How to use NLog with ASP.NET Core 2

We can make a ASP.NET Core app without any logging. But in the real world, we should use some form of logging. In this blog post we are providing an overview of 3rd Party Logging solutions such as NLog.

NLog is a flexible and free logging platform for various .NET platforms, including .NET standard. NLog makes it easy to write to several targets. (database, file, console) and change the logging configuration on-the-fly.

NLog supports the following platforms:

.NET Framework 3.5, 4, 4.5 – 4.8
.NET Framework 4 client profile
Xamarin Android
Xamarin iOs
Windows Phone 8
Silverlight 4 and 5
Mono 4
ASP.NET 4 (NLog.Web package)
ASP.NET Core (NLog.Web.AspNetCore package)
.NET Core (NLog.Extensions.Logging package)
.NET Standard 1.x – NLog 4.5
.NET Standard 2.x – NLog 4.5
UWP – NLog 4.5

Getting started with ASP.NET Core 2

Following are the steps to configure NLog in ASP.NET Core application

1. Add dependency in csproj manually or using NuGet

Install the latest:

PM> Install-Package NLog
PM> Install-Package NLog.Web.AspNetCore

Or in csproj:

<PackageReference Include="NLog.Web.AspNetCore" Version="4.9.3" />
<PackageReference Include="NLog" Version="4.7.6" />

2. Create a nlog.config file

Create nlog.config (lowercase all) file in the root of your project.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<nlog xmlns="http://www.nlog-project.org/schemas/NLog.xsd"
      xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
      autoReload="true"
      internalLogLevel="Info"
      internalLogFile="c:\temp\internal-nlog.txt">

  <!-- enable asp.net core layout renderers -->
  <extensions>
    <add assembly="NLog.Web.AspNetCore"/>
  </extensions>

  <!-- the targets to write to -->
  <targets>
    <!-- write logs to file  -->
    <target xsi:type="File" name="allfile" fileName="c:\temp\nlog-all-${shortdate}.log"
            layout="${longdate}|${event-properties:item=EventId_Id}|${uppercase:${level}}|${logger}|${message} ${exception:format=tostring}" />

    <!-- another file log, only own logs. Uses some ASP.NET core renderers -->
    <target xsi:type="File" name="ownFile-web" fileName="c:\temp\nlog-own-${shortdate}.log"
            layout="${longdate}|${event-properties:item=EventId_Id}|${uppercase:${level}}|${logger}|${message} ${exception:format=tostring}|url: ${aspnet-request-url}|action: ${aspnet-mvc-action}" />
  </targets>

  <!-- rules to map from logger name to target -->
  <rules>
    <!--All logs, including from Microsoft-->
    <logger name="*" minlevel="Trace" writeTo="allfile" />

    <!--Skip non-critical Microsoft logs and so log only own logs-->
    <logger name="Microsoft.*" maxlevel="Info" final="true" /> <!-- BlackHole without writeTo -->
    <logger name="*" minlevel="Trace" writeTo="ownFile-web" />
  </rules>
</nlog>

3. Enable copy to bin folder

or edit .csproj file manually and add:

<ItemGroup>
    <Content Update="nlog.config" CopyToOutputDirectory="PreserveNewest" />
</ItemGroup>

4. Update program.cs

using NLog.Web;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;

public static void Main(string[] args)
{
    // NLog: setup the logger first to catch all errors
    var logger = NLog.Web.NLogBuilder.ConfigureNLog("nlog.config").GetCurrentClassLogger();
    try
    {
        logger.Debug("init main");
        CreateWebHostBuilder(args).Build().Run(); 
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        //NLog: catch setup errors
        logger.Error(ex, "Stopped program because of exception");
        throw;
    }
    finally
    {
        // Ensure to flush and stop internal timers/threads before application-exit (Avoid segmentation fault on Linux)
        NLog.LogManager.Shutdown();
    }
}

public static IWebHostBuilder CreateWebHostBuilder(string[] args) =>
    WebHost.CreateDefaultBuilder(args)
        .UseStartup<Startup>()
        .ConfigureLogging(logging =>
        {
            logging.ClearProviders();
            logging.SetMinimumLevel(Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.LogLevel.Trace);
        })
        .UseNLog();  // NLog: setup NLog for Dependency injection

5. Configure appsettings.json

The Logging configuration specified in appsettings.json overrides any call to SetMinimumLevel. So either remove "Default": or adjust it correctly to your needs.

