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Upgrading NLog 4 to 5

Breaking4.7.15 → 5.5.1Breaking3Deprecated20New45Changed122Fixed57Other29

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BreakingUpgrade verdict

3 breaking changes.

In plain terms
  • Types no longer carry the Serializable attribute or support SerializationInfo-based serialization, which .NET 8 marks obsolete.
  • Removes the irrelevant StructuredMessageTemplateAttribute from ILogger.
  • The shorthand name DB for the database target has been removed, so configurations using it must switch to the full name.
  • The RegisterType method on IFactory is deprecated and will be removed in NLog 6.
Must act Top 5 of 23 that need code or config changes

Target frameworks requirement changed in 5.0.0-preview.1: .NETFramework3.5, .NETFramework4.0-Client, .NETFramework4.5, .NETStandard1.3, .NETStandard1.5, .NETStandard2.0, MonoAndroid4.4, Silverlight4.0, Silverlight5.0, WindowsPhone8.0, Xamarin.iOS1.0 → .NETFramework3.5, .NETFramework4.5, .NETFramework4.6, .NETStandard1.3, .NETStandard1.5, .NETStandard2.0.

Adds system.net.http 4.3.4, system.text.regularexpressions 4.3.1.

Drops microsoft.extensions.platformabstractions.

What you must change

Breaking3
Removes the Serializable attribute and SerializationInfo support since they are obsolete in NET8.
SerializableSerializationInfo
5.4.0GitHub ReleaseSummarizedView source
Removes the irrelevant StructuredMessageTemplateAttribute from ILogger.
ILoggerStructuredMessageTemplateAttribute
5.2.1GitHub ReleaseSummarizedView source
Removes the DB alias from DatabaseTarget to avoid promoting acronyms.
DatabaseTargetDB
5.0.0CHANGELOG.mdSummarizedView source

Deprecations to plan for

Deprecated20
Marks IFactory RegisterType as obsolete, since it will be removed with NLog v6.
IFactoryRegisterType
5.5.0GitHub ReleaseSummarizedView source
Marks JsonLayout EscapeForwardSlash as obsolete, since disabled with NLog v6.
JsonLayoutEscapeForwardSlash
5.5.0GitHub ReleaseSummarizedView source
Marks ExceptionLayoutRenderer Formats-List as obsolete, since immutable with NLog v6.
ExceptionLayoutRendererFormats
5.5.0GitHub ReleaseSummarizedView source
Marks JsonLayout EscapeForwardSlash as obsolete.
JsonLayoutEscapeForwardSlash
5.4.0GitHub ReleaseSummarizedView source
Marks NLogViewerTarget and IncludeNLogData as obsolete.
NLogViewerTargetIncludeNLogData
5.4.0GitHub ReleaseSummarizedView source
Marks XmlLoggingConfiguration AppConfig as obsolete.
XmlLoggingConfigurationAppConfig
5.4.0GitHub ReleaseSummarizedView source
Marks XmlLoggingConfiguration InitializeSucceeded as obsolete.
XmlLoggingConfigurationInitializeSucceeded
5.4.0GitHub ReleaseSummarizedView source
Marks LogEventInfo SetStackTrace with UserStackFrameNumber as obsolete.
LogEventInfoSetStackTraceUserStackFrameNumber
5.4.0GitHub ReleaseSummarizedView source
Marks SetupFromEnvironmentVariables and LogToTrace as obsolete.
SetupFromEnvironmentVariablesLogToTrace
5.4.0GitHub ReleaseSummarizedView source
LogManager AddHiddenAssembly is marked obsolete; use AddCallSiteHiddenAssembly instead.
LogManager.AddHiddenAssemblyAddCallSiteHiddenAssembly
5.3.1GitHub ReleaseSummarizedView source
InternalLogger LogToTrace is marked obsolete to reduce dependencies.
InternalLogger.LogToTrace
5.3.1GitHub ReleaseSummarizedView source
ILoggerBase and ISuppress are marked obsolete; use ILogger instead.
ILoggerBaseISuppressILogger
5.3.1GitHub ReleaseSummarizedView source
LoggingRule ChildRules is marked obsolete.
LoggingRule.ChildRules
5.3.1GitHub ReleaseSummarizedView source
FileTarget NetworkWrites is marked obsolete and replaced by KeepFileOpen=false.
FileTarget.NetworkWritesKeepFileOpen
5.3.1GitHub ReleaseSummarizedView source
EscapeDataNLogLegacy is marked obsolete.
EscapeDataNLogLegacy
5.3.1GitHub ReleaseSummarizedView source
Updates the obsolete warning for the ConfigurationReloaded event.
ConfigurationReloaded
5.2.1GitHub ReleaseSummarizedView source
Updates the obsolete warning for the ErrorException method and related methods.
ILoggerErrorException
5.2.1GitHub ReleaseSummarizedView source
Marks Target LayoutWithLock as obsolete since it is only a temporary workaround.
Target.LayoutWithLock
5.0.1GitHub ReleaseSummarizedView source
Marks NLogRuntimeException constructor with string.Format as obsolete.
NLogRuntimeException
5.0.0CHANGELOG.mdSummarizedView source
Marks the NLogConfigurationException constructor that takes a string.Format format and arguments as obsolete.
NLogConfigurationException
5.0.0CHANGELOG.mdSummarizedView source