As mentioned in a previous post https://dev.to/kiranrongali/how-datadog-helps-developers-teams-kkg, we discussed how Datadog can benefit developers and teams. In this post, we'll focus on integrating it with a .NET application.

• Step 1: Create a Datadog Account

1.  Go to https://www.datadoghq.com.
2.  Sign up for a free trial.
3.  Once logged in, choose your region (important for API keys and endpoints).

• Step 2: Install the Datadog Agent (on your dev machine, server, or container)

1. Download the agent from Datadog Agent Downloads.
2. Follow the OS-specific instructions:
   • Windows: Run the .msi installer and enter your API Key during setup.
   • Linux/macOS: Use the shell script provided.

🔑 Your API key can be found in Datadog → Integrations → APIs.

• Step 3: Install Datadog Tracer for .NET In your .NET Core or ASP.NET Core project:

1. Install the NuGet package:
   

    #bash
    dotnet add package Datadog.Trace
   

2. Enable automatic instrumentation:

   Add this to your environment (or launch profile):
   

     #bash
   
     DOTNET_Diagnostics=1
     DD_TRACE_ENABLED=true
     DD_ENV=dev
     DD_SERVICE=my-dotnet-app
     DD_VERSION=1.0.0
     DD_AGENT_HOST=localhost   # or your agent IP
     DD_TRACE_DEBUG=true       # optional for debugging
   

• Or set in appsettings.json (if using Datadog.Config):
  

    #json
  {
  "DD_SERVICE": "my-dotnet-app",
  "DD_ENV": "dev",
  "DD_AGENT_HOST": "localhost",
  "DD_TRACE_ENABLED": "true"
  }
  

  • Step 4: Enable APM (Tracing) If using IIS or Kestrel, no code changes are needed but: To trace web requests, background jobs, or SQL calls:

   //csharp
    using Datadog.Trace;
  
    public IActionResult Index()
     {
      var span = Tracer.Instance.StartActive("custom.operation");
      try
       {
        // your logic here
       }
      finally
       {
        span.Dispose(); // ends trace
       }
  
       return View();
      }
  

  Step 5: Enable Logging (Optional but Recommended)
  Use Serilog, NLog, or Microsoft Logging to forward logs:

For Serilog:

#bash
dotnet add package Serilog.Sinks.Datadog.Logs

Example Config:

   //csharp
   Log.Logger = new LoggerConfiguration()
    .WriteTo.DatadogLogs("<your-api-key>", source: "csharp", service: "my-dotnet-app")
    .CreateLogger();

• Step 6: Verify in Datadog Dashboard

  • Go to APM → Services in Datadog.
  • Select your service (my-dotnet-app) to view: Response times Error rates Traces and spans Host metrics (CPU, memory, etc.)

• Step 7: Set Up Dashboards & Alerts

  1. Create a custom dashboard:
     • Add widgets: charts, traces, logs, etc.
  2. Add monitors/alerts:
     • Example: “Notify if error rate > 5% for 5 min”
  3. Integrate with Slack, Teams, PagerDuty, etc. for alert delivery.

• Optional: Monitor SQL, Redis, HTTP, etc.

  • Install additional NuGet packages if needed (e.g., Datadog.Trace.ClrProfiler.Managed).
  • You can trace:
    • SQL Server (SqlClient)
    • HTTP calls (HttpClient)
    • Entity Framework
    • Background Services (e.g., Hangfire)

That's it!
With this setup, you'll now have:

• Real-time visibility into your .NET app’s performance
• Detailed traces and logs
• Dashboards and alerts