Log4net remoteAppender output - log4net

Question

I am using the remoteAppender inside of the config file and sending the logs remotely to another computer. While sending the information using tcp worked, I found that the remoteAppender was also sending a large chunk of random symbols and characters rather then the log string I want. I suspect that what is being sent by the remoteAppender is not a log string, but rather the logger itself. The method I used to read in the incoming broadcast is simple and taken from the msdm website. Does anyone know of a way to convert the networkstream received back into a string and avoiding all the strange outputs?
public void StartListener()
{
try
{
// Set the TcpListener on port 13000.
Int32 port = 32100;
// TcpListener server = new TcpListener(port);
server = new TcpListener(IPAddress.Any, port);
// Start listening for client requests.
server.Start();
// Buffer for reading data
Byte[] bytes = new Byte[256];
String data = null;
// Enter the listening loop.
while (true)
{
Console.Write("Waiting for a connection... ");
// Perform a blocking call to accept requests.
// You could also user server.AcceptSocket() here.
TcpClient client = server.AcceptTcpClient();
Console.WriteLine("Connected!");
data = null;
// Get a stream object for reading and writing
NetworkStream stream = client.GetStream();
int i;
// Loop to receive all the data sent by the client.
while ((i = stream.Read(bytes, 0, bytes.Length)) != 0)
{
// Translate data bytes to a ASCII string.
data = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetString(bytes, 0, i);
Console.WriteLine("Received: {0}", data);
// Process the data sent by the client.
data = data.ToUpper();
byte[] msg = System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(data);
// Send back a response.
stream.Write(msg, 0, msg.Length);
Console.WriteLine("Sent: {0}", data);
}
// Shutdown and end connection
client.Close();
}
}
catch (SocketException e)
{
Console.WriteLine("SocketException: {0}", e);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine("Connection was terminated");
}
finally
{
// Stop listening for new clients.
server.Stop();
}
Console.WriteLine("\nHit enter to continue...");
Console.Read();
}
here is the output I got when I was sent a log via the remoteAppender:
Waiting for a connection... Connected!
Received: .NET☺ /♥ ♦ ☺☺$ tcp://149.63.90.84:32100/LoggingSink♠ ☺☺↑ appl
ication/octet-stream
Sent: .NET☺ /♥ ♦ ☺☺$ TCP://149.63.90.84:32100/LOGGINGSINK♠ ☺☺↑ APPLICAT
ION/OCTET-STREAM
Received: ☺ ????☺ §¶ ↕ LogEvents↕?☺log4net.Appender.RemotingApp
ender+IRemoteLoggingSink, log4net, Version=1.2.11.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyT
oken=669e0ddf0bb1aa2a►☺ ☺ ☻ ♀♥ Klog4net, Version=1.2.11.0, Culture=neu
tral, PublicKeyToken=669e0ddf0bb1
Sent: ☺ ????☺ §¶ ↕ LOGEVENTS↕?☺LOG4NET.APPENDER.REMOTINGAPPENDER+IR
EMOTELOGGINGSINK, LOG4NET, VERSION=1.2.11.0, CULTURE=NEUTRAL, PUBLICKEYTOKEN=669
E0DDF0BB1AA2A►☺ ☺ ☻ ♀♥ KLOG4NET, VERSION=1.2.11.0, CULTURE=NEUTRAL, PU
BLICKEYTOKEN=669E0DDF0BB1
Received: aa2a☻ ☺ ☺ ♦↓log4net.Core.LoggingEvent♥ ♦ ♣♦ ↓log4ne
t.Core.LoggingEvent♂
LoggerName♣LevelMessage
ThreadName TimeStamp♀LocationInfUserName☼ExceptionString
!log4net.Util.Propertity☺♦☺☺ ☻☻☺♦☺☻↕log4net.Core.Level♥
Sent: AA2A☻ ☺ ☺ ♦↓LOG4NET.CORE.LOGGINGEVENT♥ ♦ ♣♦ ↓LOG4NET.CORE.L
OGGINGEVENT♂
LOGGERNAME♣LEVELMESSAGE
THREADNAME TIMESTAMP♀LOCATIONINFUSERNAME☼EXCEPTIONSTRING
!LOG4NET.UTIL.PROPERTITY☺♦☺☺ ☻☻☺♦☺☻↕LOG4NET.CORE.LEVEL♥
Received: iesDictionary♥ ♥ ♠♣ ►Project2.Program ♠ ♠ ♥Hi0 ♦6384?:??
Uf?
♠
♠♂ ‼Project2.vshost.exe
♣♠ ↕log4net.Core.Level♥ ♀m_levelValue♂m_levelName↕m_levelDisplayName ♥ p◄☺
♠♀ ♣ERROR ♀ ♣
!log4net.Util.PropertiesDictionary☺
Sent: IESDICTIONARY♥ ♥ ♠♣ ►PROJECT2.PROGRAM ♠ ♠ ♥HI0 ♦6384?:??
UF?
♠
♠♂ ‼PROJECT2.VSHOST.EXE
♣♠ ↕LOG4NET.CORE.LEVEL♥ ♀M_LEVELVALUE♂M_LEVELNAME↕M_LEVELDISPLAYNAME ♥ P◄☺
♠♀ ♣ERROR ♀ ♣
!LOG4NET.UTIL.PROPERTIESDICTIONARY☺
♂KOLLIK-D1SD♂net_x003A_HostName☺♥ ♠
♂KOLLIK-D1SD♂X003A_HOSTNAME☺♥ ♠

Answer 1

The RemotingAppender uses .NET remoting to proxy log events to an endpoint that implement the log4net.Appender.RemotingAppender+IRemoteLoggingSink interface. It looks like you're trying to simply read the rendered log message via TCP, which is "working" except that, as you point out, your data stream does not contain rendered log strings but remoted binary log events.
Try the TelnetAppender or UDPAppender instead; these appenders render the log message before sending it over the network, so you'll get the string you expect.
See http://logging.apache.org/log4net/release/sdk/log4net.Appender.TelnetAppender.html
and http://maddemcode.com/net/secrets-of-log4net-telnetappender/