Package - Serilog.Sinks.Http | Platforms - .NET 4.5/4.6.1, .NET Standard 1.3/2.0

• Super simple to use
• Typical use cases
• Sample applications
• Install via NuGet
• Donations
• Credit

In the following example, the sink will POST log events to http://www.mylogs.com over HTTP.

ILogger log = new LoggerConfiguration()
  .MinimumLevel.Verbose()
  .WriteTo.Http("http://www.mylogs.com")
  .CreateLogger();

log.Information("Logging {@Heartbeat} from {Computer}", heartbeat, computer);

Used in conjunction with Serilog.Settings.Configuration the same sink can be configured in the following way:

{
  "Serilog": {
    "MinimumLevel": "Verbose",
    "WriteTo": [
      {
        "Name": "Http",
        "Args": {
          "requestUri": "http://www.mylogs.com"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

The sink can also be configured to be durable, i.e. log events are persisted on disk before being sent over the network, thus protected against data loss after a system or process restart. For more information please read the wiki.

The sink is batching multiple log events into a single request, and the following hypothetical payload is sent over the network as JSON.

{
  "events": [
    {
      "Timestamp": "2016-11-03T00:09:11.4899425+01:00",
      "Level": "Information",
      "MessageTemplate": "Logging {@Heartbeat} from {Computer}",
      "RenderedMessage": "Logging { UserName: \"Mike\", UserDomainName: \"Home\" } from \"Workstation\"",
      "Properties": {
        "Heartbeat": {
          "UserName": "Mike",
          "UserDomainName": "Home"
        },
        "Computer": "Workstation"
      }
    },
    {
      "Timestamp": "2016-11-03T00:09:12.4905685+01:00",
      "Level": "Information",
      "MessageTemplate": "Logging {@Heartbeat} from {Computer}",
      "RenderedMessage": "Logging { UserName: \"Mike\", UserDomainName: \"Home\" } from \"Workstation\"",
      "Properties": {
        "Heartbeat": {
          "UserName": "Mike",
          "UserDomainName": "Home"
        },
        "Computer": "Workstation"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Producing log events is only half the story. Unless you are consuming them in a matter that benefits you in development or production, there is really no need to produce them in the first place.

Integration with Elastic Stack (formerly know as ELK, an acronym for Elasticsearch, Logstash and Kibana) is powerful beyond belief, but there are many alternatives to get the log events into Elasticsearch.

A common solution, given your application is running in Docker containers, is to have stdout (standard output) and stderr (standard error) passed on to the Elastic Stack. There is a multitude of ways to accomplish this, but one using Logspout is linked in the Sample applications chapter.

The log events can be sent directly to Elasticsearch using Serilog.Sinks.Elasticsearch. In this case you've solved your problem without using this sink, and all is well in the world.

If you would like to send the log events to Logstash for further processing instead of sending them directly to Elasticsearch, this sink in combination with the Logstash HTTP input plugin is the perfect match for you. It is a much better solution than having to install Filebeat on all your instances, mainly because it involves fewer moving parts.

The following sample applications demonstrate the usage of this sink in various circumstances:

• Serilog and the Elastic Stack - Sample application sending log events to Elastic Stack
• Serilog.Sinks.Http - Sample in .NET Core - Sample application producing log events in .NET Core
• Serilog.Sinks.Http - Sample in .NET Framework - Sample application producing log events in .NET Framework

The following sample application demonstrate how Serilog events from a Docker container end up in the Elastic Stack using Logspout, without using Serilog.Sinks.Http.

• Serilog, Logspout and the Elastic Stack - Sample application sending log events from a Docker container using Logspout to Elastic Stack

If you want to include the HTTP sink in your project, you can install it directly from NuGet.

To install the sink, run the following command in the Package Manager Console:

PM> Install-Package Serilog.Sinks.Http

If this project has helped you to stay productive and save money, you can buy me a cup of coffee :)

Thank you JetBrains for your important initiative to support the open source community with free licenses to your products.