{
    "Logging": {
        "LogLevel": {
            "Default": "Trace",
            "Microsoft": "Information"
        }
    }
}

Remember to also update any environment specific configuration to avoid any surprises. Ex appsettings.Development.json

6. Write logs

Inject the ILogger in your controller:

using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;

public class HomeController : Controller
{
    private readonly ILogger<HomeController> _logger;

    public HomeController(ILogger<HomeController> logger)
    {
        _logger = logger;
    }

    public IActionResult Index()
    {
        _logger.LogInformation("Index page says hello");
        return View();
    }

7. Example Output

When starting the ASP.NET Core website, we get two files:

nlog-own-2017-10-10.log

2020-12-29 14:40:29.5143||DEBUG|ASP.NET_Core_2___VS2017.Program|init main |url: |action: 
2020-12-29 14:40:32.1326|0|INFO|ASP.NET_Core_2___VS2017.Controllers.HomeController|Hello, this is the index! |url: http://localhost/|action: Index

nlog-all-2017-10-10.log

2020-12-29 14:40:29.5143||DEBUG|ASP.NET_Core_2___VS2017.Program|init main 
2020-12-29 14:40:30.9739|0|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.KeyManagement.XmlKeyManager|User profile is available. Using 'C:\Users\j.verdurmen\AppData\Local\ASP.NET\DataProtection-Keys' as key repository and Windows DPAPI to encrypt keys at rest. 
2020-12-29 14:40:30.9897|37|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.Repositories.FileSystemXmlRepository|Reading data from file 'C:\Users\j.verdurmen\AppData\Local\ASP.NET\DataProtection-Keys\key-bfd1ce07-8dc6-4eef-a51a-d21ddb547109.xml'. 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.0004|18|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.KeyManagement.XmlKeyManager|Found key {bfd1ce07-8dc6-4eef-a51a-d21ddb547109}. 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.0124|13|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.KeyManagement.DefaultKeyResolver|Considering key {bfd1ce07-8dc6-4eef-a51a-d21ddb547109} with expiration date 2017-12-28 19:01:07Z as default key. 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.0422|0|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.TypeForwardingActivator|Forwarded activator type request from Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.XmlEncryption.DpapiXmlDecryptor, Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=adb9793829ddae60 to Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.XmlEncryption.DpapiXmlDecryptor, Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=adb9793829ddae60 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.0422|51|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.XmlEncryption.DpapiXmlDecryptor|Decrypting secret element using Windows DPAPI. 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.0422|0|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.TypeForwardingActivator|Forwarded activator type request from Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.AuthenticatedEncryption.ConfigurationModel.AuthenticatedEncryptorDescriptorDeserializer, Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=adb9793829ddae60 to Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.AuthenticatedEncryption.ConfigurationModel.AuthenticatedEncryptorDescriptorDeserializer, Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=adb9793829ddae60 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.0422|4|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.AuthenticatedEncryption.CngCbcAuthenticatedEncryptorFactory|Opening CNG algorithm 'AES' from provider '(null)' with chaining mode CBC. 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.0543|3|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.AuthenticatedEncryption.CngCbcAuthenticatedEncryptorFactory|Opening CNG algorithm 'SHA256' from provider '(null)' with HMAC. 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.0543|2|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.KeyManagement.KeyRingProvider|Using key {bfd1ce07-8dc6-4eef-a51a-d21ddb547109} as the default key. 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.0543|0|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.Internal.DataProtectionStartupFilter|Key ring with default key {bfd1ce07-8dc6-4eef-a51a-d21ddb547109} was loaded during application startup. 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.4080|3|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Hosting starting 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.5508|4|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Hosting started 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.5508|0|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Loaded hosting startup assembly ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.5526|0|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Loaded hosting startup assembly Microsoft.AspNetCore.ApplicationInsights.HostingStartup 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.5526|0|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Loaded hosting startup assembly Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.IISIntegration 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.6909|1|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK64" started. 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.6909|1|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK65" started. 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.7418|19|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Libuv|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK65" reset. 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.7418|10|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK65" disconnecting. 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.7418|7|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Libuv|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK65" sending FIN. 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.7591|2|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK65" stopped. 
2020-12-29 14:40:31.8153|1|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request starting HTTP/1.1 GET http://localhost:56152/   
