File and Database multiple configuration for log4net

Question

I have Web API that needs to write log data, both to a file and to the database. Is it possible to configure such a setup? I am trying to understand ILoggerRepository but I am confused. Can someone give me the some tips on how to configure it and how to use it in application?

Answer 1

It sounds to me like you want to write to two different style appenders at the same time.

The good news is that this is built right into the log4Net library.

What you want to do so configure you configuration file to two different appenders. A file Appender and a Database appender.

Examples of the different appenders can be found here. http://logging.apache.org/log4net/release/config-examples.html

Here is an example of an web.config that i whipped together. You are going to have to tweak it to get it to work for you, but it will get you on the right start.

One last point, your log4net configuration does not have to be in your web.config but IMHO it just makes things easier to get started. Worry about breaking it out once your web.config starts to get a little cluttered.

<configuration>
  <configSections>
    <section name="log4net" type="log4net.Config.Log4NetConfigurationSectionHandler, log4net" />
  </configSections>
  <startup>
    <supportedRuntime version="v4.0" sku=".NETFramework,Version=v4.5" />
  </startup>

  <log4net>
    <appender name="FileAppender" type="log4net.Appender.FileAppender">
  <file value="log-file.txt" />
  <appendToFile value="true" />
  <layout type="log4net.Layout.PatternLayout">
    <conversionPattern value="%date [%thread] %-5level %logger [%property{NDC}] - %message%newline" />
  </layout>
</appender>

    <appender name="AdoNetAppender" type="log4net.Appender.AdoNetAppender">
  <bufferSize value="100" />
  <connectionType value="System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection, System.Data, Version=1.0.3300.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" />
  <connectionString value="data source=[database server];initial catalog=[database name];integrated security=false;persist security info=True;User ID=[user];Password=[password]" />
  <commandText value="INSERT INTO Log ([Date],[Thread],[Level],[Logger],[Message],[Exception]) VALUES (@log_date, @thread, @log_level, @logger, @message, @exception)" />
  <parameter>
    <parameterName value="@log_date" />
    <dbType value="DateTime" />
    <layout type="log4net.Layout.RawTimeStampLayout" />
  </parameter>
  <parameter>
    <parameterName value="@thread" />
    <dbType value="String" />
    <size value="255" />
    <layout type="log4net.Layout.PatternLayout">
      <conversionPattern value="%thread" />
    </layout>
  </parameter>
  <parameter>
    <parameterName value="@log_level" />
    <dbType value="String" />
    <size value="50" />
    <layout type="log4net.Layout.PatternLayout">
      <conversionPattern value="%level" />
    </layout>
  </parameter>
  <parameter>
    <parameterName value="@logger" />
    <dbType value="String" />
    <size value="255" />
    <layout type="log4net.Layout.PatternLayout">
      <conversionPattern value="%logger" />
    </layout>
  </parameter>
  <parameter>
    <parameterName value="@message" />
    <dbType value="String" />
    <size value="4000" />
    <layout type="log4net.Layout.PatternLayout">
      <conversionPattern value="%message" />
    </layout>
  </parameter>
  <parameter>
    <parameterName value="@exception" />
    <dbType value="String" />
    <size value="2000" />
    <layout type="log4net.Layout.ExceptionLayout" />
  </parameter>
</appender>

    <root>
      <level value="INFO" />
      <appender-ref ref="AdoNetAppender" />
      <appender-ref ref="FileAppender" />
    </root>
  </log4net>
</configuration>