");
// <-- Uncomment this to enable sending logs in Json format -->  
// logzioAppender.ParseJsonMessage(true);
// <-- Uncomment these lines to enable gzip compression --> 
// logzioAppender.AddGzip(true);
// logzioAppender.ActivateOptions();
// logzioAppender.JsonKeysCamelCase(false)
logzioAppender.ActiveOptions();
hierarchy.Root.AddAppender(logzioAppender);
hierarchy.Root.Level = Level.All;
hierarchy.Configured = true;

Code sample

using log4net;
using log4net.Core;
using log4net.Repository.Hierarchy;
using Logzio.DotNet.Log4net;

namespace dotnet_log4net
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var hierarchy = (Hierarchy)LogManager.GetRepository();
            var logger = LogManager.GetLogger(typeof(Program));
            var logzioAppender = new LogzioAppender();
            
            logzioAppender.AddToken("<<LOG-SHIPPING-TOKEN>>");
            logzioAppender.AddListenerUrl("https://<<LISTENER-HOST>>:8071");
            // <-- Uncomment and edit this line to enable proxy routing: --> 
            // logzioAppender.AddProxyAddress("http://your.proxy.com:port");
            // <-- Uncomment this to enable sending logs in Json format -->  
            // logzioAppender.ParseJsonMessage(true);
            // <-- Uncomment these lines to enable gzip compression --> 
            // logzioAppender.AddGzip(true);
            // logzioAppender.ActivateOptions();
            // logzioAppender.JsonKeysCamelCase(false)
            logzioAppender.ActivateOptions();
            
            hierarchy.Root.AddAppender(logzioAppender);
            hierarchy.Configured = true;
            hierarchy.Root.Level = Level.All;

            logger.Info("Now I don't blame him 'cause he run and hid");
            logger.Info("But the meanest thing he ever did");
            logger.Info("Before he left was he went and named me Sue");

            LogManager.Shutdown();
        }
    }
}

Parameters

Parameter	Description	Default/Required
token	Your Logz.io log shipping token securely directs the data to your Logz.io account. Replace `<<LOG-SHIPPING-TOKEN>>` with the token of the account you want to ship to.	Required
listenerUrl	Listener URL and port. Replace `<<LISTENER-HOST>>` with the host for your region. For example, `listener.logz.io` if your account is hosted on AWS US East, or `listener-nl.logz.io` if hosted on Azure West Europe.	`https://listener.logz.io:8071`
type	The log type, shipped as `type` field. Used by Logz.io for consistent parsing. Can’t contain spaces.	`log4net`
bufferSize	Maximum number of messages the logger will accumulate before sending them all as a bulk.	`100`
bufferTimeout	Maximum time to wait for more log lines, as hh:mm:ss.fff.	`00:00:05`
retriesMaxAttempts	Maximum number of attempts to connect to Logz.io.	`3`
retriesInterval	Time to wait between retries, as hh:mm:ss.fff.	`00:00:02`
gzip	To compress the data before shipping, `true`. Otherwise, `false`.	`false`
debug	To print debug messages to the console and trace log, `true`. Otherwise, `false`.	`false`
parseJsonMessage	To parse your message as JSON format, add this field and set it to `true`.	`false`
proxyAddress	Proxy address to route your logs through.	`None`
jsonKeysCamelCase	If you have custom fields keys that start with a capital letter and want to see the fields with a capital letter in Logz.io, set this field to true.	`false`

Custom fields

You can add static keys and values to be added to all log messages. These custom fields must be children of <appender>, as shown here.

<appender name="LogzioAppender" type="Logzio.DotNet.Log4net.LogzioAppender, Logzio.DotNet.Log4net">
  <customField>
    <key>Environment</key>
    <value>Production</value>
  </customField>
  <customField>
    <key>Location</key>
    <value>New Jerseay B1</value>
  </customField>
</appender>

Extending the appender

To change or add fields to your logs, inherit the appender and override the ExtendValues method.

public class MyAppLogzioAppender : LogzioAppender
{
  protected override void ExtendValues(LoggingEvent loggingEvent, Dictionary<string, string> values)
  {
    values["logger"] = "MyPrefix." + values["logger"];
    values["myAppClientId"] = new ClientIdProvider().Get();
  }
}

Change your configuration to use your new appender name. For the example above, you’d use MyAppLogzioAppender.

