Exception in Serilog Initialization - asp.net-core

Question

I'm attempting to try Serilog out in an asp.net core web api (3.1) but seem to be having trouble with the following:
var configuration = new ConfigurationBuilder()
.AddJsonFile("appsettings.log.json", optional: true, reloadOnChange: true)
.AddEnvironmentVariables()
.Build();
//Configure logger
var loggerConfiguration = new LoggerConfiguration().ReadFrom.Configuration(configuration);
Log.Logger = loggerConfiguration.CreateLogger();
It is throwing the exception:
Exception has occurred: CLR/System.InvalidOperationException
An unhandled exception of type 'System.InvalidOperationException' occurred in Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Binder.dll: 'Cannot create instance of type 'System.String' because it is missing a public parameterless constructor.'
at Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.ConfigurationBinder.CreateInstance(Type type)
at Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.ConfigurationBinder.BindInstance(Type type, Object instance, IConfiguration config, BinderOptions options)
at Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.ConfigurationBinder.Get(IConfiguration configuration, Type type, Action`1 configureOptions)
at Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.ConfigurationBinder.Get(IConfiguration configuration, Type type)
at Serilog.Settings.Configuration.ObjectArgumentValue.ConvertTo(Type toType, ResolutionContext resolutionContext)
at Serilog.Settings.Configuration.ConfigurationReader.<>c__DisplayClass18_2.<CallConfigurationMethods>b__3(<>f__AnonymousType9`2 <>h__TransparentIdentifier0)
at System.Linq.Utilities.<>c__DisplayClass2_0`3.<CombineSelectors>b__0(TSource x)
at System.Linq.Enumerable.SelectListPartitionIterator`2.ToList()
at System.Linq.Enumerable.ToList[TSource](IEnumerable`1 source)
at Serilog.Settings.Configuration.ConfigurationReader.CallConfigurationMethods(ILookup`2 methods, IList`1 configurationMethods, Object receiver)
at Serilog.Settings.Configuration.ConfigurationReader.ApplySinks(LoggerConfiguration loggerConfiguration)
at Serilog.Settings.Configuration.ConfigurationReader.Configure(LoggerConfiguration loggerConfiguration)
at Serilog.Configuration.LoggerSettingsConfiguration.Settings(ILoggerSettings settings)
at Serilog.ConfigurationLoggerConfigurationExtensions.Configuration(LoggerSettingsConfiguration settingConfiguration, IConfiguration configuration, String sectionName, DependencyContext dependencyContext)
at Serilog.ConfigurationLoggerConfigurationExtensions.Configuration(LoggerSettingsConfiguration settingConfiguration, IConfiguration configuration, DependencyContext dependencyContext)
My appsettings.log.json looks like this:
{
"Serilog": {
"Using": [ "Serilog.Sinks.Console" ],
"MinimumLevel": "Debug",
"WriteTo": [
{ "Name": "Console" },
{
"Name": "File",
"Args": {
"path": "%ProgramData%\\Logs\\BoxIt\\BoxIt-{Date}.txt",
"rollOnFileSizeLimit": "true",
"rollingInterval": "Day",
"fileSizeLimitBytes": 10000000,
"outputTemplate:": "{Timestamp:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.fff zzz} [{Level:u3}] {Message:lj}{NewLine}{Exception}"
}
}
],
"Enrich": [ "FromLogContext", "WithMachineName", "WithThreadId" ],
"Destructure": [
{
"Name": "ToMaximumDepth",
"Args": { "maximumDestructuringDepth": 4 }
},
{
"Name": "ToMaximumStringLength",
"Args": { "maximumStringLength": 100 }
},
{
"Name": "ToMaximumCollectionCount",
"Args": { "maximumCollectionCount": 10 }
}
],
"Properties": {
"Application": "Box-It"
}
}
}
Most of the articles I've read initialize this in a very similar fashion so I'm not quite sure if there is something wrong with the config file or how I'm reading the configuration.

Answer 1

"outputTemplate:": was the issue here. The colon inside the double quotes was a mistake and was leading to the error above.