Use Seq for logging with log4net instead of text file

Question

Using Sitecore 8.2.

I want to log to SEQ instead of a standard file for the Sitecore log. Since Sitecore uses log4net, I've been looking at this documentation: https://docs.getseq.net/docs/using-log4net

Here is my web.config file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
  <configSections>
    <section name="sitecore" type="Sitecore.Configuration.ConfigReader, Sitecore.Kernel" />
    <section name="log4net" type="log4net.Config.Log4NetConfigurationSectionHandler, Sitecore.Logging" />
    <!-- For more information on Entity Framework configuration, visit http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=237468 -->
    <section name="entityFramework" type="System.Data.Entity.Internal.ConfigFile.EntityFrameworkSection, EntityFramework, Version=6.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" requirePermission="false" />
  </configSections>
  <log4net>
    <appender name="LogFileAppender" type="Seq.Client.Log4Net.SeqAppender, Seq.Client.Log4Net" >
      <bufferSize value="1" />
      <serverUrl value="http://localhost:5341" />
    </appender>
    <root>
      <priority value="INFO" />
      <appender-ref ref="LogFileAppender" />
    </root>
  </log4net>

I do not get anything to my SEQ installation, instead everything is still logged to file. Why is this not working?

EDIT: I've found that SEQ library can't be used, since the log4net namespace that Sitecore uses is a special implementation that lies in the sitecore.logging dll. I've even tried creating a custom logger and referenced it like this:

<configuration xmlns:patch="http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/">
  <sitecore>
    <log4net>
      <appender name="AcmAppender" type="Coptikk.Web.Extensions.AcmAppender, Coptikk.Web">
        <layout type="log4net.Layout.PatternLayout,log4net">
          <param name="ConversionPattern" value="%d{ABSOLUTE} %-5p %c{1}:%L - %m%n" />
        </layout>
      </appender>
      <logger name="Sitecore.SeqLog" additivity="false">
        <level value="WARN" />
        <encoding value="utf-8" />
        <appender-ref ref="AcmAppender" />
      </logger>
    </log4net>
  </sitecore>
</configuration>

I then made an alias for the Sitecore.Logging reference and created the following code:

extern alias SitecoreLog;
using System;

namespace Coptikk.Web.Extensions
{
    public class AcmAppender : SitecoreLog::log4net.Appender.AppenderSkeleton
    {
        protected override void Append(SitecoreLog::log4net.spi.LoggingEvent loggingEvent)
        {
            var lvl = loggingEvent.Level.Name;
            Console.Write(lvl);
        }
    }
}

This works as long as there is no log4net.dll in the bin folder. If I add the log4net.dll that I need to send stuff to SEQ, this stops working. At this point I'm pretty blank as how to proceed.

Answer 1

You will need to patch your change in, since the settings you are trying to affect are in the Sitecore.config.

<configuration xmlns:patch="http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/">
    <sitecore>
        <log4net>
            <appender name="LogFileAppender" type="log4net.Appender.SitecoreLogFileAppender, Sitecore.Logging">
                <patch:delete/>
            </appender>
            <appender name="LogFileAppender" type="Seq.Client.Log4Net.SeqAppender, Seq.Client.Log4Net" >
                <bufferSize value="1" />
                <serverUrl value="http://localhost:5341" />
            </appender>
            <root>
                <priority value="DEBUG"> <!-- this value should be set to whatever is currently set in the Sitecore.config for your instance of Sitecore -->
                    <patch:attribute name="value">INFO</patch:attribute>
                </priority>
            </root>
        </log4net>
    </sitecore>
</configuration>