What do I need to change to allow my IIS7 ASP.Net 3.5 application to create an event source and log events to Windows EventLog?

Question

ASP.Net 3.5 running under IIS 7 doesn't seem to allow this out of the box.

        if (!EventLog.SourceExists("MyAppLog"))
            EventLog.CreateEventSource("MyAppLog", "Application");

        EventLog myLog = new EventLog();
        myLog.Source = "MyAppLog";
        myLog.WriteEntry("Message");

Possible duplicate of [System.Security.SecurityException when writing to Event Log](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1274018/system-security-securityexception-when-writing-to-event-log) — Michael Freidgeim, Aug 14 '18 at 21:49

score 39 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

I've copied this answer from here (the question was Log4Net but the answer still applies). The technet link misses a vital step.

Create a registry key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\eventlog\Application\MY-AWESOME-APP

Create a string value inside this

Name it EventMessageFile, set its value to

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\EventLogMessages.dll

That path appears to work in both 64 bit and 32 bit environments.

With this technique you don't need to set permissions in the registry, and once the key above is created it should just work.

Alternatively
If you don't have a large server farm but just a small "web garden" you could run a console application on each server that creates the event log source using EventLog.CreateEventSource, make sure the console application is run by an administrator.

Since you mentioned log4net, here is the link to eventlogappender troubleshoot. https://logging.apache.org/log4net/release/faq.html#trouble-EventLog . There is official ms link there on how to create event source. It prudent to note that this approach is not recommended for production use though. — Mr.Hunt, Apr 18 '13 at 07:31

Aaron Fischer · Accepted Answer · 2008-11-13T18:43:04.037

25

This is part of windows security since windows 2003.

You need to create an entry in the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Eventlog\Application Make sure that network service or the account you impersonate has permission to this registry key.

@CheGueVerra's link: Requested Registry Access Is Not Allowed

edited Nov 13 '08 at 18:43

answered Nov 13 '08 at 02:26

Aaron Fischer

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Link is no longer working – Fábio Feb 10 '23 at 14:26

score 5 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 21 '16 at 07:52

5

Right click the application and choose "Run as Administrator"

answered Jan 21 '16 at 07:52

JustBeingHelpful

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What do I need to change to allow my IIS7 ASP.Net 3.5 application to create an event source and log events to Windows EventLog?

3 Answers3

Create a registry key

Create a string value inside this

Linked