EventLog.MachineName Property

Definition

Gets or sets the name of the computer on which to read or write events.

C#
[System.ComponentModel.SettingsBindable(true)]
public string MachineName { get; set; }
C#
public string MachineName { get; set; }

Property Value

The name of the server on which the event log resides. The default is the local computer (".").

Attributes

Exceptions

The computer name is invalid.

Examples

The following example reads entries in the event log, "NewEventLog", on a specified computer.

C#
using System;
using System.Diagnostics;

class MySample{

    public static void Main(){

        EventLog myNewLog = new EventLog();
        myNewLog.Log = "NewEventLog";
        myNewLog.MachineName = "MyServer";
        foreach(EventLogEntry entry in myNewLog.Entries){
            Console.WriteLine("\tEntry: " + entry.Message);
        }
    }
}

Remarks

If you write to an event log, you must associate a Source with your event log object to connect it to a particular log. It is not necessary to specify the Source property when only reading from a log. You can specify only the Log name and MachineName (server computer name).

Note

You need not specify the MachineName if you are connecting to a log. If you do not specify the MachineName, the local computer (".") is assumed.

A source can only be registered to one log at a time. If the Source property was set for an instance of EventLog, you cannot change the MachineName property for that EventLog without changing the value of Source or calling DeleteEventSource first. If you change the MachineName property, the EventLog closes all handles and reattaches to the log and source on the new computer.

The MachineName value cannot be an empty string. If it is not explicitly set, it defaults to the local computer (".").

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET 8 (package-provided), 9 (package-provided), 10 (package-provided)
.NET Framework 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard 2.0 (package-provided)
Windows Desktop 3.0, 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

See also