Is it possible to not include web.config in output directory, but still use web.config during building the application?
Unfortunatelly setting Build action to "None" doesn't copy web.config but application cannot compile because web.config is not used then.
I recommend you to look into web.config transformations.
They allow you to have one version for debug and one for release (deployment).
The most common transformation is for connection strings. You can do that like this:
<connectionStrings>
<add name="local" connectionString="Data Source=IPAddress,Port;Initial Catalog=SomeOtherDB;User ID=TopSecretUsername;Password=SecurePassword"
xdt:Transform="SetAttributes" xdt:Locator="Match(name)"/>
</connectionStrings>
Another very common transformation is removing the debug attribute for release:
<compilation xdt:Transform="RemoveAttributes(debug)" />
Read more here:
http://www.asp.net/mvc/overview/deployment/visual-studio-web-deployment/web-config-transformations
A great (free) video course can be found here:
http://www.pluralsight.com/courses/table-of-contents/aspdotnet-mvc3-intro
Can you do something like what's suggested in this SO question?
something like replacing in your prj file where you find the include for web.config with (untested):
<Choose>
<When Condition=" '$(Configuration)'=='DEBUG' ">
<ItemGroup>
<Reference Include="web.config" />
</ItemGroup>
</When>
</Choose>
As Mihai-Andrei Dinculescu so 'Angryly' puts it - unless you have a good reason to really want the file not to be copies rather then use transformations, you should go with transformations. If you really have to not copy the file or transformations are not suited for your needs, you can try this one
Related
Ok, I am using an external config file for my connection strings so each individual developer can have their own strings while developing. Normally, each dev has a different environment but we all publish to the same servers via web.release.config transforms.
However, when I publish from VS, it's not transforming from the web.release.config for the conn strings. I think it's because if you have the configSource attribute set to use an external config it ignores the transform.
Here's my web.config:
<connectionStrings configSource="userConn.config" />
And here's my userConn.config:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<connectionStrings>
<add name="DefaultConnection"
providerName="System.Data.SqlClient"
connectionString="Data Source=XXXX;Initial Catalog=XXXX;user id=XXXX;password=XXXX;" />
<add name="ExtVariablesEntities"
providerName="System.Data.EntityClient" connectionString="metadata=res://*/Models.XXXX.csdl|res://*/Models.XXXX.ssdl|res://*/Models.ExtVariables.msl;provider=System.Data.SqlClient;provider connection string="data source=XXXX;initial catalog=XXXX;user id=XXXX;password=XXXX;MultipleActiveResultSets=True;App=EntityFramework;"" />
</connectionStrings>
After publishing, opening the actual web.config that made it to the server, it still has:
<connectionStrings configSource="userConn.config" />
Is there a workaround for this? I've had this setup before I just don't remember what the trick is.
Just an FYI that I was able to solve this by following this article: https://jshowers.com/simple-web-config-transforms-for-configuration-elements-that-use-configsource-and-external-files/
You end up with 3 custom config files - whatever you want to call them for dev, test and prod lets say. Then you will have 3 web config files dev, test and prod (these are your web config transform files) where you simply say:
<appSettings xdt:Transform="Replace" configSource="path.to.custom.config.file.depending.on.env">
It doesn't seem to be possible to change the Build Configuration of Visual Studio 2010 Website Projects (as opposed to Visual Studio Web Applications), and changing the Build Configuration is a key part of enabling Web.config transformations (it's not possible to change the configuration to anything except Debug).
How do I get Web.config transformations to work with Visual Studio 2010 Website projects if it's not possible to change the Build Configuration?
I'd prefer not to use entire an Web Application Project solution out of box.
My solution is to use the XmlTransform task defined in Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.dll directly (this task is the core of WebConfigTransformation)
This way it is flexible enough and does exactly what you expect it to do.
For example here is the WebSiteTransformator.csproj I'm using for transforming web.config.
Here also is an example of flexibility that is impossible to reach with original WebConfigTransformation: it takes web.Template.config, applies web.$(Configuration).config over it and writes web.config. This allows us to add web.config itself into ignore list in source control. It is still valid csproj to be referenced by website:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<PropertyGroup>
<Platform Condition=" '$(Platform)' == '' ">AnyCPU</Platform>
<SchemaVersion>2.0</SchemaVersion>
<OutputType>Library</OutputType>
<TargetFrameworkVersion>v4.0</TargetFrameworkVersion>
<OutputPath>$(TEMP)\TransformWebConfig\bin</OutputPath>
<BaseIntermediateOutputPath>$(TEMP)\TransformWebConfig\obj\</BaseIntermediateOutputPath>
<IntermediateOutputPath>$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)$(Configuration)\</IntermediateOutputPath>
<WebFolderName>$(SolutionDir)\MyWebSite\</WebFolderName>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<Compile Include="Dummy.cs" />
</ItemGroup>
<UsingTask TaskName="TransformXml" AssemblyFile="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v10.0\Web\Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.dll"/>
<Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
<TransformXml Source="$(WebFolderName)Web.Template.config"
Transform="$(WebFolderName)Web.$(Configuration).config"
Destination="$(WebFolderName)Web.config" />
</Target>
</Project>
I found a pretty good blog post describing a solution to this here:
http://andrewtwest.com/2010/02/25/using-web-config-transformations-in-web-site-projects/
In short: create an empty project (as long as it is not another website project) in your solution that contains the website. The empty project will give you access to msbuild through its project file, which will allow you to perform transforms on your website web.config.
