Configuring log4net without code in Rider for dotnet 2.1 project

Question

I'm working on a pet .netcore2.1 project using Rider IDE. I'm currently trying to add log4net support for the project, and trying to do it the "proper way" (separate config file, automatically configure log4net without having to write code for intialization etc.). So far all tutorials (ex1, ex2) I've found suggest configuring it by adding assembly property

[assembly: log4net.Config.XmlConfigurator(Watch=true)]

to AssemblyInfo.cs file. However I seem to fail to find the file, and it looks from other questions (e.g. this) that it might not be used with .netcore at all, in favor of doing configuration via other means (e.g. .csproj file).

So far I've found a workaround here, which works, but it uses explicit configuration via code, which looks like a step backwards compared to assembly-level configuration.

Is there a way of doing this in a more static way (e.g. using some ItemGroup in .csproj)?

Upd: for future reference - this is just a custom case of https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/assembly/set-attributes , so it just goes to .cs file directly.

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered May 18 '20 at 11:14

Easy example using log4net for .net core in console:

[assembly: XmlConfigurator(Watch = true)]
namespace ConsoleApp
{
    class Program
    {
        private static readonly ILog log = LogManager.GetLogger(typeof(Program));

        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var logRepository = LogManager.GetRepository(Assembly.GetEntryAssembly());
            XmlConfigurator.Configure(logRepository, new FileInfo("log4net.config"));
            log.Info("Entering application.");
            log.Error("Error application.");
        }
    }
}

You need to add file with settings log4net to your project: log4net.config, and don't forget chnage it options "Copy to output directory" to "Copy if newer" or "Copy always"

Example of log4net.config:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<log4net>
  <appender name="ConsoleAppender" type="log4net.Appender.ConsoleAppender" >
    <layout type="log4net.Layout.PatternLayout">
      <conversionPattern value="%date [%thread] %-5level %logger [%ndc] - %message%newline" />
    </layout>
  </appender>
  <appender name="FileAppender" type="log4net.Appender.RollingFileAppender">
    <lockingModel type="log4net.Appender.FileAppender+MinimalLock" />
    <file value="logs/" />
    <datePattern value="yyyy-MM-dd'.log'" />
    <staticLogFileName value="false" />
    <appendToFile value="true" />
    <rollingStyle value="Composite" />
    <layout type="log4net.Layout.PatternLayout">
      <IgnoresException value="False" />
      <conversionPattern value="%date [%thread] %-5level %logger [%ndc] - %message%newline" />
    </layout>
    <filter type="log4net.Filter.LevelRangeFilter">
      <param name="LevelMin" value="INFO"/>
    </filter>
  </appender>
  <root>
    <level value="ALL" />
    <appender-ref ref="FileAppender" />
    <appender-ref ref="ConsoleAppender" />
  </root>
</log4net>

By the way: log4net don't supporting for 1 april 2020: http://logging.apache.org/log4net/

Thanks for pointing out that it's dormant; I'm looking into alternatives (like NLog). Also, thanks for pointing out [assembly: ...] is an annotation and goes directly to .cs files — Dmitriy Korolevich, May 20 '20 at 07:07

Configuring log4net without code in Rider for dotnet 2.1 project

1 Answers1