2020-12-29 14:40:31.8607|4|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.StaticFiles.StaticFileMiddleware|The request path / does not match a supported file type 
2020-12-29 14:40:32.0160|1|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Routing.RouteBase|Request successfully matched the route with name 'default' and template '{controller=Home}/{action=Index}/{id?}'. 
2020-12-29 14:40:32.1120|1|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Internal.ControllerActionInvoker|Executing action ASP.NET_Core_2___VS2017.Controllers.HomeController.Index (ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017) 
2020-12-29 14:40:32.1326|1|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Internal.ControllerActionInvoker|Executing action method ASP.NET_Core_2___VS2017.Controllers.HomeController.Index (ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017) with arguments ((null)) - ModelState is Valid 
2020-12-29 14:40:32.1326|0|INFO|ASP.NET_Core_2___VS2017.Controllers.HomeController|Hello, this is the index! 
2020-12-29 14:40:32.1620|2|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Internal.ControllerActionInvoker|Executed action method ASP.NET_Core_2___VS2017.Controllers.HomeController.Index (ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017), returned result Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.ViewResult. 
2020-12-29 14:40:32.1620|1|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor.RazorViewEngine|View lookup cache miss for view 'Index' in controller 'Home'. 
2020-12-29 14:40:33.6906|1|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor.Internal.RazorViewCompiler|Compilation of the generated code for the Razor file at 'X:\nlog\NLog.Web\examples\ASP.NET Core 2\Visual Studio 2017\ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017\Views\Home\Index.cshtml' started. 
2020-12-29 14:40:35.7180|2|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor.Internal.RazorViewCompiler|Compilation of the generated code for the Razor file at 'X:\nlog\NLog.Web\examples\ASP.NET Core 2\Visual Studio 2017\ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017\Views\Home\Index.cshtml' completed in 2024.1338ms. 
2020-12-29 14:40:35.7988|1|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor.Internal.RazorViewCompiler|Compilation of the generated code for the Razor file at 'X:\nlog\NLog.Web\examples\ASP.NET Core 2\Visual Studio 2017\ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017\Views\_ViewStart.cshtml' started. 
2020-12-29 14:40:35.8637|2|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor.Internal.RazorViewCompiler|Compilation of the generated code for the Razor file at 'X:\nlog\NLog.Web\examples\ASP.NET Core 2\Visual Studio 2017\ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017\Views\_ViewStart.cshtml' completed in 63.9912ms. 
2020-12-29 14:40:35.8710|2|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.ViewFeatures.Internal.ViewResultExecutor|The view 'Index' was found. 
2020-12-29 14:40:35.8710|1|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.ViewFeatures.Internal.ViewResultExecutor|Executing ViewResult, running view at path /Views/Home/Index.cshtml. 
2020-12-29 14:40:35.9577|1|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor.RazorViewEngine|View lookup cache miss for view '_Layout' in controller 'Home'. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.0454|1|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor.Internal.RazorViewCompiler|Compilation of the generated code for the Razor file at 'X:\nlog\NLog.Web\examples\ASP.NET Core 2\Visual Studio 2017\ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017\Views\Shared\_Layout.cshtml' started. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.2080|2|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor.Internal.RazorViewCompiler|Compilation of the generated code for the Razor file at 'X:\nlog\NLog.Web\examples\ASP.NET Core 2\Visual Studio 2017\ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017\Views\Shared\_Layout.cshtml' completed in 161.8031ms. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.2209|2|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor.TagHelpers.HeadTagHelper|Tag helper component 'Microsoft.AspNetCore.ApplicationInsights.HostingStartup.JavaScriptSnippetTagHelperComponent' initialized. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.2209|3|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor.TagHelpers.HeadTagHelper|Tag helper component 'Microsoft.AspNetCore.ApplicationInsights.HostingStartup.JavaScriptSnippetTagHelperComponent' processed. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.2367|2|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor.TagHelpers.BodyTagHelper|Tag helper component 'Microsoft.AspNetCore.ApplicationInsights.HostingStartup.JavaScriptSnippetTagHelperComponent' initialized. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.2367|3|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor.TagHelpers.BodyTagHelper|Tag helper component 'Microsoft.AspNetCore.ApplicationInsights.HostingStartup.JavaScriptSnippetTagHelperComponent' processed. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.2942|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Internal.ControllerActionInvoker|Executed action ASP.NET_Core_2___VS2017.Controllers.HomeController.Index (ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017) in 4181.1451ms 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.3036|9|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK64" completed keep alive response. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.3273|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request finished in 4515.4954ms 200 text/html; charset=utf-8 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.3273|1|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK67" started. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.3273|1|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK66" started. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.3386|1|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request starting HTTP/1.1 GET http://localhost:56152/lib/bootstrap/dist/css/bootstrap.css   