Configure NLog

Before you begin, you’ll need:

NLog 4.5.0 or higher
.NET Core SDK version 2.0 or higher
.NET Framework version 4.6.1 or higher

Add the dependency to your project

If you’re on Windows, navigate to your project’s folder in the command line, and run this command to install the dependency.

Install-Package Logzio.DotNet.NLog

If you’re on a Mac or Linux machine, you can install the package using Visual Studio. Select Project > Add NuGet Packages..., and then search for Logzio.DotNet.NLog.

Configure the appender

You can configure the appender in a configuration file or directly in the code. Use the samples in the code blocks below as a starting point, and replace them with a configuration that matches your needs. See NLog documentation 🔗 to learn more about configuration options.

For a complete list of options, see the configuration parameters below the code blocks.👇

Option 1: In a configuration file

<nlog>
  <extensions>
    <add assembly="Logzio.DotNet.NLog"/>
  </extensions>
  <targets>

    <!-- Replace these parameters with your configuration -->
    <target name="logzio" type="Logzio"
      token="<<LOG-SHIPPING-TOKEN>>"
      logzioType="nlog"
      listenerUrl="https://<<LISTENER-HOST>>:8071"
      bufferSize="100"
      bufferTimeout="00:00:05"
      retriesMaxAttempts="3"
      retriesInterval="00:00:02"
      debug="false"
      jsonKeysCamelCase="false" 
     >
      <!-- parseJsonMessage="true" -->  <!-- include in previous section -->    

      <contextproperty name="host" layout="${machinename}" />
      <contextproperty name="threadid" layout="${threadid}" />
    </target>
  </targets>
  <rules>
      <logger name="*" minlevel="Info" writeTo="logzio" />
  </rules>
</nlog>

Option 2: In the code

var config = new LoggingConfiguration();

// Replace these parameters with your configuration
var logzioTarget = new LogzioTarget {
  Name = "Logzio",
  Token = "<<LOG-SHIPPING-TOKEN>>",
  LogzioType = "nlog",
  ListenerUrl = "https://<<LISTENER-HOST>>:8071",
  BufferSize = 100,
  BufferTimeout = TimeSpan.Parse("00:00:05"),
  RetriesMaxAttempts = 3,
  RetriesInterval = TimeSpan.Parse("00:00:02"),
  Debug = false,
  JsonKeysCamelCase = false,
  // ParseJsonMessage = true,
  // ProxyAddress = "http://your.proxy.com:port"
};

config.AddRule(LogLevel.Debug, LogLevel.Fatal, logzioTarget);
LogManager.Configuration = config;

Parameters

Parameter	Description	Default/Required
token	YLogz.io log shipping token securely directs the data to your Logz.io account. Replace `<<LOG-SHIPPING-TOKEN>>` with the token of the account you want to ship to.	Required
listenerUrl	Listener URL and port. Replace `<<LISTENER-HOST>>` with the host for your region. For example, `listener.logz.io` if your account is hosted on AWS US East, or `listener-nl.logz.io` if hosted on Azure West Europe.	`https://listener.logz.io:8071`
type	The log type, shipped as `type` field. Used by Logz.io for consistent parsing. Can’t contain spaces.	`nlog`
bufferSize	Maximum number of messages the logger will accumulate before sending them all as a bulk.	`100`
bufferTimeout	Maximum time to wait for more log lines, as hh:mm:ss.fff.	`00:00:05`
retriesMaxAttempts	Maximum number of attempts to connect to Logz.io.	`3`
retriesInterval	Time to wait between retries, as hh:mm:ss.fff.	`00:00:02`
debug	To print debug messages to the console and trace log, `true`. Otherwise, `false`.	`false`
parseJsonMessage	To parse your message as JSON format, add this field and set it to `true`.	`false`
proxyAddress	Proxy address to route your logs through.	`None`
jsonKeysCamelCase	If you have custom fields keys that start with a capital letter and want to see the fields with a capital letter in Logz.io, set this field to true.	`false`

