ASP.NET Core configuration for .NET Core console application

Question

ASP.NET Core support a new configuration system as seen here: https://docs.asp.net/en/latest/fundamentals/configuration.html

Is this model also supported in .NET Core console applications?

If not what is alternate to the previous app.config and ConfigurationManager model?

Answer 1

For a .NET Core 2.0 console app, I did the following:

1. Create a new file named appsettings.json at the root of the project (the file name can be anything)
2. Add my specific settings to that file as json. For example:

{
  "myKey1" :  "my test value 1", 
  "myKey2" :  "my test value 2", 
  "foo" :  "bar" 
}

3. Configure to copy the file to the output directory whenever the project is built (in VS -> Solution Explorer -> right-click file -> select 'Properties' -> Advanced -> Copy to Output Directory -> select 'Copy Always')

4. Install the following nuget package in my project:

   • Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Json

5. Add the following to Program.cs (or wherever Main() is located):

   static void Main(string[] args)
   {
       var builder = new ConfigurationBuilder()
           .SetBasePath(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory())
           .AddJsonFile("appsettings.json");
   
       var configuration = builder.Build();
   
       // rest of code...
   }
   

6. Then read the values using either of the following ways:

   string myKey1 = configuration["myKey1"];
   Console.WriteLine(myKey1);
   
   string foo = configuration.GetSection("foo").Value;
   Console.WriteLine(foo);
   

More info: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/fundamentals/configuration?tabs=basicconfiguration#simple-configuration