I used a slightly alternative approach. Still a bit of a hack, but I think a lot more straightforward. This worked for me, but obviously there are a lot of different configurations available so I can't guarantee it'll work for everyone. This revolves around the way that a website is first packaged up in to your AppData folder before being published...
Manually add a Web.Release.config file to the website and add the necessary transforms - obviously there's no 'Add Config Transform' option for websites, hence having to do this manually. Example Web.Release.config:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration xmlns:xdt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/XML-Document-Transform">
<appSettings>
<add key="MySetting" value="NewValue" xdt:Transform="Replace" xdt:Locator="Match(key)" />
</appSettings>
<system.web>
<compilation xdt:Transform="RemoveAttributes(debug)" />
</system.web>
</configuration>
Inside the website.publishproj file, ensure the configuration is set to Release:
<Configuration Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == '' ">Release</Configuration>
Add the following to the very bottom of website.publishproj (just before </Project>):
<Target Name="AfterBuild">
<MakeDir Directories="$(PackageArchiveRootDir)\..\CSAutoParameterize\original" />
<TransformXml Source="Web.config" Transform="Web.$(ConfigurationName).config" Destination="$(PackageArchiveRootDir)\..\CSAutoParameterize\original\Web.config" StackTrace="false" />
</Target>
Create a publish profile in VS 2017 and then right click on the .pubxml profile in App_Data\PublishProfiles and select Add Config Transform.
See https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/vstudio/en-US/31f41991-abb2-41de-ad0b-c1379cc7c806/vs-2013-express-for-web-webconfig-transforms?forum=visualstudiogeneral&prof=required
As mentioned in Andriy's comment above, Solution wide build events definitely seems like a cleaner way to do this.
I am adding this as a separate answer, as it gets a little lost in the comment, but IMHO is the best answer. Props to Andriy K and Sayed Ibrahim.
If you would prefer not to need a Web.Template.config, I used this:
<PropertyGroup>
<_tempSourceFile>$([System.IO.Path]::GetTempFileName())</_tempSourceFile>
<_tempTransformFile>$([System.IO.Path]::GetTempFileName())</_tempTransformFile>
</PropertyGroup>
<Copy SourceFiles="$(ProjectDir)Web.config" DestinationFiles="$(_tempSourceFile)"/>
<Copy SourceFiles="$(ProjectDir)Web.$(Configuration).config" DestinationFiles="$(_tempTransformFile)"/>
<TransformXml Source="$(_tempSourceFile)"
Transform="$(_tempTransformFile)"
Destination="$(ProjectDir)Web.config"
StackTrace="false" />
Adapted from an answer here.
In an open source ASP.NET application I'm working on, I need to keep certain data in the configuration file private, while still keeping it easy for people to build and debug it on their own machine. This is data such as API keys, Mail Settings, etc..
How would I keep this data separate and out of the git repository while still allowing people to just pull and build without having to set up a bunch of stuff?
In your config file you can define configSource:
<configuration>
<appSettings configSource="filepath1.config" />
<connectionStrings configSource="filepath2.config" />
<!--etc-->
</configuration>
Put the configurations that you need to keep private in a separate config file, then exclude them in your .gitignore.
Keep in mind that this will ignore the whole section and overwrite it with the context you have in the referenced file.
You can also do Configuration Transform, which allows you to only overwrite a small set of variables in sections. For example:
In your main Web.config:
<configuration>
<appSettings>
<add key="Key1" value="Something I dont't Care"/>
<add key="Key2" value="Something dummy"/>
</appSettings>
</configuration>
And in your Web.Release.config:
<configuration xmlns:xdt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/XML-Document-Transform">
<appSettings>
<add key="Key2" value="Something I want to keep secret"
xdt:Transform="SetAttributes" xdt:Locator="Match(key)" />
</appSettings>
</configuration>
In this case the "Key2" value that you want to keep private will be in a separate file, and you can exclude the Web.Release.config through .gitignore.
Also there's another approach that I never tried, which can also overwrite config using external file.
Hi I am looking for a solution where I have some common connection strings which I have
a common connections strings file but also need some specific add and remove connection strings in some sites...but do not see a way to do it...
