ASP.NET Core Web API with Google Cloud

Hi Vivek,

I see that you are looking for ways to integrate ASP.NET Core Web API application with  Google Cloud Operations Suite for Logging purposes.

From what I've researched, a decent starting place would be here: https://cloud.google.com/dotnet/docs/reference/Google.Cloud.Diagnostics.AspNetCore3/latest

Google.Cloud.Diagnostics.AspNetCore3 is an ASP.NET Core instrumentation library for Google Logging, Error Reporting and Tracing. It allows for simple integration of Google observability components into ASP.NET Core 3.1+ applications with minimal custom code.   Note: ASP.NET Core 3.1 is the long-term support release of ASP.NET Core 3.x.

Since you're using .NET 8, this library is perfect for your needs.

Core Integration Guides:

• Google Cloud Observability for .NET: https://cloud.google.com/dotnet/docs/stackdriver Comprehensive coverage of monitoring, logging, and diagnostics for .NET and .NET Core apps
• Detailed .NET Logging Integration: https://cloud.google.com/logging/docs/integrate/dotnet Step-by-step logging setup and configuration
• Google Cloud .NET Overview: https://cloud.google.com/dotnet Shows how .NET apps integrate with all Google Cloud services

In summary, here's what you need:

1. Install Required NuGet Packages

 # Main integration package
dotnet add package Google.Cloud.Diagnostics.AspNetCore3

# Optional: Direct API access
dotnet add package Google.Cloud.Logging.V2

# Optional: Custom metrics
dotnet add package Google.Cloud.Monitoring.V3

2. Configure Services in Program.cs

// Add Google Cloud diagnostics
builder.Services.AddGoogleDiagnosticsForAspNetCore();

var app = builder.Build();

3. Set Up Authentication

Set up Google Cloud credentials via service account or default credentials:

Step 1: Create Service Account

Official documentation reference: Getting started with authentication guide Authentication methods at Google | Google Cloud

1. Go to Google Cloud Console: https://console.cloud.google.com/iam-admin/serviceaccounts
2. Create Service Account: Click "Create Service Account"
3. Assign Required Roles:
   • Logging Admin (for Cloud Logging)
     • Monitoring Metric Writer (for Cloud Monitoring)
       • Cloud Trace Agent (for distributed tracing)
         • Error Reporting Writer (for error reporting)

Step 2: Download Key File

1. Generate Key: Click on your service account → "Keys" tab → "Add Key" → "Create New Key"
2. Choose JSON format and download the file
3. Store securely: Place the JSON file in a secure location on your system

Step 3: Set Environment Variable

Official method: Set the environment variable GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS. This variable applies only to your current shell session Authentication methods at Google | Google Cloud

Windows:

set GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=C:\path\to\your\service-account-key.json

macOS/Linux:

export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS="/path/to/your/service-account-key.json"

4. Enable Components

(these are covered well in Google Cloud Observability document https://cloud.google.com/dotnet/docs/stackdriver))

• Cloud Logging (automatic log forwarding): Automatic log forwarding from your application https://cloud.google.com/dotnet/docs/stackdriver#stackdriver_logging
• Cloud Monitoring (metrics and dashboards): Performance metrics and custom dashboards https://cloud.google.com/dotnet/docs/stackdriver#stackdriver_monitoring
• Cloud Trace (distributed tracing): Distributed tracing for request flows https://cloud.google.com/dotnet/docs/stackdriver#stackdriver_trace
• Error Reporting (exception tracking): Exception tracking and aggregation with stack traces https://cloud.google.com/error-reporting/docs/setup/dotnet

Additional Resources

• Google Cloud .NET Overview: https://cloud.google.com/dotnet - Shows how .NET apps integrate with Cloud Monitoring, Cloud Trace, Cloud Logging, and Error Reporting .NET on Google Cloud
• Getting Started Tutorial: https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/getting-started-dotnet/
  • Contains ASP.NET samples that demonstrate how to access and use Google's APIs from C#, including a sample bookshelf app .NET on Google Cloud
• More Samples: You can also browse these samples, and more in Google Cloud Samples Error Reporting API Client Library for .NET at https://cloud.google.com/docs/samples

 Hope this helps you out, please reach out if you need any help.