A Simple Log4Net Setup

I've been helping out a co-worker with using Log4Net in an ASP.NET web application. It is really simple once you get the hang of it. If you're having problems setting up Log4Net, go with this simple step-by-step approach.

Step 1: Add a reference to the Log4Net dll

Step 2: Add this to your Global.asax

protected void Application_Start(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
log4net.Config.XmlConfigurator.Configure();
}

Step 3: Add this to the configSections of your web.config

<section name="log4net" type="log4net.Config.Log4NetConfigurationSectionHandler, log4net" />

Step 4: Add this after the end of the configSections tag

<log4net>
<appender name="LogFileAppender" type="log4net.Appender.FileAppender">
<param name="File" value="C:\Log4Net.log" />
<layout type="log4net.Layout.PatternLayout">
<param name="ConversionPattern" value="%d [%t] %-5p %c %m%n" />
</layout>
</appender>

<root>
<level value="All" />
<appender-ref ref="LogFileAppender" />
</root>
</log4net>

Step 5: Add this in your code

log4net.ILog logger = log4net.LogManager.GetLogger(System.Reflection.MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod().DeclaringType);
logger.Debug("Nitin");

Run the code and look for the file Log4Net at the root of C drive (configurable in Step 4).

You can add appenders to send out email or log to a remote console, but I'll leave that for another blog post.