ASP.NET Core 6.0 Serilog Template

This is an example of how to create a ASP .NET Core app with Serilog (.NET 7+)

Check my blog post for more details: ASP.NET Core + Serilog

If you're looking for .NET (Core) versions, checkout the old branches: https://github.com/jernejk/AspNetCoreSerilogExample/branches

1. Add Nuget packages

In csproj add:

 <ItemGroup>
<!-- Serilog dependencies -->
<PackageReferenceInclude="Serilog"Version="2.9.0" />
<PackageReferenceInclude="Serilog.AspNetCore"Version="3.2.0" />
<PackageReferenceInclude="Serilog.Enrichers.Environment"Version="2.1.3" />
<PackageReferenceInclude="Serilog.Exceptions"Version="5.3.1" />
<PackageReferenceInclude="Serilog.Extensions.Logging"Version="3.0.1" />
<PackageReferenceInclude="Serilog.Settings.Configuration"Version="3.1.0" />
<PackageReferenceInclude="Serilog.Sinks.Async"Version="1.4.0" />
<PackageReferenceInclude="Serilog.Sinks.Console"Version="3.1.1" />
<PackageReferenceInclude="Serilog.Sinks.RollingFile"Version="3.3.0" />
<PackageReferenceInclude="Serilog.Sinks.Seq"Version="4.0.0" />
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<!-- Make sure all of the necessary appsettings are included with the application. -->
<ContentUpdate="appsettings*.json">
<CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
<CopyToPublishDirectory>Always</CopyToPublishDirectory>
</Content>
<ContentUpdate="appsettings.Local.json">
<CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
<CopyToPublishDirectory>Never</CopyToPublishDirectory>
</Content>
</ItemGroup>

2. Add Serilog configuration

Add Seq and async console configuration in appsetings.json:

"Serilog": {"Using": ["Serilog.Exceptions","Serilog","Serilog.Sinks.Console","Serilog.Sinks.Seq"],"MinimumLevel": {"Default": "Verbose","Override": {"System": "Information","Microsoft": "Information","Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore": "Information"}},"WriteTo": [{"Name": "Seq","Args": {"serverUrl": "http://localhost:5341","apiKey": "none","restrictedToMinimumLevel": "Verbose"}},{"Name": "Async","Args": {"configure": [{"Name": "Console","Args": {"restrictedToMinimumLevel": "Information"}}]}}],"Enrich": ["FromLogContext","WithExceptionDetails"],"Properties": {"Environment": "LocalDev"}}

3. Update Program.cs (minimal APIs)

// Logging based on https://github.com/jernejk/AspNetCoreSerilogExample and https://github.com/datalust/dotnet6-serilog-example// NOTE: When upgrading from .NET 5 or earlier, add `<ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>` to **.csproj** file under `<PropertyGroup>`.// NOTE: While you can still use full Program.cs and Startup.cs, `.UseSerilog()` is marked as obsolete for them. It's safer to move to minimal APIs.usingSerilog;usingSystem.Diagnostics;try{varbuilder=WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);builder.Host.UseSerilog((ctx,loggerConfiguration)=>{loggerConfiguration.ReadFrom.Configuration(ctx.Configuration).Enrich.FromLogContext().Enrich.WithProperty("ApplicationName",typeof(Program).Assembly.GetName().Name).Enrich.WithProperty("Environment",ctx.HostingEnvironment);
#if DEBUG// Used to filter out potentially bad data due debugging.// Very useful when doing Seq dashboards and want to remove logs under debugging session.loggerConfiguration.Enrich.WithProperty("DebuggerAttached",Debugger.IsAttached);
#endif
});// Register servicesbuilder.Services.AddControllers();builder.Services.AddLogging();WebApplicationapp=builder.Build();// Rest of configuration.if(app.Environment.IsDevelopment()){app.UseDeveloperExceptionPage();}// This will make the HTTP requests log as rich logs instead of plain text.app.UseSerilogRequestLogging();app.UseRouting();// Absolute minimum setup, just return "Hello world!" to browser.// You can use Controllers, SPA routing, SignalR, etc. routing.app.UseEndpoints(endpoints =>{endpoints.MapControllerRoute(name:"default",pattern:"{controller}/{action=Index}/{id?}");endpoints.MapGet("", context =>context.Response.WriteAsync("Hello World!\nUse /api/test/flatlog?input=Test, /api/test/StructuredLog?input=Test, etc. and observe console/Seq for logs."));});app.Run();}catch(Exceptionex){if(Log.Logger==null||Log.Logger.GetType().Name=="SilentLogger"){// Loading configuration or Serilog failed.// This will create a logger that can be captured by Azure logger.// To enable Azure logger, in Azure Portal:// 1. Go to WebApp// 2. App Service logs// 3. Enable "Application Logging (Filesystem)", "Application Logging (Filesystem)" and "Detailed error messages"// 4. Set Retention Period (Days) to 10 or similar value// 5. Save settings// 6. Under Overview, restart web app// 7. Go to Log Stream and observe the logsLog.Logger=newLoggerConfiguration().MinimumLevel.Debug().WriteTo.Console().CreateLogger();}Log.Fatal(ex,"Host terminated unexpectedly");}finally{Log.Information("Shut down complete");Log.CloseAndFlush();}