CentralLogger.Client 2.0.2

CentralLogger.Client

This is the all-in-one package for adding CentralLogger to a .NET application. It includes:

• CentralLogger.Client.dll and CentralLogger.Abstractions.dll.
• The complete self-contained Windows x64 CentralLogger.Service payload.
• Build-transitive deployment that copies the service to service\ beside your application output.
• Durable client spooling, automatic reconnect, installed-service startup, and portable-service startup.

Requirements

• .NET 10 or later application.
• Windows x64 for the included service executable.
• Administrative rights only when permanently installing the Windows service.

Install

dotnet add package CentralLogger.Client --version 2.0.2

For a local package feed:

dotnet add package CentralLogger.Client --version 2.0.2 --source C:\path\to\publish\nuget

Build the application once. The output will contain:

YourApplication.exe
service\
  CentralLogger.Service.exe
  CentralLogger.Service.dll
  appsettings.json
  ...runtime dependencies...

Start logging

Initialize once at application startup:

using CentralLogger;

Logger.Initialize("ATMApplication");

Create one logger for each class or component:

private static readonly Logger Log =
    new("CashDispenser", "$Workfile: CashDispenser.cs $", "$Revision: 1.0 $");

Write logs without waiting for the service or database:

Log.Debug("Starting dispense operation.");
Log.Info("Dispense completed.");
Log.Warning("Cassette level is low.");
Log.Error(exception, "Dispense failed.");
Log.Write("CashPresented", "Cash was presented to the customer.");

Applications do not call FlushAsync during normal use. Entries are queued durably and delivered in the background. A bounded automatic drain runs at process exit, and unacknowledged entries remain in the client spool for replay.

Service behavior

All applications connect to the same local named-pipe service and write to one central database. The default database is:

C:\ProgramData\Company\CentralLogger\CentralLogs.db

If the installed CompanyCentralLogger Windows service is unavailable, the client locates service\CentralLogger.Service.exe from the application output and starts it in portable mode. Multiple applications may contain the payload; a machine-wide mutex ensures only one writer service is active.

Portable startup is deliberately unelevated because application build/output folders are commonly writable by the current user. For environments where the ProgramData location is administrator-only, install the included Windows service. If ElevatePortableService is explicitly enabled, also set an absolute ServiceExecutablePath located in an administrator-controlled, ACL-protected installation directory.

For a permanent Windows-service installation, run the included service\Install-Service.ps1 from an elevated PowerShell session. The service configuration is service\appsettings.json; database, retention, encryption, recovery, and archive settings belong to the service, not application projects.

The updated installer grants local authenticated users permission to start and query the service without elevation. It retains restricted database access; ordinary applications write through the named pipe. Rerun this installer once for an existing installation. After installation, Logger.Initialize("App") automatically starts a stopped service. Portable startup needs write access to the configured shared storage and never asks for UAC by default.

Monitoring-agent commands

The included service executable can be called by another local process without affecting the running service:

.\service\CentralLogger.Service.exe status --pretty

.\service\CentralLogger.Service.exe export `
  --start "2026-10-01T08:00:00Z" `
  --end "2026-10-01T09:30:00Z"

status returns JSON with healthy, canAcceptLogs, canExport, service counters, storage status, and the available UTC range. export automatically creates one ZIP containing complete databases for fully covered backups, range-filtered databases for partial boundary sources, and manifest.json. Success prints the ZIP path. A range with no records prints error:no logs found; every other export failure prints error:<short description>. Use --json for detailed success output. Exit codes are 0 for healthy/success, 1 for command failure, 2 for a completed but degraded/unavailable status, and 64 for invalid arguments. Sensitive sections remain encrypted in the extracted databases.