InterlockLedger.WatchDog

Introduction

InterlockLedger.WatchDog is a Realtime Message, Event, HTTP (Request & Response) and Exception logger and viewer for ASP.Net 6 Web Apps and APIs. It allows developers log and view messages, events, http requests made to their web application and also exception caught during runtime in their web applications, all in Realtime. It leverages SignalR for real-time monitoring and LiteDb a Serverless MongoDB-like database with no configuration.

General Features

RealTime HTTP Request and Response Logger
RealTime Exception Logger
In-code message and event logging
User Friendly Logger Views
Search Option for HTTP and Exception Logs
Filtering Option for HTTP Logs using HTTP Methods and StatusCode
Logger View Authentication
Auto Clear Logs Option
In-code logger for messages and events

What's New

Now a privacy filtering class to vet/adjust information to be logged can be injected
Specify folder to store log database
Separate extension method to map endpoints for better integration with complex ASP.NET apps
Diagnostic logging when configuring middleware

Support

.NET 6.0 and newer

Installation

Install via .NET CLI

dotnet add package InterlockLedger.WatchDog --version 3.0.0

Install via Package Manager

Install-Package InterlockLedger.WatchDog --version 3.0.0

Usage

To enable InterlockLedger.WatchDog to listen for requests, use the WatchDog middleware provided by WatchDog.

Add InterlockLedger.WatchDog Namespace to your startup code file

using InterlockLedger.WatchDog;

Register WatchDog service in the services configuration part of the initialization

services.AddWatchDogServices();

`Optional` Change the folder where to create the database for the logs

services.AddWatchDogServices(opt => 
{ 
   opt.DatabaseFolder = "c:\\temp\\watchdog"; 
   // default uses SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData and executing assembly name
});

`Optional` Setup AutoClear Logs

This clears the logs after a specific duration.

services.AddWatchDogServices(opt => 
{ 
   opt.UseAutoClear = true; 
});

NOTE When UseAutoClear = true

Default Schedule Time is set to Weekly, override it like below:

services.AddWatchDogServices(opt => 
{ 
   opt.UseAutoClear = true;
   opt.ClearTimeSchedule = WatchDogAutoClearScheduleEnum.Monthly;
});

Add WatchDog middleware in the HTTP request pipeline, with required credentials to enforce

This authentication information (Username and Password) will be used to access the log viewer, unless you specify a role to check first

app.UseWatchDog(opt => 
{ 
   opt.WatchPageUsername = "admin"; 
   opt.WatchPagePassword = "Qwerty@123"; 
 });

NOTE Important If your projects startup or program class contains app.UseMvc() or app.UseRouting() then app.UseWatchDog() should come after

`Optional` Specify a role that the authenticated user must have to avoid asking the credentials

app.UseWatchDog(opt => 
{ 
   opt.WatchPageUsername = "admin"; 
   opt.WatchPagePassword = "Qwerty@123"; 
   opt.RequiredRole = "LogViewer";
 });

`Optional` Add list of routes you want to ignore when logging requests

List of routes, paths or specific strings to be ignored should be a comma separated string like below.

app.UseWatchDog(opt => 
{ 
   opt.WatchPageUsername = "admin"; 
   opt.WatchPagePassword = "Qwerty@123"; 
   opt.Blacklist = "Test/testPost,weatherforecast";
 });

`Optional` Activate WatchDog Exception Logger

This is used to log in-app exceptions that occur during the processing of a particular HTTP request.

app.UseWatchDog(opt => 
{ 
   opt.WatchPageUsername = "admin"; 
   opt.WatchPagePassword = "Qwerty@123"; 
   opt.LogExceptions = true;
 });

`Optional` Inject privacy filtering of logged information

This is used to inject a class that will look at log details models and tweak them before being stored, to remove sensitive information

builder.Services.AddWatchDogServicesUsing<MyCustomModelsFilter>(opt => 
{ 
   opt.UseAutoClear = true;
   opt.ClearTimeSchedule = WatchDogAutoClearScheduleEnum.Monthly;
});```

The class must implement IModelsFilter to do the needed filtering

```c#
class MyCustomModelsFilter : IModelsFilter
{
    public ExceptionLogModel FilterExceptionLog(ExceptionLogModel exceptionLogModel, RequestModel requestModel) => exceptionLogModel;

    public RequestModel FilterRequest(RequestModel requestModel) {
        if (requestModel.Path.Safe().StartsWith("/Private/", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
            requestModel.QueryString = "<<sensitive>>";
        return requestModel;
    }

    public ResponseModel FilterResponse(ResponseModel responseModel, RequestModel requestModel) => responseModel;
}

Map the WatchDog Services/UI in the endpoints

This will make the LogViewer available at /watchdog

app.UseEndpoints(endpoints => {
    endpoints.MapControllers();
    // map other needed things ...
    endpoints.MapWatchDog();
});

Log Messages/Events

WatchLogger.Log("...TestGet Started...");

View Logs and Exception

Start your server and head to /watchdog to view the logs.

Example: https://myserver.com/watchdog or https://localhost:[your-port]/watchdog

Still confused? Check out the implementation in the WatchDogCompleteApiNet6 folder.

Example Screens

Contribution

Feel like something is missing? Fork the repo and send a PR.

Encountered a bug? Fork the repo and send a PR.

Alternatively, open an issue and we'll get to it as soon as we can.

Credit

Original WatchDog.NET

Kelechi Onyekwere - Github Twitter

Israel Ulelu - Github Twitter