log4net in mvc3

log4net may be used for .net appliction to server for logging.

This post will guide you a quick & dirty way to setup log4net for your project.

• Add log4net.dll into reference
• Setup Log4Net.config in your project root

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
  <configuration>
  <log4net>
    <appender name="RollingLogFileAppender" type="log4net.Appender.RollingFileAppender">
      <lockingModel type="log4net.Appender.FileAppender+MinimalLock"/>
      <file value="c:\Logs\logs-" />
      <datePattern value="dd.MM.yyyy'.log'" />
      <staticLogFileName value="false" />
      <appendToFile value="true" />
      <rollingStyle value="Composite" />
      <maxSizeRollBackups value="-1" />
      <maximumFileSize value="5MB" />
      <layout type="log4net.Layout.PatternLayout">
        <conversionPattern
        value="%-5p %d %5rms %-22.22c{1} %-18.18M - %m%n" />
      </layout>
      <filter type="log4net.Filter.LevelRangeFilter">
        <acceptOnMatch value="true" />
        <levelMin value="DEBUG" />
        <levelMax value="FATAL" />
      </filter>
    </appender>
  
    <root>
      <level value="DEBUG" />
      <appender-ref ref="RollingLogFileAppender" />
    </root>
  </log4net>
  </configuration>

• In AssemblyInfo.cs (under Properties folder), add

  [assembly: log4net.Config.XmlConfigurator(ConfigFile = "Log4Net.config", Watch = true)]

• In your class, add following in class definition,

  private static readonly ILog log = LogManager.GetLogger(typeof(HomeController));

  and in your method, add

  log.Debug("This is a DEBUG level message");
  log.Info("This is for information only");
  

That’s should be work fine now. In case for any problem, please check your IIS could write to the file directory.