Log4Net on MVC.NET using Ninject - asp.net-mvc

Question

I'm trying to set up Log4Net in a MVC.net project with Ninject.
I've reached the point where I'm able to see the Ninject debug output but I am still not seeing any logging output.
This is all running on my localhost so there shouldn't be any issues with security.
The setup I have is as follows:
In the AssemblyInfo.cs I have added this to point log4net to Web.config for configuration
[assembly: log4net.Config.XmlConfigurator(ConfigFile = "Web.config", Watch = true)]
In the Web.config I've added the following sections
<configSections>
<section name="log4net" type="log4net.Config.Log4NetConfigurationSectionHandler,Log4net"/>
</configSections>
...
<appSettings>
<add key="log4net.Internal.Debug" value="true"/>
</appSettings>
...
<log4net>
<appender name="FileAppender" type="log4net.Appender.FileAppender">
<file value="log-file.txt" />
<appendToFile value="true" />
<encoding value="utf-8" />
<layout type="log4net.Layout.SimpleLayout" />
</appender>
<root>
<level value="ALL" />
<appender-ref ref="FileAppender" />
</root>
</log4net>
In my base controller, from which all the other controllers in the system inherit I have the following:
[Inject]
public ILogger logger { get; set; }
I then put an explicit throw new Exception("testException") on the login page to force an error which I would have expected to see showing up in the log file.
From the debug trace I see the following on startup.
log4net: log4net assembly [log4net, Version=1.2.10.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=1b44e1d426115821]. Loaded from [C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Temporary ASP.NET Files\portal\63a118bb\781d84b7\assembly\dl3\40d137a6\9fb44da2_c951cc01\log4net.dll]. (.NET Runtime [4.0.30319.235] on Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1)
log4net: DefaultRepositorySelector: defaultRepositoryType [log4net.Repository.Hierarchy.Hierarchy]
log4net: DefaultRepositorySelector: Creating repository for assembly [Ninject.Extensions.Logging.Log4Net, Version=2.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=c7192dc5380945e7]
log4net: DefaultRepositorySelector: Assembly [Ninject.Extensions.Logging.Log4Net, Version=2.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=c7192dc5380945e7] Loaded From [C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Temporary ASP.NET Files\portal\63a118bb\781d84b7\assembly\dl3\edd36351\91af46a2_c951cc01\Ninject.Extensions.Logging.Log4Net.dll]
log4net: DefaultRepositorySelector: Assembly [Ninject.Extensions.Logging.Log4Net, Version=2.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=c7192dc5380945e7] does not have a RepositoryAttribute specified.
log4net: DefaultRepositorySelector: Assembly [Ninject.Extensions.Logging.Log4Net, Version=2.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=c7192dc5380945e7] using repository [log4net-default-repository] and repository type [log4net.Repository.Hierarchy.Hierarchy]
log4net: DefaultRepositorySelector: Creating repository [log4net-default-repository] using type [log4net.Repository.Hierarchy.Hierarchy]
I have the feeling that this is probably a configuration issue but any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Injecting an ILog or ILogger instance does not implicitly register any kind of exception handler. It just gives you access to a logger. You still have to tell it what to log and when to log it.
If you want to test your configuration, make a logging call from one of your controller's actions, or use one of the OnAction event invokers. This should probably do what you want:
public class MyController : Controller
{
protected override void OnActionExecuted(ActionExecutedContext context)
{
if (Logger != null)
{
string message = string.Format("Action executed: {0}.{1}",
context.ActionDescriptor.ControllerDescriptor.ControllerName,
context.ActionDescriptor.ActionName);
Logger.Log(typeof(MyController), log4Net.Core.Level.Trace,
message, context.Exception);
}
base.OnActionExecuted(context);
}
[Inject]
public ILogger Logger { get; set; }
}
That will log every controller action - including exceptions. If you only care about exceptions then either check the context.Exception and context.ExceptionHandled properties before logging, or better yet write a custom ActionFilter to do this.