---
title: "How to Create Log Files for the ControlUp Monitor service"
slug: "how-to-create-monitor-logs-with-log4net"
description: "Learn how to create Monitor logs. Creating log files for the ControlUp Monitor service is important when troubleshooting issues with your monitors."
updated: 2025-09-02T07:16:01Z
published: 2025-09-02T07:16:01Z
canonical: "support.controlup.com/how-to-create-monitor-logs-with-log4net"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.controlup.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How to Create Monitor Logs with Log4net

To troubleshoot effectively, our technical teams might need a detailed log of the ControlUp Monitor. We use **[log4net](https://logging.apache.org/log4net/)** as a third-party logger to allow you to log the activity of the monitor in different log levels.

From ControlUp version 9.0 and higher, monitor machines [automatically create](/v1/docs/how-to-create-monitor-logs-with-log4net#create-log-file-automatically-90) log files, so you don't need to manually create a log file.

For pre 9.0 and on-premises versions, see [here](/v1/docs/how-to-create-monitor-logs-with-log4net-on-premises-only).

## Create Log File Automatically (9.0 and higher)

On your monitor machine, start the ControlUp Monitor service. First, it detects if a log4net file exists under the ControlUp Monitor folder **C:\Program Files\Smart-X\ControlUpMonitor\Version 9.0.0.xxxx**: ![log4net file under the ControlUp Monitor folder](https://cdn.document360.io/098100b7-b9da-4bea-b4b9-017140ab863e/Images/Documentation/log4net.png)

If a log4net file exists, all monitor errors will be collected in this folder.

If no existing log4net is detected under the monitor folder, then the error log is automatically created under the Service Profiles folder **C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService\AppData\Roaming\ControlUp**: ![monitor folder](https://cdn.document360.io/098100b7-b9da-4bea-b4b9-017140ab863e/Images/Documentation/log4net2.png)

All monitor errors will be collected in this folder.