2020-12-29 14:40:36.3386|1|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request starting HTTP/1.1 GET http://localhost:56152/css/site.css   
2020-12-29 14:40:36.3610|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.StaticFiles.StaticFileMiddleware|Sending file. Request path: '/css/site.css'. Physical path: 'X:\nlog\NLog.Web\examples\ASP.NET Core 2\Visual Studio 2017\ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017\wwwroot\css\site.css' 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.3610|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.StaticFiles.StaticFileMiddleware|Sending file. Request path: '/lib/bootstrap/dist/css/bootstrap.css'. Physical path: 'X:\nlog\NLog.Web\examples\ASP.NET Core 2\Visual Studio 2017\ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017\wwwroot\lib\bootstrap\dist\css\bootstrap.css' 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.4312|9|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK66" completed keep alive response. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.4312|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request finished in 90.8043ms 200 text/css 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.4312|9|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK67" completed keep alive response. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.4312|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request finished in 98.4683ms 200 text/css 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.4710|1|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK68" started. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.4710|1|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK69" started. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.4819|1|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request starting HTTP/1.1 GET http://localhost:56152/lib/jquery/dist/jquery.js   
2020-12-29 14:40:36.4819|1|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request starting HTTP/1.1 GET http://localhost:56152/lib/bootstrap/dist/js/bootstrap.js   
2020-12-29 14:40:36.4819|1|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request starting HTTP/1.1 GET http://localhost:56152/images/banner2.svg   
2020-12-29 14:40:36.4819|1|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request starting HTTP/1.1 GET http://localhost:56152/js/site.js?v=ji3-IxbEzYWjzzLCGkF1KDjrT2jLbbrSYXw-AhMPNIA   
2020-12-29 14:40:36.4819|1|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK6A" started. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.4819|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.StaticFiles.StaticFileMiddleware|Sending file. Request path: '/js/site.js'. Physical path: 'X:\nlog\NLog.Web\examples\ASP.NET Core 2\Visual Studio 2017\ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017\wwwroot\js\site.js' 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.4819|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.StaticFiles.StaticFileMiddleware|Sending file. Request path: '/lib/jquery/dist/jquery.js'. Physical path: 'X:\nlog\NLog.Web\examples\ASP.NET Core 2\Visual Studio 2017\ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017\wwwroot\lib\jquery\dist\jquery.js' 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.4819|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.StaticFiles.StaticFileMiddleware|Sending file. Request path: '/images/banner2.svg'. Physical path: 'X:\nlog\NLog.Web\examples\ASP.NET Core 2\Visual Studio 2017\ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017\wwwroot\images\banner2.svg' 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.4933|9|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK67" completed keep alive response. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.4819|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.StaticFiles.StaticFileMiddleware|Sending file. Request path: '/lib/bootstrap/dist/js/bootstrap.js'. Physical path: 'X:\nlog\NLog.Web\examples\ASP.NET Core 2\Visual Studio 2017\ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017\wwwroot\lib\bootstrap\dist\js\bootstrap.js' 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.4933|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request finished in 20.2541ms 200 application/javascript 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.5143|9|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK66" completed keep alive response. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.5143|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request finished in 32.361ms 200 image/svg+xml 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.5143|1|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request starting HTTP/1.1 GET http://localhost:56152/lib/bootstrap/dist/fonts/glyphicons-halflings-regular.woff2   
2020-12-29 14:40:36.5401|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.StaticFiles.StaticFileMiddleware|Sending file. Request path: '/lib/bootstrap/dist/fonts/glyphicons-halflings-regular.woff2'. Physical path: 'X:\nlog\NLog.Web\examples\ASP.NET Core 2\Visual Studio 2017\ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017\wwwroot\lib\bootstrap\dist\fonts\glyphicons-halflings-regular.woff2' 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.5401|1|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request starting HTTP/1.1 GET http://localhost:56152/images/banner1.svg   
2020-12-29 14:40:36.5401|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.StaticFiles.StaticFileMiddleware|Sending file. Request path: '/images/banner1.svg'. Physical path: 'X:\nlog\NLog.Web\examples\ASP.NET Core 2\Visual Studio 2017\ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017\wwwroot\images\banner1.svg' 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.5539|9|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK67" completed keep alive response. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.5539|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request finished in 39.9074ms 200 font/woff2 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.5745|1|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request starting HTTP/1.1 GET http://localhost:56152/images/banner3.svg   
