Nlog 5.3.8 no longer loads NLog.config, if it's a linked file.

[erikbozic]

NLog version: > 5.3.8

Platform: .NET8

Current NLog config

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<nlog xmlns="http://www.nlog-project.org/schemas/NLog.xsd"
			xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
			autoReload="true"
			internalLogLevel="info"
			internalLogToConsole="true">

	<variable name="LogDir" value="${basedir}/logs/"/>
	<variable name="ApplicationName" value="${appdomain:format={1\}}"/>

	<!-- Enable ASP.NET Core layout renderers -->
	<extensions>
		<add assembly="NLog.Web.AspNetCore"/>
		<add assembly="NLog.DiagnosticSource"/>
	</extensions>

	<targets async="true">
		<!-- Files -->
		<target xsi:type="File" name="applicationFile" fileName="${LogDir}${ApplicationName}-application-${shortdate}.log"
						layout="${longdate} ${level:uppercase=true:padding=-5} ${activity:property=TraceId} [${activity:property=Baggage:item=OperationName}] ${activity:property=Baggage:item=InstanceId} ${logger}: ${message} ${exception:format=tostring:trimWhiteSpace=true}"/>
		<target xsi:type="File" name="webHost" fileName="${LogDir}${ApplicationName}-webhost-${shortdate}.log"
						layout="${longdate:universalTime=true}|${event-properties:item=EventId_Id}|${threadid}|${uppercase:${level}}|${message} ${exception:format=tostring}"/>
		<target xsi:type="File" name="auditLogFile" fileName="${LogDir}${ApplicationName}-audit-${shortdate}.log"
						layout="${longdate} ${level:uppercase=true:padding=-5} ${logger}:${activity:property=TraceId} ${message} ${exception:format=tostring:trimWhiteSpace=true}"/>
		<!-- Console target -->
		<target xsi:type="ColoredConsole" name="console"
						layout="${date:format=HH\:mm\:ss} ${level:uppercase=true:padding=-5} ${logger}:${activity:property=TraceId} ${message} ${exception:format=tostring:trimWhiteSpace=true}"/>
	</targets>

	<rules>
		<!-- Any logger postfixed with 'AuditLogger' is used for audit logs. -->
		<logger name="*AuditLogger" writeTo="console,auditLogFile" final="true"/>
		<!--All logs, including from Microsoft -->
		<logger name="Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.*" minLevel="Info" writeTo="console,webHost" final="true"/>
		<!--Skip non-critical Microsoft logs and so log only own logs -->
		<logger name="Microsoft.*" maxLevel="Warn" final="true"/>
		<!-- Log the rest -->
		<logger name="*" writeTo="applicationFile,console"/>
	</rules>

</nlog>

There are no logs, if I link the NLog.config file from another project like this:

  <ItemGroup>
    <None Include="..\..\Shared\Infrastructure\NLog.config" Link="NLog.config"/>
  </ItemGroup>

It seems to behave the same as the already reported bug here: NLog/NLog#5045
If I add this it starts working: LogManager.Setup().LoadConfigurationFromFile().

This only happens with version 5.3.8 or higher, it still works on 5.3.7. I'm running this on Linux.

I've also enabled the internal logger.
With 5.3.7 I get:

2024-09-23 19:20:36.4222 Debug Hide assemblies for callsite
2024-09-23 19:20:36.4631 Debug Skip loading NLogLoggingConfiguration from empty config section: NLog
2024-09-23 19:20:36.4675 Debug No file exists at candidate config file location: /home/erik/src/project_path/App/bin/Debug/net8.0/Project.App.exe.nlog
2024-09-23 19:20:36.4675 Debug No file exists at candidate config file location: /home/erik/src/project_path/App/bin/Debug/net8.0/Project.App.dll.nlog
2024-09-23 19:20:36.4675 Debug No file exists at candidate config file location: /home/erik/src/project_path/App/bin/Debug/net8.0/NLog.config
2024-09-23 19:20:36.4759 Debug Reading config from XML file: /home/erik/src/project_path/App/bin/Debug/net8.0/nlog.config
2024-09-23 19:20:36.4829 Info Loading NLog config from XML file: /home/erik/src/project_path/App/bin/Debug/net8.0/nlog.config
2024-09-23 19:20:36.4996 Info Loading assembly name: NLog.DiagnosticSource
2024-09-23 19:20:36.5080 Info NLog.DiagnosticSource, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=5120e14c03d0593c. File version: 5.2.1.363. Product version: 5.2.1+a54f7fe24a23b4dc9ee731cf22586ac0ca2d167b. GlobalAssemblyCache: False
2024-09-23 19:20:36.5553 Info Registered target NLog.Targets.Wrappers.AsyncTargetWrapper(Name=applicationFile)
2024-09-23 19:20:36.5574 Info Registered target NLog.Targets.Wrappers.AsyncTargetWrapper(Name=webHost)
2024-09-23 19:20:36.5574 Info Registered target NLog.Targets.Wrappers.AsyncTargetWrapper(Name=auditLogFile)
2024-09-23 19:20:36.5685 Info Registered target NLog.Targets.Wrappers.AsyncTargetWrapper(Name=console)
2024-09-23 19:20:36.5773 Info NLog, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=5120e14c03d0593c. File version: 5.2.7.2287. Product version: 5.2.7+a1ef7cd83b5a6a172142a6850f0ced4e759a4b3b. GlobalAssemblyCache: False
2024-09-23 19:20:36.5919 Info Validating config: TargetNames=console, auditLogFile, webHost, applicationFile, ConfigItems=90, FilePath=/home/erik/src/project_path/App/bin/Debug/net8.0/nlog.config
2024-09-23 19:20:36.6116 Info Configuration initialized.
2024-09-23 19:20:36.6116 Info Validating config: TargetNames=console, auditLogFile, webHost, applicationFile, ConfigItems=90, FilePath=/home/erik/src/project_path/App/bin/Debug/net8.0/nlog.config

After which it starts logging application logs.