<configuration>
<connectionStrings configSource="connections.config">
<remove name="AppConnectionString" />
<add name="AppConnectionString" connectionString="data source=(local);initial catalog=xyz;integrated security=True;MultipleActiveResultSets=True;" />
<connectionStrings/>
</configuration>
With file connections.config containing
<connectionStrings>
<add name="name" connectionString="conn_string" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />
<add name="name2" connectionString="conn_string2" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />
</connectionStrings>
Thanks,
Bala
If this does not work as you have expressed it above (which is a shame in my opinon), you have a number of other options:
Include the common connection strings in the connection string config, and then use the application settings config for the app-specific connection strings.
As an alternative, use a custom configuration file for the app-specific connection strings and load it in for each app.
When you build your apps inject the correct connection string keys into the config file using something like powershell. This script can run as a post build task in your build script.
Otherwise, when you package or stage your release, ask the release team to run the script as a manual step (or add it into your deployment script).
I made a web.config (full file, it doesn't show XML errors)
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/.NetConfiguration/v2.0">
<configSections>
...
<location path="." inheritInChildApplications="false">
<connectionStrings>
<add name="ElmahLog" connectionString="data source=~/App_Data/Error.db" />
<add name="database" connectionString="w" providerName="System.Data.EntityClient"/>
</connectionStrings>
</location>
...
with a transform file (web.Staging.config)
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration xmlns:xdt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/XML-Document-Transform">
<connectionStrings>
<add name="database"
connectionString="c"
providerName="System.Data.EntityClient"
xdt:Transform="SetAttributes" xdt:Locator="Match(name)" />
</connectionStrings>
<system.web>
<compilation xdt:Transform="RemoveAttributes(debug)" />
<customErrors defaultRedirect="error.aspx"
mode="RemoteOnly" xdt:Transform="Replace">
</customErrors>
</system.web>
</configuration>
I am publishing in Staging mode (right click website > Publish > Method: File System ...)
------ Build started: Project: Drawing, Configuration: Staging Any CPU ------
Drawing -> D:\Project\bin\Staging\Drawing.dll
------ Build started: Project: MySystem, Configuration: Staging Any CPU ------
MySystem -> D:\Project\bin\Staging\MySystem.dll
...
But when I look at the web.config in the output folder it isn't changed.
I found the following on the Build log:
D:\Project\Web.Staging.config(3,2): Warning : No element in the source document matches '/configuration'
D:\Project\Web.Staging.config(3,2): Warning : No element in the source document matches '/configuration'
D:\Project\Web.Staging.config(3,2): Warning : No element in the source document matches '/configuration'
Transformed web.config using Web.Staging.config into obj\Staging\TransformWebConfig\transformed\web.config.
What could be the problem? Am I doing this right?
Answering late but perhaps I can save someone a headache. In Visual Studio 2013, there are two places to select configuration for your build and deploy. The Configuration Manager and then again with Publish Web where the third step in the Wizard entitled Settings allows you to select Config you want to use. If you don't select your new configuration it will use the transform for the selected configuration instead of yours.
I found out two things:
You cannot set a namespace on the <configuration> tag (ex: for <location path="." inheritInChildApplications="false">)
You have to watch for the correct hierarchy in the transform file.
Like
<configuration>
<location>
<connectionStrings>
Instead of
<configuration>
<connectionStrings>
Ensure that in the properties of the Web.Config file Build Action is set to Content.
If the build action is set to None, it will not be transformed, even if it is being copied to the output directory.
Make sure to include InsertIfMissing if the section you are trying to add does not already appear in the output.
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration xmlns:xdt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/XML-Document-Transform">
<location>
<system.webServer>
<security xdt:Transform="InsertIfMissing">
<requestFiltering allowDoubleEscaping="true" />
</security>
</system.webServer>
</location>
</configuration>
Don't forget to copy all the other attributes of "configuration" from the original "web.config", as it seems that VS2012 doesn't do it automatically and of course there will be no match...
Answering late as well, but this may help someone.
I realized that if you have two websites in the same solution, when you try to publish one of them the transformation might not work if you have one only configuration for both projects.
One of my websites was always transforming, but the other sometimes was and sometimes wasn't.
For example, I had the configuration "Auto" in the solution, and had web.Auto.config for both websites.
I resolved that by creating a new configuration with a different name - "AutoAdmin" - creating also its web.AutoAdmin.config file for the second project, and when I published it again the transformation finally occurred.
I followed the below steps to fix this issue. Thanks, #michaelhawkins for pointing in the right direction. You need to make sure you change the configuration to release in two places.
And right click on your project and select "Properties". IF not working try selecting x86 in CPU Architecture
#Karthikeyan VK your post resolved my issue. Although I was selecting Production configuration in my publish profile, in configuration manager it was set to dev therefore It didn't transform my settings.
Microsoft needs to fix this bug. Once you pick a configuration in the publishing profile it should automatically update the configuration manager as well.