ShortURL

ShortURL is a cross-platform Web-based application for creating URLs and tracking click counts. Written using ASP.NET Core and designed to run in Docker.

NOTE: Missing from the v1.0.0 beta releases is any ability to add, edit, or remove URLs. In order to use the application you must manage the SQL Server database manually.

Application settings

The following application settings can be configured in the environment or the appsettings.json file. These are belong in the "ShortURL" object in the configuration or prefixed with ShortURL__ in a Docker environment file.

• DatabaseProvider (required) - database provider to use, SQLServer for Microsoft SQL Server is supported
• DefaultLink (required) - default URL to redirect to if no additional metadata is provided/configured
• DistributedCache (optional) - cache system to use, options are InMemory and Redis, defaults to InMemory if not specified
• DistributedCacheConfiguration (optional) - cache configuration if Redis is selected, required when using Redis
• DistributedCacheDiscriminator (optional) - text providing a discriminator for the distributed cache provider, should be the same for all instances of the application using the same distributed cache
• Instance (optional) - name of the instance, should be unique for each running copy accessing same database, defaults to "Unknown"
• RequestLogging (optional) - whether or not to activate UseSerilogRequestLogging() and log all Web accesses, deactivated by default, activated with any content
• ReverseProxy (optional) - the IP address of a reverse proxy in front of the site

NOTE: settings regarding Redis use the AddStackExchangeRedisCache module which supports Redis-compatible value/key stores like Valkey.

Configuring logging with Seq

If you wish to log to Seq, ensure your appsettings.json contians the following (exclude apiKey if you are not going to configure one):

"Serilog": {
  "WriteTo": [
    { "Name": "Console" },
    {
      "Name": "Seq",
      "Args": {
        "apiKey": "apiKey",
        "serverUrl": "http://seq:5341"
      }
    }
  ]
}

If you desire to use the dynamic level control, you can include that with settings as follows:

"Serilog": {
  "LevelSwitches": { "$controlSwitch": "Verbose" },
  "MinimumLevel": {
    "ControlledBy": "$controlSwitch"
  },
  "WriteTo": [
    { "Name": "Console" },
    {
      "Name": "Seq",
      "Args": {
        "apiKey": "apiKey",
        "controlLevelSwitch": "$controlSwitch",
        "serverUrl": "http://seq:5341"
      }
    }
  ]
}

If you are using Docker to deploy the application, use a configuration like this in the environment file:

Serilog__LevelSwitches__$controlSwitch=Verbose
Serilog__MinimumLevel__ControlledBy=$controlSwitch
Serilog__WriteTo__0__Name=Console
Serilog__WriteTo__1__Args__apiKey=apiKey
Serilog__WriteTo__1__Args__controlLevelSwitch=$controlSwitch
Serilog__WriteTo__1__Args__serverUrl=http://seq:5341
Serilog__WriteTo__1__Name=Seq

Note that the Microsoft and System namespaces are overridden in the top level appsettings.json by default to only display "Warning" and above, if you want them to use the same level as the level switch, ensure this is placed in the "MinimumLevel" object:

    "Override": {
      "Microsoft": "$controlSwitch",
      "System": "$controlSwitch"
    }

For a Docker environment file use:

Serilog__MinimumLevel__Override__Microsoft=$controlSwitch
Serilog__MinimumLevel__Override__System=$controlSwitch

License

ShortURL source code is Copyright 2019 by the Maricopa County Library District and is distributed under The MIT License.