Use Serilog with Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.ILogger

Question

I've created a .NET Core 3.1 project using a Host, the IoC container with IServiceCollection and implemented logging allover the place using the ILogger<T> interface from Microsoft.Extensions.Logging. I now need to implement more advanced logging and decided to use Serilog.

I assumed that it would be a breeze to switch from .NET built-in loggers to Serilog. But to my surprise, Serilog is using it's own ILogger interface - bummer! So now I needed to update ALL places to use Serilog ILogger, or to implement Serilog with a .NET Core ILogger<T> interface.

My question is - is it really not possible to use Serilog with the ILogger interface in Microsoft.Extensions.Logging? Would be so much smarter!

Answer 1

In the Serilog.Extensions.Logging assembly there is a extension method on IloggingBuilder called AddSerilog (it's in the Serilog namespace) that will allow you to use Serilog for logging. For example:

.NET Core 2.2 and earlier (using WebHost):

WebHost.CreateDefaultBuilder(args)
    .ConfigureLogging(logging =>
    {
        logging.ClearProviders();
        logging.AddSerilog();
    });

.NET Core 3.1 and later (using generic Host for either web or console apps):

Host.CreateDefaultBuilder(args)
    .ConfigureWebHostDefaults(webBuilder => webBuilder.UseStartup<Startup>()})
    .UseSerilog();

Now the ILogger and ILogger<> implementation will call into Serilog.