2020-12-29 14:40:36.5745|1|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request starting HTTP/1.1 GET http://localhost:56152/images/banner4.svg   
2020-12-29 14:40:36.5951|9|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK68" completed keep alive response. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.6015|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request finished in 119.5389ms 200 application/javascript 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.6015|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.StaticFiles.StaticFileMiddleware|Sending file. Request path: '/images/banner4.svg'. Physical path: 'X:\nlog\NLog.Web\examples\ASP.NET Core 2\Visual Studio 2017\ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017\wwwroot\images\banner4.svg' 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.5745|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.StaticFiles.StaticFileMiddleware|Sending file. Request path: '/images/banner3.svg'. Physical path: 'X:\nlog\NLog.Web\examples\ASP.NET Core 2\Visual Studio 2017\ASP.NET Core 2 - VS2017\wwwroot\images\banner3.svg' 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.6946|9|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK64" completed keep alive response. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.6703|9|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK66" completed keep alive response. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.6946|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request finished in 119.7561ms 200 image/svg+xml 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.6015|9|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK69" completed keep alive response. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.7137|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request finished in 170.2078ms 200 image/svg+xml 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.7137|9|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK6A" completed keep alive response. 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.7560|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request finished in 181.4017ms 200 image/svg+xml 
2020-12-29 14:40:36.6946|2|INFO|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost|Request finished in 216.2838ms 200 application/javascript 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6657|6|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Libuv|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK68" received FIN. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6657|6|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Libuv|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK67" received FIN. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6657|10|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK67" disconnecting. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6657|6|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Libuv|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK69" received FIN. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6657|10|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK69" disconnecting. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6657|7|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Libuv|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK67" sending FIN. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6657|10|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK68" disconnecting. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6657|2|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK69" stopped. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6800|6|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Libuv|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK66" received FIN. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6800|10|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK66" disconnecting. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6657|7|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Libuv|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK69" sending FIN. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6657|2|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK67" stopped. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6800|6|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Libuv|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK6A" received FIN. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6800|10|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK6A" disconnecting. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6800|6|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Libuv|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK64" received FIN. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6800|10|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK64" disconnecting. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6800|7|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Libuv|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK68" sending FIN. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6800|2|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK68" stopped. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6800|7|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Libuv|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK66" sending FIN. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6800|2|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK66" stopped. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6943|2|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK6A" stopped. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6943|7|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Libuv|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK6A" sending FIN. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6943|7|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Libuv|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK64" sending FIN. 
2020-12-29 14:42:21.6943|2|DEBUG|Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel|Connection id "0HL8G4U42CK64" stopped.

