how to configure log4net to work inside a CRM 2011 plugin?

Question

I am trying to log some information inside a CRM 2011 plugin. I am not sure how to configure log4net. Where should I put log4net config file and how to reference from the plugin? Thanks!

Answer 1

Assuming you are registering your plugins to the database, you have a couple options:

1. Configure log4net programmatically. This can be done via the log4net API and could be driven by a configuration entity in crm.

2. Embed the log4net config file in the plugin assembly and configure log4net from a stream (shown below in a plugin base class that other plugins who wish to log could inherit from)

   namespace TestPlugins
   {
       public abstract class BaseLoggingPlugin
       {
           protected static readonly ILog _log = LogManager.GetLogger(typeof(BaseLoggingPlugin));
   
           static BaseLoggingPlugin()
           {
               using(var config = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetManifestResourceStream("TestPlugins.log4net.config"))
               {
                   XmlConfigurator.Configure(config);
               }
           }
       }
   }