Code sample

using System;
using System.IO;
using Logzio.DotNet.NLog;
using NLog;
using NLog.Config;
using NLog.Fluent;

namespace LogzioNLogSampleApplication
{
  public class Program
  {
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
      var logger = LogManager.GetCurrentClassLogger();

      logger.Info()
        .Message("If you'll be my bodyguard")
        .Property("iCanBe", "your long lost pal")
        .Property("iCanCallYou", "Betty, and Betty when you call me")
        .Property("youCanCallMe", "Al")
        .Write();

      LogManager.Shutdown();
    }
  }
}

Include context properties

You can configure the target to include your own custom values when forwarding logs to Logz.io. For example:

<nlog>
  <variable name="site" value="New Zealand" />
  <variable name="rings" value="one" />
  <target name="logzio" type="Logzio" token="<<LOG-SHIPPING-TOKEN>>">
    <contextproperty name="site" layout="${site}" />
    <contextproperty name="rings" layout="${rings}" />
  </target>
</nlog>

Extending the appender

To change or add fields to your logs, inherit the appender and override the ExtendValues method.

[Target("MyAppLogzio")]
public class MyAppLogzioTarget : LogzioTarget
{
  protected override void ExtendValues(LogEventInfo logEvent, Dictionary<string, string> values)
  {
    values["logger"] = "MyPrefix." + values["logger"];
    values["myAppClientId"] = new ClientIdProvider().Get();
  }
}

Change your configuration to use your new target. For the example above, you’d use MyAppLogzio.

Json Layout

When using ‘JsonLayout’ set the name of the attribute to other than ‘message’. for example:

<layout type="JsonLayout" includeAllProperties="true">
 <attribute name="msg"  layout="${message}" encode="false"/>
</layout>

Configure log4net

Before you begin, you’ll need:

log4net 2.0.8 or higher
.NET Core SDK version 2.0 or higher
.NET Framework version 4.6.1 or higher

Add the dependency to your project

If you’re on Windows, navigate to your project’s folder in the command line, and run these commands to install the dependencies.

Install-Package Logzio.DotNet.Log4net

Install-Package Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Log4Net.AspNetCore

If you’re on a Mac or Linux machine, you can install the package using Visual Studio. Select Project > Add NuGet Packages..., and then search for Logzio.DotNet.Log4net and Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Log4Net.AspNetCore.

Configure the appender

For a complete list of options, see the configuration parameters below the code blocks.👇

Option 1: In a configuration file

<log4net>
  <appender name="LogzioAppender" type="Logzio.DotNet.Log4net.LogzioAppender, Logzio.DotNet.Log4net">

    <!-- Replace these parameters with your configuration -->
    <token><<LOG-SHIPPING-TOKEN>></token>
    <type>log4net</type>
    <listenerUrl>https://<<LISTENER-HOST>>:8071</listenerUrl>
    <bufferSize>100</bufferSize>
    <bufferTimeout>00:00:05</bufferTimeout>
    <retriesMaxAttempts>3</retriesMaxAttempts>
    <retriesInterval>00:00:02</retriesInterval>
    <gzip>true</gzip>
    <debug>false</debug>
    <jsonKeysCamelCase>false</jsonKeysCamelCase>
    <!--<parseJsonMessage>true</parseJsonMessage>-->
    
  </appender>

  <root>
    <level value="INFO" />
    <appender-ref ref="LogzioAppender" />
  </root>
</log4net>

Option 2: In the code

	var hierarchy = (Hierarchy)LogManager.GetRepository();
	var logzioAppender = new LogzioAppender();
	logzioAppender.AddToken("<<LOG-SHIPPING-TOKEN>>");
	logzioAppender.AddListenerUrl("<<LISTENER-HOST>>");
         // Uncomment and edit this line to enable proxy routing: 
         // logzioAppender.AddProxyAddress("http://your.proxy.com:port");
	 // Uncomment these lines to enable gzip compression 
	 // logzioAppender.AddGzip(true);
         // logzioAppender.ActivateOptions();
         // logzioAppender.JsonKeysCamelCase(false)
	logzioAppender.ActiveOptions();
	hierarchy.Root.AddAppender(logzioAppender);
	hierarchy.Root.Level = Level.All;
	hierarchy.Configured = true;

