Serilog setup for Asp.Net Core 2.0.1 not producing logs

which was fairly obvious because in the bin folder the file isn't called appsettings.json, its called TestMvcApp.runtimeconfig.json.

TestMvcApp.runtimeconfig.json is not your appsettings.json, it's a runtime configuration file as it's clear from the file name.

I bet that your appsettings.json is just not copied to the output directory during the build. To fix that select appsettings.json in Visual Studio Solution explorer, in context menu select properties and set 'Copy to Output Directory' to 'Copy always' or 'Copy if newer':

Also your json configuration has several issues:

1. Serilog section should not be inside ApplicationConfiguration section. It should be on the same level, i.e top-level section.
2. You also has suspicious WriteTo section with one sink (RollingFile) inside another (Async). Check here sample json configuration for Serilog.
3. In order to use all those sinks (Serilog.Sinks.RollingFile, Serilog.Sinks.Console) you should install corresponding sink NuGets: Serilog.Sinks.RollingFile, Serilog.Sinks.Console, etc.

Here is configuration file (with RollingFile sink only) that works fine for me:

{    "ApplicationConfiguration": {        "ConnectionStrings": {            "DevelopmentConnection": "Server=(localdb)\\mssqllocaldb;Database=TestingConfigurationNetCoreTwo_Development;Trusted_Connection=True;MultipleActiveResultSets=true"        },        "ApplicationInfo": {            "VersionNumber": "1.0.0",            "Author": "Jimbo",            "ApplicationName": "CustomTemplate",            "CreatedOn": "November 20, 2017"        }    },    "Serilog": {        "Using": [            "Serilog.Sinks.RollingFile"        ],        "MinimumLevel": {            "Default": "Information",            "Override": {                "Microsoft": "Warning"            }        },        "WriteTo": [            {                "Name": "RollingFile",                "Args": { "pathFormat": "c:\\log-{Date}.log" }            }        ],        "Enrich": [ "FromLogContext", "WithMachineName", "WithThreadId" ],        "Properties": {            "Application": "CustomTemplate"        }    }}

The accepted answer only logged some messages for my project. I'm not sure why. Ondrej Balas's approach worked better for me.

Install these Nuget packages:

• Serilog
• Serilog.AspNetCore
• Serilog.Settings.Configuration
• Serilog.Sinks.Console
• Serilog.Sinks.RollingFile

Program.cs needs .UseSerilog() added:

    public static void Main(string[] args)    {        BuildWebHost(args).Run();    }    public static IWebHost BuildWebHost(string[] args) =>        WebHost.CreateDefaultBuilder(args)            .ConfigureLogging((hostingContext, logging) =>            {                logging.AddConfiguration(hostingContext.Configuration.GetSection("Logging"));            })            .UseStartup<Startup>()            .UseSerilog()            .Build();

Startup.cs needs a couple of changes

one in the constructor:

    public Startup(IConfiguration configuration)    {        Log.Logger = new LoggerConfiguration().ReadFrom.Configuration(configuration).CreateLogger();        Configuration = configuration;    }

another in Configure():

    loggerFactory.AddSerilog();    if (env.IsDevelopment())    {        loggerFactory.AddConsole(Configuration.GetSection("Logging"));    }

appsettings.json needs a Serilog config entry in root:

"Serilog": {    "Using": [ "Serilog.Sinks.Console" ],    "MinimumLevel": {        "Default": "Information",        "Override": {            "Microsoft": "Warning",            "System": "Warning"        }    },    "WriteTo": [        { "Name": "Console" },        {            "Name": "RollingFile",            "Args": {                "pathFormat": "logs\\log-{Date}.log",                "outputTemplate": "{Timestamp:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.fff zzz} [{Level}] [{SourceContext}] {Message}{NewLine}{Exception}"            }        }    ],    "Enrich": [ "FromLogContext", "WithMachineName", "WithThreadId" ],    "Properties": {        "Application": "My Application"    }}