Activation error occured while trying to get instance of type LogWriter

Question

I am trying to using the Logging Application block of Enterprise Library 5.0 to log simple message to the Windows event log on Win XP SP3 system using:

Logger.Write(msg);

I get the "Activation error occured while trying to get instance of type LogWriter" error message when trying to log.

Any help to debug this issue is appreciated.

Shown below is the config file used with MS Enterprise library

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
<configSections>
    <section name="loggingConfiguration" type="Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Logging.Configuration.LoggingSettings, Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Logging, Version=5.0.414.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" requirePermission="true" />
</configSections>
<loggingConfiguration name="" tracingEnabled="true" defaultCategory="General">
    <listeners>
        <add name="Event Log Listener" type="Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Logging.TraceListeners.FormattedEventLogTraceListener, Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Logging, Version=5.0.414.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"
            listenerDataType="Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Logging.Configuration.FormattedEventLogTraceListenerData, Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Logging, Version=5.0.414.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"
            source="Enterprise Library Logging" formatter="Text Formatter"
            log="Application" machineName="." traceOutputOptions="None" />
    </listeners>
    <formatters>
        <add type="Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Logging.Formatters.TextFormatter, Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Logging, Version=5.0.414.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"
            template="Timestamp: {timestamp}{newline}&#xA;Message: {message}{newline}&#xA;Category: {category}{newline}&#xA;Priority: {priority}{newline}&#xA;EventId: {eventid}{newline}&#xA;Severity: {severity}{newline}&#xA;Title:{title}{newline}&#xA;Machine: {localMachine}{newline}&#xA;App Domain: {localAppDomain}{newline}&#xA;ProcessId: {localProcessId}{newline}&#xA;Process Name: {localProcessName}{newline}&#xA;Thread Name: {threadName}{newline}&#xA;Win32 ThreadId:{win32ThreadId}{newline}&#xA;Extended Properties: {dictionary({key} - {value}{newline})}"
            name="Text Formatter" />
    </formatters>
    <categorySources>
        <add switchValue="All" name="General">
            <listeners>
                <add name="Event Log Listener" />
            </listeners>
        </add>
    </categorySources>
    <specialSources>
        <allEvents switchValue="All" name="All Events" />
        <notProcessed switchValue="All" name="Unprocessed Category" />
        <errors switchValue="All" name="Logging Errors &amp; Warnings">
            <listeners>
                <add name="Event Log Listener" />
            </listeners>
        </errors>
    </specialSources>
</loggingConfiguration>
</configuration>

Answer 1

I realized that I was trying to use Config file from within a DLL which does not work. I should be using FileConfigurationSource instead.

If I use the same App.Config from an application, it worked fine.

Answer 2

I've also seen this error when forgetting to add a reference to the EntLib DLL's.