NLog 5.0 with .net Framework 4.7.2 - aspnet request renderers are empty

Question

Using NLog 5.0, NLog.Web 5.0 and NLog.Database 5.0. I am attempting to log the aspnet request variables as described in the documentation. I log everything else just fine. Here is the code to setup the logger. I also included the internal log file which I had set to Trace.

 var config = new LoggingConfiguration();;
 DatabaseTarget dbTarget = new DatabaseTarget()
        {
            ConnectionString = connString,
            DBProvider = "sqlserver",
            Name = "database",
            CommandText = "sp_insert_log",
            CommandType = System.Data.CommandType.StoredProcedure
        };

        dbTarget.Parameters.Add(new DatabaseParameterInfo("@browser", "${aspnet-request-useragent}"));
        dbTarget.Parameters.Add(new DatabaseParameterInfo("@ip_address", "${aspnet-request-ip}"));
        dbTarget.Parameters.Add(new DatabaseParameterInfo("@url", "${aspnet-request-url}"));
        dbTarget.Parameters.Add(new DatabaseParameterInfo("@message", "${message}"));
        dbTarget.Parameters.Add(new DatabaseParameterInfo("@level", "${level}"));
        dbTarget.Parameters.Add(new DatabaseParameterInfo("@stack_trace", "${stacktrace:format=DetailedFlat}"));
        dbTarget.Parameters.Add(new DatabaseParameterInfo("@exception", "${exception:format=tostring}"));
        dbTarget.Parameters.Add(new DatabaseParameterInfo("@logger", "${logger}"));
     


        config.AddTarget("database", dbTarget);
        config.LoggingRules.Add(new LoggingRule("*", ConfigHelper.CommonLogLevel, dbTarget));

        InternalLogger.LogFile = @"D:\logs\internal\" + ConfigHelper.InternalLogFile;
        InternalLogger.LogLevel = ConfigHelper.InternalLogLevel;
        InternalLogger.IncludeTimestamp = true;           
       

        LogManager.ThrowConfigExceptions = ConfigHelper.ThrowNlogConfigExceptions;
        LogManager.ThrowExceptions = ConfigHelper.ThrowNlogExceptions;
        LogManager.Configuration = config;

In a controller Action: ....

try
{
   //...attempt stuff
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
   var CommonLogger = LogManager.GetCurrentClassLogger();
   CommonLogger.Error(ex);
}

....

Trace output from the internal log:

2022-07-06 15:11:32.6517 Trace FindReachableObject<NLog.Internal.IRenderable>:
2022-07-06 15:11:32.6517 Trace Scanning SimpleLayout ' => '
2022-07-06 15:11:32.6517 Trace  Scanning Property LayoutRenderers 'NLog.LayoutRenderers.LayoutRenderer[]' System.Collections.Generic
2022-07-06 15:11:32.6517 Trace  Scanning LiteralLayoutRenderer 'Layout Renderer: ${literal}'
2022-07-06 15:11:32.7450 Trace DatabaseTarget(Name=database): Open connection.
2022-07-06 15:11:32.7450 Trace DatabaseTarget(Name=database): Executing StoredProcedure: sp_insert_log
2022-07-06 15:11:32.7520 Trace   DatabaseTarget: Parameter: **'@browser' = ''** (String)
2022-07-06 15:11:32.7520 Trace   DatabaseTarget: Parameter: **'@ip_address' = ''** (String)
2022-07-06 15:11:32.7520 Trace   DatabaseTarget: Parameter: **'@url' = ''** (String)
2022-07-06 15:11:32.7520 Trace   DatabaseTarget: Parameter: '@message' = 'System.Exception: Extended data test' (String)
2022-07-06 15:11:32.7520 Trace   DatabaseTarget: Parameter: '@level' = 'Error' (String)
2022-07-06 15:11:32.7520 Trace FindReachableObject<NLog.Internal.IRenderable>:
2022-07-06 15:11:32.7520 Trace Scanning SimpleLayout ' => '
2022-07-06 15:11:32.7520 Trace  Scanning Property LayoutRenderers 'NLog.LayoutRenderers.LayoutRenderer[]' System.Collections.Generic
2022-07-06 15:11:32.7520 Trace  Scanning LiteralLayoutRenderer 'Layout Renderer: ${literal}'
2022-07-06 15:11:32.7520 Trace   DatabaseTarget: Parameter: '@stack_trace' = '[System.Object Execute(System.Web.Mvc.ControllerBase, System.Object[])] => [System.Object lambda_method(System.Runtime.CompilerServices.Closure, System.Web.Mvc.ControllerBase, System.Object[])] => [System.Web.Mvc.ActionResult Login(MyApp.Application.DTO.UserLoginDTO)]' (String)
2022-07-06 15:11:32.7520 Trace   DatabaseTarget: Parameter: '@exception' = 'System.Exception: Extended data test
   at MyApp.Web.Controllers.LoginController.Login(UserLoginDTO dto) in MyApp\MyApp.Web\Controllers\LoginController.cs:line 31' (String)
2022-07-06 15:11:32.7520 Trace   DatabaseTarget: Parameter: '@logger' = 'MyApp.Web.Controllers.BaseController' (String)
2022-07-06 15:11:32.7520 Trace   DatabaseTarget: Parameter: '@extended_data' = '' (String)
2022-07-06 15:11:32.8397 Trace DatabaseTarget(Name=database): Finished execution, result = 1
2022-07-06 15:11:32.8397 Trace DatabaseTarget(Name=database): Close connection (KeepConnection = false).

Database Results:

Any thoughts on what I could be doing wrong?

Have you enabled it in the config as per https://stackoverflow.com/a/40793174/43846 — stuartd, Jul 06 '22 at 22:47
Where is a code that does INSERT to the database (executenonquery)? — jdweng, Jul 06 '22 at 22:57
@stuartd It's a .net framework mvc application not asp.net.core. So I'm only using Nlog.Web - are you saying I need both? NLog.Web.AspNetCore and NLog.Web then? — Ben Ziegler, Jul 07 '22 at 00:03
@jdweng It's a stored procedure setup in the database target: CommandText = "sp_insert_log", CommandType = System.Data.CommandType.StoredProcedure. Also edited post to show how it logs with a simulated try catch block. — Ben Ziegler, Jul 07 '22 at 01:22
The write to the database is done with a ExecuteNonQuery. Just before the method the values are written to the parameters. All I see is the parameters being defined. — jdweng, Jul 07 '22 at 05:31

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 07 '22 at 04:38

If you enabled the NLog InternalLogger as the first thing (Before new LoggingConfiguration()), then you would probably see why it fails.

If you enabled ThrowConfigExceptions as the very first thing, then you would probably get a nice exception:

NLog.LogManager.ThrowConfigExceptions = true;

I'm guessing the problem is that you have not registered the NLog.Web-extension before using them in DatabaseParameterInfo:

NLog.LogManager.Setup().SetupExtensions(s =>s.RegisterAssembly("NLog.Web"));

See also: https://github.com/NLog/NLog/wiki/Register-your-custom-component

@Rofl Thank you, never thought that the order in which I put them in the code would matter, apparently in this case it does. Thank you for the info as that did the trick. All I did was add the RegisterAssembly before creating the config and all is well. I didn't see I had to do that manually (new to NLog 5.0). ~Cheers — Ben Ziegler, Jul 07 '22 at 14:28

NLog 5.0 with .net Framework 4.7.2 - aspnet request renderers are empty

1 Answers1