Logging to elmah.io from a running website on IIS

Adding elmah.io on a running website isn't the recommended way to install. It should be used if you are unable to deploy a new version only.

To enable error logging to elmah.io, you usually install one of our client integrations through PowerShell or Visual Studio and deploy a new version of your website to a web server. Sometimes you need to monitor an already running website or don't want logging logic as part of your repository. elmah.io can be added to a running website by following this guide.

Run the following command somewhere on your computer:

nuget install elmah.io

It is recommended to run this locally to avoid having to install nuget.exe on the machine running IIS (typically a production environment). If you don't have NuGet installed, there are a range of download options available here.

From the folder where you ran the command, copy the following files to the bin folder of your running website:

elmah.corelibrary.x.y.z\lib\Elmah.dll
elmah.io.x.y.z\lib\net45\Elmah.Io.dll
Elmah.Io.Client.x.y.z\lib\<.net version your website is using>\Elmah.Io.Client.dll
Newtonsoft.Json.x.y.z\lib\<.net version your website is using>\Newtonsoft.Json.dll

Configure elmah.io in Web.config as described here: Configure elmah.io manually (you don't need to call the Install-Package command). Notice that the AppDomain will restart when saving changes to the Web.config file.

If the website doesn't start logging errors to elmah.io, you may need to restart it.


This article was brought to you by the elmah.io team. elmah.io is the best error management system for .NET web applications. We monitor your website, alert you when errors start happening, and help you fix errors fast.

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