The file format can be defined using the layout attribute in a target element.

NLog is easy to use and configure with ASP.NET Core application. In this post, I have explained about NLog – file logging configuration with ASP.NET Core 2.

How to Connect Samples of Telerik Reporting to MySQL

Posted by Neeraj Nawariya

Some of our customers don’t use Microsoft SQL Server as their database. What is not well known is that Telerik Reporting supports MySQL database out of the box.

Below, I detail the steps that are required to design reports using Telerik Report Designer from MySQL database.

First, install MySQL Connecter from below link.

https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/connector/net/

Please download AdventureWorks database for MySQL from below link and import this to your MySQL.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/awmysql/

After installing MySQL Connector you can see the “MySQL Data Provider” in drop-down list please select this.

Enter the connection string of Adventureworks database according to the below picture and click on the next button.

Change the Alias if you want and click on the next button.

Change query according to DB and click on the Next button.

Below the screen comes and click on the Execute Query button.

After clicking on the Execute Query button, If data appears on a Screen the task completed click on the Finish button or not check the query again.

Above, we have seen how to enable Telerik Reporting Designer to fetch data from MySQL using the MySQL ADO.NET connector. There is one additional step that you need to do to render the report.

This step is to add MySQL nuget package into the host application. The package to add is MySQL.Data . This adds the capability to connect with MySQL from Telerik Reporting Host application.

Now your report is able to render data from MySQL database.

Connect Telerik Reporting with Postgres SQL

Posted by Abhishek Kant

One of our customers required their Telerik Reporting application to connect with their Postgres SQL (for effect, no not Microsoft SQL Server but the open source Postgres SQL).

While at the outset it may appear to be almost impossible but this task is very easy to implement with Telerik Reporting.

We accomplish this with using ADO.NET driver for Postgres SQL. The same approach can be used for other databases like MySQL.

In this post, we will discuss how to get Telerik Reporting working on .NET Core 3.1.

The first thing is to understand that Telerik Reporting is a framework that has three distinct and independent pieces:

Telerik Report Definition
Telerik Reporting Host Application
Telerik Report Viewer

First you would want to create the Telerik Report Definition (a trdp file). To create this, we use the Telerik Reporting Designer. By default, there is nothing that supports Postgres SQL in there. So, here is the first step – Download the NgpSql driver (the MSI installer).

Once done, this will add a new datasource to the SQL Data Source of the designer:

Click on the SQL Data Source, and add a new data connection. In the dropdown, please select the new available provider “Ngpsql Data Provider”:

Following this you will need to provide the connection string. The Postgres connection string is of the following format:

Host=<server name>;Database=<db name>;Username=<username>;Password=<password>

Provide the relevant SQL statement and complete creating the data connection. The rest of the remaining steps are the same as creating a regular Telerik Report definition.

Make sure that the data is as preview in the report.

The second step, is to configure the hosting application. Since we are now working with .NET core, you can start with the .NET Core WebAPI application template and add relevant nuget packages to the same. Detailed instructions are available here: https://docs.telerik.com/reporting/telerik-reporting-rest-service-aspnetcore-mvc-core3

This will make the host application provide the Telerik Reporting Service. You can check if this the reporting has been correctly setup by browsing to the URL: http://localhost/api/reports/formats

The extra step in the host application is to include an additional nuget package in the host application: Ngpsql

The next change in the host application is changing the connection string and its provider. Specify your connection string in the appSettings.json as follows:

Pay special attention to the providerName above.

Congratulations you are done!!

The third and final piece, the Telerik Report Viewer doesn’t require any changes.

Your host application (in my case a simple HTML 5 application) can now simply render the report from the host application.

References:

https://docs.telerik.com/reporting/knowledge-base/configuring-postgres-with-npgsql

https://www.telerik.com/forums/configure-standalone-report-designer-for-postgresql-data-source

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/security/cors?view=aspnetcore-5.0#enable-cors

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Month: December 2020

How to use NLog with ASP.NET Core 2

4. Update program.cs

How to Connect Samples of Telerik Reporting to MySQL

Connect Telerik Reporting with Postgres SQL