Parameters

Parameter	Description	Default/Required
token	Logz.io log shipping token securely directs the data to your Logz.io account. Replace `<<LOG-SHIPPING-TOKEN>>` with the token of the account you want to ship to.	Required
listenerUrl	Listener URL and port. Replace `<<LISTENER-HOST>>` with the host for your region. For example, `listener.logz.io` if your account is hosted on AWS US East, or `listener-nl.logz.io` if hosted on Azure West Europe.	`https://listener.logz.io:8071`
type	The log type, shipped as `type` field. Used by Logz.io for consistent parsing. Can’t contain spaces.	`log4net`
bufferSize	Maximum number of messages the logger will accumulate before sending them all in bulk.	`100`
bufferTimeout	Maximum time to wait for more log lines, as hh:mm:ss.fff.	`00:00:05`
retriesMaxAttempts	Maximum number of attempts to connect to Logz.io.	`3`
retriesInterval	Time to wait between retries, as hh:mm:ss.fff.	`00:00:02`
gzip	To compress the data before shipping, `true`. Otherwise, `false`.	`false`
debug	To print debug messages to the console and trace log, `true`. Otherwise, `false`.	`false`
parseJsonMessage	To parse your message as JSON format, add this field and set it to `true`.	`false`
proxyAddress	Proxy address to route your logs through.	`None`
jsonKeysCamelCase	If you have custom fields keys that start with capital letter and want to see the fields with capital letter in Logz.io, set this field to true.	`false`

Code sample

ASP.NET Core

Update Startup.cs file in Configure method to include the Log4Net middleware as in the code below.

    public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, IWebHostEnvironment env, ILoggerFactory loggerFactory)
    {
        ...
        
        loggerFactory.AddLog4Net();
        
        ...
    } 

In the Controller, add Data Member and Constructor, as in the code below.

    private readonly ILoggerFactory _loggerFactory;
    
    public ExampleController(ILoggerFactory loggerFactory, ...)
        {
            _loggerFactory = loggerFactory;
            
            ...
        }

In the Controller methods:

    [Route("<PUT_HERE_YOUR_ROUTE>")]
    public ActionResult ExampleMethod()
    {
        var logger = _loggerFactory.CreateLogger<ExampleController>();
        var logRepository = LogManager.GetRepository(Assembly.GetEntryAssembly());
            
        // Replace "App.config" with the config file that holds your log4net configuration
        XmlConfigurator.Configure(logRepository, new FileInfo("log4net.config"));
            
        logger.LogInformation("Hello");
        logger.LogInformation("Is it me you looking for?");
            
        LogManager.Shutdown();
            
        return Ok();
    }

.NET Core Desktop Application

    using System.IO;
    using System.Reflection;
    using log4net;
    using log4net.Config;
    using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;

    namespace LoggerFactoryAppender
    {
        class Program
        {
            static void Main(string[] args)
            {
                ILoggerFactory loggerFactory = new LoggerFactory();
                loggerFactory.AddLog4Net();

                var logger = loggerFactory.CreateLogger<Program>();
                var logRepository = LogManager.GetRepository(Assembly.GetEntryAssembly());

                // Replace "App.config" with the config file that holds your log4net configuration
                XmlConfigurator.Configure(logRepository, new FileInfo("log4net.config"));

                logger.LogInformation("Hello");
                logger.LogInformation("Is it me you looking for?");
                
                LogManager.Shutdown();
            }
        }
    }

Custom fields

You can add static keys and values to all log messages. These custom fields must be children of <appender>, as shown in the code below.

<appender name="LogzioAppender" type="Logzio.DotNet.Log4net.LogzioAppender, Logzio.DotNet.Log4net">
  <customField>
    <key>Environment</key>
    <value>Production</value>
  </customField>
  <customField>
    <key>Location</key>
    <value>New Jerseay B1</value>
  </customField>
</appender>

Extending the appender

To change or add fields to your logs, inherit the appender and override the ExtendValues method.

public class MyAppLogzioAppender : LogzioAppender
{
  protected override void ExtendValues(LoggingEvent loggingEvent, Dictionary<string, string> values)
  {
    values["logger"] = "MyPrefix." + values["logger"];
    values["myAppClientId"] = new ClientIdProvider().Get();
  }
}

Change your configuration to use your new appender name. For the example above, you’d use MyAppLogzioAppender.