---
title: Implement a custom event provider
slug: cms-11/dev-docs/developing-an-event-provider
docTags: 
createdAt: 2026-07-22T19:45:20.939Z
---

You can find more providers, such as the Amazon and Azure providers, in the [Optimizely NuGet](http://nuget.episerver.com) feed.

This code is an example of implementing an event provider for an external system. Do not use it in production.

```csharp
using EPiServer.Events;
using EPiServer.Events.Providers;
using EPiServer.Framework.Configuration;
using EPiServer.Framework.Initialization;
using EPiServer.ServiceLocation;
using EPiServer.Web;
using EPiServer.Web.Hosting;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Linq;
using System.Messaging;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace MSMQEventProvider {
  #region msmq
  public class MSMQEventProvider: EventProvider {
    private
    const string EPiServerQueueName = "private$\\episerverevents";
    MessageQueue _sendQueue;
    private static object _sendLock = new object();
    IList < Timer > _receiveTimers = new List < Timer > ();
    TimeSpan _waitTimeout = new TimeSpan(0, 0, 0, 0, 10);

    public override void Initialize(string name, System.Collections.Specialized.NameValueCollection config) {
      base.Initialize(name, config);

      //Get all existing EPiServer queues
      var queues = MessageQueue.GetPrivateQueuesByMachine(Environment.MachineName)
        .Where(q => q.QueueName.StartsWith(EPiServerQueueName));
      _sendQueue = queues.SingleOrDefault(q => q.QueueName.EndsWith(CurrentApplicationId));

      if (_sendQueue == null) {
        string queuePath = ".\\" + EPiServerQueueName + CurrentApplicationId;
        _sendQueue = MessageQueue.Create(queuePath);
        _sendQueue.SetPermissions("Everyone", MessageQueueAccessRights.FullControl);
        _sendQueue.Formatter = new BinaryMessageFormatter();
      }

      //Set up receive listeners for all other queues
      foreach(var queue in queues.Where(q => !q.QueueName.EndsWith(CurrentApplicationId))) {
        queue.Formatter = new BinaryMessageFormatter();
        _receiveTimers.Add(new Timer(new TimerCallback(Receive), queue, 0, 1000));
      }
    }

    public override void Uninitialize() {
      base.Uninitialize();
      foreach(var timer in _receiveTimers) {
        timer.Dispose();
      }
      _sendQueue.Dispose();
    }

    public override void SendMessage(EventMessage message) {
      lock(_sendLock) {
        _sendQueue.Send(message);
      }
    }

    private void Receive(object state) {
      MessageQueue queue = state as MessageQueue;
      Message message = null;
      //Receive throws for empty queue therefore the check with enumerator
      while (!IsQueueEmpty(queue)) {
        message = queue.Receive(_waitTimeout);
        OnMessageReceived(new EventMessageEventArgs(message.Body as EventMessage));
      }
    }

    private bool IsQueueEmpty(MessageQueue queue) {
      using(MessageEnumerator enumerator = queue.GetMessageEnumerator2()) {
        return !enumerator.MoveNext();
      }
    }

    private string CurrentApplicationId {
      get {
        return GenericHostingEnvironment.Instance.ApplicationID.Replace('/', '_').ToLower();
      }
    }

  }
  #endregion
}
```

## Configure an event provider

To add a custom event provider, add the provider configuration to the event element in the `<episerver.framework>` section of the `web.config` as the following example shows:

```xml
<event defaultProvider="msmq">
  <providers>
    <add name="msmq" 
         type="MSMQEventProvider.MSMQEventProvider, MSMQEventProvider" />
  </providers>
</event>
```