WatchDog

Introduction

WatchDog is a Realtime Message, Event, HTTP (Request & Response) and Exception logger and viewer for ASP.Net Core Web Apps and APIs. It allows developers log and view messages, events, http requests made to their web application and also exception caught during runtime in their web applications, all in Realtime. It leverages SignalR for real-time monitoring and LiteDb a Serverless MongoDB-like database with no configuration with the option of using your external databases (MSSQL, MySQl, Postgres, MongoDB).

General Features

• RealTime HTTP Request, Response, and Exception Logger
• In-code message and event logging
• User Friendly Logger Views
• Search Option for HTTP and Exception Logs
• Filtering Option for HTTP Logs using HTTP Methods and StatusCode
• Logger View Authentication
• Auto Clear Logs Option

What's New

• Official support for .NET8
• Support for .NET8 UseOutputCache
• Blacklisting using Regex
• Bug Fixes

Breaking Changes

• SqlDriverOption is now DbDriverOption (>= v1.4.0)

Support

• .NET Core 3.1 and newer

Installation

Install via .NET CLI

dotnet add package WatchDog.NET --version 1.4.11

Install via Package Manager

Install-Package WatchDog.NET --version 1.4.11

Usage

To enable WatchDog to listen for requests, use the WatchDog middleware provided by WatchDog.

Add WatchDog Namespace in Startup.cs

using WatchDog;

Register WatchDog service in Startup.cs under ConfigureService()

services.AddWatchDogServices();

Setup AutoClear Logs Optional

This clears the logs after a specific duration.

NOTE When IsAutoClear = true Default Schedule Time is set to Weekly, override the settings like below:

services.AddWatchDogServices(opt => 
{ 
   opt.IsAutoClear = true;
   opt.ClearTimeSchedule = WatchDogAutoClearScheduleEnum.Monthly;
});

Setup Logging to External Db (MSSQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL & MongoDb) Optional

Add Database Connection String and Choose DbDriver Option

services.AddWatchDogServices(opt => 
{
   opt.IsAutoClear = true; 
   opt.SetExternalDbConnString = "Server=localhost;Database=testDb;User Id=postgres;Password=root;"; 
   opt.DbDriverOption = WatchDogDbDriverEnum.PostgreSql; 
});

Add WatchDog middleware in the HTTP request pipeline in Startup.cs under Configure()

NOTE Add Authentication option like below: Important

This authentication information (Username and Password) will be used to access the log viewer.

app.UseWatchDog(opt => 
{ 
   opt.WatchPageUsername = "admin"; 
   opt.WatchPagePassword = "Qwerty@123"; 
 });

NOTE If your project uses authentication, then app.UseWatchDog(); should come after app.UseRouting(), app.UseAuthentication(), app.UseAuthorization(), in that order

Optional Configurations: Optional

• Blacklist: List of routes, paths or endpoints to be ignored (should be a comma separated string like below).
• Serializer: If not default, specify the type of global json serializer/converter used.
• CorsPolicy: Policy Name if project uses CORS.
• UseOutputCache: If your application uses ASP.NET Output Cache. This feature is only available for .NET8 and above.
• UseRegexForBlacklisting: Enables the use of Regex to blacklist request routes, paths or endpoints.

app.UseWatchDog(opt => 
{ 
   opt.WatchPageUsername = "admin"; 
   opt.WatchPagePassword = "Qwerty@123"; 
   //Optional
   opt.Blacklist = "Test/testPost, api/auth/login"; //Prevent logging for specified endpoints
   opt.Serializer = WatchDogSerializerEnum.Newtonsoft; //If your project use a global json converter
   opt.CorsPolicy = "MyCorsPolicy";
   opt.UseOutputCache = true;
   opt.UseRegexForBlacklisting = true;
 });

Add WatchDog Exception Logger Optional

This is used to log in-app exceptions that occur during a particular HTTP request.

NOTE Add Exception Logger before the main WatchDog Middleware, preferably at the top of the middleware hierarchy so as to catch possible early exceptions.

app.UseWatchDogExceptionLogger();

...

app.UseWatchDog(opt => 
{ 
   opt.WatchPageUsername = "admin"; 
   opt.WatchPagePassword = "Qwerty@123"; 
   ...
 });

Log Messages/Events

WatchLogger.Log("...Test Log...");
WatchLogger.LogWarning(JsonConvert.Serialize(model));
WatchLogger.LogError(res.Content, eventId: reference);

Sink Logs from ILogger

You can also sink logs from the .NET ILogger into WatchDog

For .NET 6 and above

builder.Logging.AddWatchDogLogger();

For .NET Core 3.1, configure logging and add .AddWatchDogLogger() to the CreateHostBuilder method of the Program.cs class

Host.CreateDefaultBuilder(args)
 .ConfigureLogging( logging =>
 {
     logging.AddWatchDogLogger();
 })
 .ConfigureWebHostDefaults(webBuilder =>
 {
     webBuilder.UseStartup<Startup>();
 });

View Logs and Exception

Start your server and head to /watchdog to view the logs.

Example: https://myserver.com/watchdog or https://localhost:[your-port]/watchdog

Still confused? Check out the implementation in the WatchDogCompleteTestAPI folder or the .NET 6 implementation in the WatchDogCompleteApiNet6 folder.

Contribution

Feel like something is missing? Fork the repo and send a PR.

Encountered a bug? Fork the repo and send a PR.

Alternatively, open an issue and we'll get to it as soon as we can.

Credit

Kelechi Onyekwere - Github Twitter

Israel Ulelu - Github Twitter