Have log4net use application config file for configuration data

Question

I would like to store log4net config data in my application.config file. Based on my understanding of the documentation, I did the following:

1. Add a reference to log4net.dll

2. Add the following line in AssemblyInfo.cs:

   [assembly: log4net.Config.XmlConfigurator(Watch = true)]
   

3. Initialize the logger as follows:

   private static readonly ILog log = LogManager.GetLogger(typeof(frmWizard));
   

4. I have the following code in my app.config:

    <configSections>
      <section name="log4net" type="log4net.Config.Log4NetConfigurationSectionHandler, log4net" />
    </configSections>
    <log4net>
      <appender name="EventLogAppender" type="log4net.Appender.EventLogAppender" >
        <layout type="log4net.Layout.PatternLayout">
          <conversionPattern value="%date [%thread] %-5level %logger [%property{NDC}] - %message%newline" />
        </layout>
      </appender>
      <root>
        <level value="INFO" />
        <appender-ref ref="ConsoleAppender" />
      </root>
    </log4net>

However, when I run the application, I get the following error on the console:

No appender named [Consoleappender] could be found.

How can I get log4net to read settings from the config file?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Add a line to your app.config in the configSections element

<configSections>  <section name="log4net"     type="log4net.Config.Log4NetConfigurationSectionHandler, log4net, Version=1.2.10.0,           Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=1b44e1d426115821" /> </configSections> 

Then later add the log4Net section, but delegate to the actual log4Net config file elsewhere...

<log4net configSource="Config\Log4Net.config" /> 

In your application code, when you create the log, write

private static ILog GetLog(string logName) {     ILog log = LogManager.GetLogger(logName);     return log; } 

Answer 2

From the config shown in the question there is but one appender configured and it is named "EventLogAppender". But in the config for root, the author references an appender named "ConsoleAppender", hence the error message.