NLog.Extended.Standard

Implement NLog various extension of Targets and Layout Renderers to use in .NET Core App(1.x ~ 2.x).

Now Available Features

Targets

• AzureAppendBlob - Append log to Azure storage blobs

Layout Renderers(Layouts)

• appsettings - Access configuration in appsettings.json (or appsettings.<EnvironmentName>.json) file

How To Use

Install the NLog.Extended.Standard package from NuGet. You need add NLog 4.5 or higher, then put the syntax in your NLog configuration below:

<nlog>
    <extensions>
        <add assembly="NLog.Extended.Standard" />
    </extensions>
</nlog>

AzureAppendBlob target configuration

The type name of target is AzureAppendBlob.

• layout - (layout) Content text to write.
• connectionString - (layout) The connection string of the storage account. Consult the Azure Portal to retrieve this.
• container - (layout) The name of the blob container where logs will be placed. It will be created automatically when it does not exist.
• blobName - (layout) The name of the blob to write to. It will be created automatically when it does not exist(only once, unless you set forceCheck to true).
• forceCheck - (bool) Check if the target blob exists for each write. Optional.

Example:

<targets async="true">
    <target xsi:type="AzureAppendBlob" 
            name="Azure" 
            layout="${longdate} ${uppercase:${level}} - ${message}" 
            connectionString="YourConnectionString" 
            container="YourContainer" 
            blobName="logs/${shortdate}.log" 
            forceCheck= "false" />
</targets>
<rules>
    <logger name="*" minlevel="Trace" writeTo="Azure"/>
</rules>

You can see NLog Wiki for more information about configuring NLog.

Note:

If you only need AzureAppendBlob target, check this.

Appsettings layout renderer configuration

The name of layout renderer is appsettings.

Pay Attention

The previous version was appsetting, you must modify it. (appsetting -> appsettings)

Configuration Syntax & Parameters

${appsettings:name=String.String2.String3:default=String}

• name - Key in your appsettings.<EnvironmentName>.json file. If it has a multi-level hierarchy that you want to access, you can separate by a dot. Required.
• default - Default value if not present. Optional.

Example:

Target appsettings.json

    {
        "Mode":"Prod",
        "Options":{
            "StorageConnectionString":"abcdefg123456789",
            "Container":"YourProdContainer"
        }
    }

• ${appsettings:name=Mode} - Get "Prod" in this case.
• ${appsettings:name=Options.StorageConnectionString} - Get "abcdefg123456789" in this case.
• ${appsettings:name=Options.StorageConnectionString2:default=DefaultString} - Get "DefaultString" in this case.

Set Explicit Configuration

In some cases, the library may not work correctly (e.g., always access incorrect appsettings.json). You can set the configuration directly by use the global property AppSettings before you start logging work as follows

using NLog.Extended.Standard.LayoutRenderers;

..........

AppSettingsLayoutRenderer.AppSettings = new ConfigurationBuilder().SetBasePath(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory())
                                            .AddJsonFile("appsettings.json").AddJsonFile($"appsettings.Development.json", optional: true)
                                            .Build();
..........

Note:

If you only need Appsettings layout renderer, check this.

Test App

NLog.Extended.Standard.Test is a console program that is preconfigured to use the AzureAppendBlob target and appsettings layout renderer. To test it, you'll have to create an Azure storage account and a blob account. Lastly, enjoy it!!!

Reference

NLog.AzureAppendBlob by Erik Heemskerk
NLog.Extended by NLog