Add Username into Serilog

Question

I have this Serilog configuration in program.cs

public class Program
    {
        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)
            .Build();

        public static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Log.Logger = new LoggerConfiguration()
                .MinimumLevel.Override("Microsoft", LogEventLevel.Warning)
                .MinimumLevel.Override("System", LogEventLevel.Warning)
                .WriteTo.MSSqlServer(Configuration.GetConnectionString("DefaultConnection"), "dbo.Log")
                .Enrich.WithThreadId()
                .Enrich.WithProperty("Version", "1.0.0")
                .CreateLogger();
            try
            {
                BuildWebHost(args).Run();
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                Log.Fatal(ex, "Host terminated unexpectedly");
            }
            finally
            {
                Log.CloseAndFlush();
            }

        }

        public static IWebHost BuildWebHost(string[] args) =>
            WebHost.CreateDefaultBuilder(args)
                .UseStartup<Startup>()
                .UseSerilog()
                .Build();
    }

Now i want to add HttpContext.Current.User.Identity.Name into all log messages.

I tried to create new Enrich class following documentation https://github.com/serilog/serilog/wiki/Configuration-Basics#enrichers

class UsernameEnricher : ILogEventEnricher
    {
        public void Enrich(LogEvent logEvent, ILogEventPropertyFactory propertyFactory, HttpContext httpContext)
        {
            logEvent.AddPropertyIfAbsent(propertyFactory.CreateProperty(
                    "Username", httpContext.User.Identity.Name));
        }
    }

But there is conflict with ILogEventEnricher which does not know HttpContext.

I also tried to install Nuget package Serilog.Web.Classic which contains Username Enricher, but there is conflict between target framework .Net Framework and .Net Core therefore i cannot use this plugin.

Any idea ?

Answer 1

If you are using Serilog.AspNetCore it's very easy to add authentication/user properties.

    app.UseSerilogRequestLogging(options =>
    {
         options.EnrichDiagnosticContext = PushSeriLogProperties;
    });



    public void PushSeriLogProperties(IDiagnosticContext diagnosticContext, HttpContext httpContext)
    {
            diagnosticContext.Set("SomePropertyName", httpContext.User...);
    }

Answer 2

An alternative to using middleware is to use an action filter.

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Filters;
using Serilog.Context;

namespace Acme.Widgets.Infrastructure
{
    public class LogEnrichmentFilter : IActionFilter
    {
        private readonly IHttpContextAccessor httpContextAccessor;

        public LogEnrichmentFilter(IHttpContextAccessor httpContextAccessor)
        {
            this.httpContextAccessor = httpContextAccessor;
        }

        public void OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext context)
        {
            var httpUser = this.httpContextAccessor.HttpContext.User;

            if (httpUser.Identity.IsAuthenticated)
            {
                var appUser = new AppIdentity(httpUser);
                LogContext.PushProperty("Username", appUser.Username);
            }
            else
            {
                LogContext.PushProperty("Username", "-");
            }
        }

        public void OnActionExecuted(ActionExecutedContext context)
        {
            // Do nothing
        }
    }
}

In your Startup.ConfigureServices you will need to:

1. Ensure IHttpContextAccessor is added to the IoC container
2. Add the LogEnrichmentFilter to the IoC container, scoped to the request
3. Register LogEnrichmentFilter as a global action filter

Startup.cs:

services.TryAddSingleton<IHttpContextAccessor, HttpContextAccessor>();
services.AddScoped<LogEnrichmentFilter>();

services.AddMvc(o =>
{
    o.Filters.Add<LogEnrichmentFilter>();
});

You should then have the current username in the log context for code that runs in the MVC action invocation pipeline. I imagine the username would be attached to a few more log entries if you used a resource filter instead of an action filter, as they run slightly earlier in the pipeline (I've only just found out about these!)

Answer 3

There is a number of issues with the approach suggested by @Alex Riabov.

1. One needs to Dispose the pushed property
2. The Invoke method in a middleware is asynchronous, so you can't just return next(), you need await next()
3. The request information is logged by UseSerilogRequestLogging() middleware. If the property is popped before it is reached, the property becomes empty.

To fix them, I could suggest the following modifications.

In the middleware:

public async Task Invoke(HttpContext context)
{
    using (LogContext.PushProperty("UserName", context.User.Identity.Name ?? "anonymous"))
    {
        await next(context);
    }
}

In Startup.cs:

appl.UseRouting()
    .UseAuthentication()
    .UseAuthorization()
    .UseMiddleware<SerilogUserNameMiddleware>()
    .UseSerilogRequestLogging()
    .UseEndpoints(endpoints =>
    {
        endpoints.MapControllers();
        endpoints.MapRazorPages();
        endpoints.MapHealthChecks("/health");
    });

Answer 4

Simply you can achieve it in two steps

1- Create an Enricher that can access services.

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http;
using Serilog.Core;
using Serilog.Events;
using System.Security.Claims;

namespace CoolProject.Logging.Enricher;
public class UserEnricher : ILogEventEnricher
{
private readonly IHttpContextAccessor _httpContextAccessor;

public UserEnricher() : this(new HttpContextAccessor())
{
}

//Dependency injection can be used to retrieve any service required to get a user or any data.
//Here, I easily get data from HTTPContext
public UserEnricher(IHttpContextAccessor httpContextAccessor)
{
    _httpContextAccessor = httpContextAccessor;
}

public void Enrich(LogEvent logEvent, ILogEventPropertyFactory propertyFactory)
{
    logEvent.AddPropertyIfAbsent(propertyFactory.CreateProperty(
            "UserId", _httpContextAccessor.HttpContext?.User?.FindFirstValue(ClaimTypes.NameIdentifier) ?? "anonymous"));
}
}

2-Use With to include your UserEnricher.

loggerConfiguration.Enrich.FromLogContext()
            .MinimumLevel.Is(level)
            .Enrich.With<UserEnricher>()

It only requires two steps to add the user enricher, but I will also add my driver code. Don't forget to inject IHttpContextAccessor!

 public static IHostBuilder UseLogging(this IHostBuilder webHostBuilder, string applicationName = null)
    => webHostBuilder.UseSerilog((context ,loggerConfiguration) =>
    {
        var logOptions = context.Configuration.GetSection("logging");
        var serilogOptions = logOptions.GetSection("serilog").Get<SerilogOptions>();
        if (!Enum.TryParse<LogEventLevel>(serilogOptions.Level, true, out var level))
        {
            level = LogEventLevel.Error;
        }

        loggerConfiguration.Enrich.FromLogContext()
            .MinimumLevel.Is(level)
            .Enrich.With<UserEnricher>()
            .Enrich.WithProperty("Environment", context.HostingEnvironment.EnvironmentName)
            .Enrich.WithProperty("ApplicationName", applicationName);
        loggerConfiguration.WriteTo.Console(outputTemplate: "{Timestamp:HH:mm:ss} [{Level}]  {Environment} {ApplicationName} {UserId} {Message:lj}{NewLine}{Exception}");

    });