Configure Column Options for Serilog Sinks MsSqlServer in AppSettings.json - asp.net-core-2.0

Question

I'm trying to determine if it's possible to configure the column options for serilog sink mssqlserver in the appsettings.json file for an ASP.Net Core 2 project.
I create and configure the logger in the Program.cs file.
public static IConfiguration Configuration { get; } = new ConfigurationBuilder()
.SetBasePath(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory())
.AddJsonFile("appsettings.json", optional: false, reloadOnChange: true)
.AddJsonFile($"appsettings.{Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT") ?? "Production"}.json", optional: true)
.AddEnvironmentVariables()
.Build();
public static int Main(string[] args)
{
Log.Logger = new LoggerConfiguration()
//.Enrich.WithProperty("AppName", "One Badass App") // Adds property to XML structure in properties column
.ReadFrom.Configuration(Configuration)
.CreateLogger();
try
{
Log.Information("Starting web host");
BuildWebHost(args).Run();
return 0;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Log.Fatal(ex, "Host terminated unexpectedly");
return 1;
}
finally
{
Log.CloseAndFlush();
}
}
I can build the configuration file from the appsettings.json file, which contains a Serilog node with information for which connection string and table to use.
{
"AppSettings": {
"Application": {
"Name": "Payment Processing API",
"Version": "1.0"
}
},
"ConnectionStrings": {
"localPaymentProcessingDb": "Server=(localdb)\\mssqllocaldb;Database=PaymentProcessing;Trusted_Connection=True;MultipleActiveResultSets=true"
},
"Serilog": {
"MinimumLevel": "Information",
"WriteTo": [
{
"Name": "MSSqlServer",
"Args": {
"connectionString": "Server=(localdb)\\mssqllocaldb;Database=PaymentProcessing;Trusted_Connection=True;MultipleActiveResultSets=true",
"tableName": "Logs"
}
}
]
}
There's an open issue on Github for this, but I haven't found any other information about it.
If column options can't be configured in the appsettings.json, where and how should they be configured in an ASP.Net Core 2 project?

Answer 1

If anyone else stumbles across this same issue the linked GitHub issue in the question now contains the answer:
This is now possible with the latest SQL sink and
Serilog.Settings.Configuration packages.
Also, I know this question asks for a .NET Core 2 answer, and it sounds like the linked GitHub page answers this for 2, I am using .NET Core 3.1 and the following worked for me (hopefully it works for 2 as well)
I installed the Serilog.Settings.Configuration Nuget package and used the following Serilog appsettings.json configuration:
"Serilog":{
"MinimumLevel":"Information",
"WriteTo":[
{
"Name":"MSSqlServer",
"Args":{
"connectionString":"DbContext",
"tableName":"EventLog",
"autoCreateSqlTable":true,
"columnOptionsSection":{
"addStandardColumns":[
"LogEvent"
],
"removeStandardColumns":[
"MessageTemplate",
"Properties"
]
}
}
}
]
}

Answer 2

For accessing Serilog from appsettings in Code, you could bind Serilog node to Serilog class.
Here are the detail steps.
1. Create Serilog Configuration Class
public class SerilogConfiguration
{
public LogEventLevel MinimumLevel { get; set; }
public List<WriteTo> WriteTo { get; set; }
}
public class WriteTo
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public Args Args { get; set; }
}
public class Args
{
public string ConnectionString { get; set; }
public string TableName { get; set; }
public List<StandardColumn> Add { get; set; }
public List<StandardColumn> Remove { get; set; }
}
Configure appsettings.json
Code:
{
"Serilog": {
"MinimumLevel": "Error",
"WriteTo": [
{
"Name": "MSSqlServer",
"Args": {
"connectionString": "<our connection string>",
"tableName": "Log",
"Remove": [ "Properties" ],
"Add": [ "LogEvent" ]
}
}
]
}
}
Bind appsetting.json to class
public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
services.Configure<SerilogConfiguration>(Configuration.GetSection("Serilog"));
}
Access Configuration
public class HomeController : Controller {
private readonly SerilogConfiguration _configuration;
public HomeController(IOptions<SerilogConfiguration> configuration)
{
_configuration = configuration.Value;
}
public IActionResult AppSettings()
{
var columnOptions = new ColumnOptions();
var MSSqlServer = _configuration.WriteTo.Where(wt => wt.Name == "MSSqlServer").FirstOrDefault();
// Don't include the Properties XML column.
foreach(var columnRemove in MSSqlServer.Args.Remove)
{
columnOptions.Store.Remove(columnRemove);
}
// Do include the log event data as JSON.
foreach (var columnAdd in MSSqlServer.Args.Add)
{
columnOptions.Store.Add(columnAdd);
}
Log.Logger = new LoggerConfiguration()
.WriteTo.MSSqlServer(MSSqlServer.Args.ConnectionString, MSSqlServer.Args.TableName, columnOptions: columnOptions,
restrictedToMinimumLevel: _configuration.MinimumLevel)
.CreateLogger();
return Ok("OK");
} }