However with 5.3.8 I get:

/home/erik/src/project_path/App/bin/Debug/net8.0/Project.App
2024-09-23 19:21:37.3146 Debug Hide assemblies for callsite
2024-09-23 19:21:37.4128 Debug Skip loading NLogLoggingConfiguration from empty config section: NLog
2024-09-23 19:21:37.4298 Info NLog, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=5120e14c03d0593c. File version: 5.2.8.2366. Product version: 5.2.8+f586f1341c46fa38aaaff4c641e7f0fa7e813943. GlobalAssemblyCache: False
2024-09-23 19:21:37.4298 Debug --- NLog configuration dump ---
2024-09-23 19:21:37.4298 Debug Targets:
2024-09-23 19:21:37.4298 Debug Rules:
2024-09-23 19:21:37.4298 Debug --- End of NLog configuration dump ---
2024-09-23 19:21:37.4370 Info Validating config: Targets=0, ConfigItems=0
2024-09-23 19:21:37.4404 Info Configuration initialized.
2024-09-23 19:21:37.4661 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.Internal.ApplicationLifetime
2024-09-23 19:21:37.4723 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.Internal.Host
2024-09-23 19:21:37.4723 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime
2024-09-23 19:21:37.4738 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.KestrelServer
2024-09-23 19:21:37.4738 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Https.Internal.HttpsConnectionMiddleware
2024-09-23 19:21:37.5001 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.Internal.CertificatePathWatcher
2024-09-23 19:21:37.5001 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel
2024-09-23 19:21:37.5001 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.BadRequests
2024-09-23 19:21:37.5001 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Connections
2024-09-23 19:21:37.5001 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Http2
2024-09-23 19:21:37.5001 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Http3
2024-09-23 19:21:37.5047 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Project.App
2024-09-23 19:21:37.6132 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: MassTransit
2024-09-23 19:21:37.6132 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: MassTransit.Messages
2024-09-23 19:21:37.6132 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: MassTransit.SendTransport
2024-09-23 19:21:37.6132 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: MassTransit.ReceiveTransport
2024-09-23 19:21:38.3120 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.Extensions.Diagnostics.HealthChecks.DefaultHealthCheckService
2024-09-23 19:21:38.3148 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.Extensions.Diagnostics.HealthChecks.HealthCheckPublisherHostedService
2024-09-23 19:21:38.3148 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: MassTransit.Transports.BusDepot
2024-09-23 19:21:38.3183 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Diagnostics
2024-09-23 19:21:38.3692 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Project.Shared.Data.Database.DatabaseInitializer
2024-09-23 19:21:39.8993 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.AspNetCore.Routing.EndpointMiddleware
2024-09-23 19:21:39.9003 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.AspNetCore.Diagnostics.ExceptionHandlerMiddleware
2024-09-23 19:21:39.9044 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.AspNetCore.StaticFiles.StaticFileMiddleware
2024-09-23 19:21:39.9111 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.AspNetCore.Routing.EndpointRoutingMiddleware
2024-09-23 19:21:39.9111 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.AspNetCore.Diagnostics.DeveloperExceptionPageMiddleware
2024-09-23 19:21:39.9111 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.AspNetCore.HostFiltering.HostFilteringMiddleware
2024-09-23 19:21:39.9216 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Sockets
2024-09-23 19:21:40.6203 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.AspNetCore.Routing.Matching.DfaMatcher
2024-09-23 19:21:40.6526 Debug Targets not configured for Logger: Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Infrastructure.DefaultActionDescriptorCollectionProvider
^C2024-09-23 19:21:44.8625 Debug LogFactory Flush with timeout=15 secs
2024-09-23 19:21:44.8653 Debug Flush completed

Process finished with exit code 0.

And never logs any application logs.

Hopefully that helps. If needed I can try and publish a repo to reproduce the issue.

[welcome]

Hi! Thanks for opening your first issue here! Please make sure to follow the issue template - so we could help you better!

[snakefoot]

Can you also include the contents of your Program.cs-file with UseNLog() etc.

Or even better attach minimal solution-project that reproduces the issue.

[erikbozic]

Minimal repro here: https://github.com/erikbozic/nlog-repro

Just change the version in Shared.csproj.

[snakefoot]

Thank you for this very detailed bug-report. Have now released NLog.Web.AspNetCore ver. 5.3.14

• https://www.nuget.org/packages/NLog.Web.AspNetCore/5.3.14

[erikbozic]

Thank you for the lightning quick fix!
I tested it with 5.3.14 and it worked!

[snakefoot]

Thank you for the confirmation, that it is now working. And also thank you for reporting this, much appreciated.

Have now created a task #1056 for myself to make an unit-test to ensure the bug doesn't come again.