CODEWITHSUNDEEP
visual-studioweb-config
Taras Kovalenko
Taras Kovalenko

Reputation: 2393

Modifying web.config for development and production environments

I have a webApi project and after deployment to Dev environment I need to edit web.config and change connection to database from production configuration to development configuration and back if I need deployment to prod. How can I automatically set webconfig for selected dev or prod in the release or debug I use in my project?

Upvotes: 3

Views: 3230

Answers (1)

Glen Thomas
Glen Thomas

Reputation: 10744

To specify the changes that you want to make in Web.config files, you use transform files. A transform file is associated with a build configuration.

If you want to create a transform file for a custom build configuration that does not exist, create the build configuration first by using Configuration Manager.

You can open Configuration Manager by selecting it from the Build menu.

In Solution Explorer, expand the application Web.config file.

If any transform files have already been created, the Web.config file is displayed in Solution Explorer with a symbol indicating that it can be expanded, and the transform files are shown when you expand the Web.config file.

The build configuration that a transform is for is indicated by a string in the file name. For example, a transform file for the Debug build configuration is named Web.Debug.config.

If no transform file exists for the build configuration that you want to specify settings for, in Solution Explorer, right-click the Web.config file and then click Add Config Transforms.

Open the transform file for the build configuration that you want to work with.

Edit the transform file to specify the changes that should be made to the deployed Web.config file when you deploy by using that build configuration.

The default transform file includes comments that show how to code some common transforms.

The following example shows how to use the Match locator and the SetAttributes transform attribute. The Match locator attribute identifies the add element in the connectionStrings section as the element to change. The SetAttributes transform attribute specifies that this element's connectionString attribute should be changed to "ReleaseSQLServer".

<configuration xmlns:xdt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/XML-Document-Transform">
  <connectionStrings>
    <add name="MyDB" 
      connectionString="ReleaseSQLServer" 
      xdt:Transform="SetAttributes" xdt:Locator="Match(name)"/>
  </connectionStrings>
</configuration>

Save and close the transform file.

When you deploy the Web application by using the selected build configuration and by using either a deployment package or one-click publish, the Web.config file is transformed according to your specifications.

Upvotes: 5

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