how to set ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT to be considered for publishing an asp.net core application?

Question

when i publish my asp.net core web application to my local file system, it always takes the production-config and the ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT variable with the value = "Production".

how and where do i have to set the value of the ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT variable so that it will be considered not only for debugging, but also for the publishing? i already tried the following options without success:

• in windows settings
• in .pubxml file
• in launchSettings.json
• in project.json

Answer 1

Option1:

To set the ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT environment variable in windows,

Command line - setx ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT "Development"

PowerShell - $Env:ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT = "Development"

For other OS refer this - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/fundamentals/environments

Option2:

If you want to set ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT using web.config then add aspNetCore like this-

<configuration>
  <!--
    Configure your application settings in appsettings.json. Learn more at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=786380
  -->
  <system.webServer>
    <handlers>
      <add name="aspNetCore" path="*" verb="*" modules="AspNetCoreModule" resourceType="Unspecified" />
    </handlers>
    <aspNetCore processPath=".\MyApplication.exe" arguments="" stdoutLogEnabled="false" stdoutLogFile=".\logs\stdout" forwardWindowsAuthToken="false">
      <environmentVariables>
        <environmentVariable name="ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT" value="Development" />
      </environmentVariables>
    </aspNetCore>
  </system.webServer>
</configuration>

Answer 2

Other than the options mentioned above, there are a couple of other Solutions.

1. Modifying the project file (.CsProj) file

MSBuild supports the EnvironmentName Property which can help to set the right environment variable as per the Environment you wish to Deploy. The environment name would be added in the web.config during the Publish phase.

Simply open the project file (*.csProj) and add the following XML.

<!-- Custom Property Group added to add the Environment name during publish
  The EnvironmentName property is used during the publish for the Environment variable in web.config
  -->
  <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == '' Or '$(Configuration)' == 'Debug'">
    <EnvironmentName>Development</EnvironmentName>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)' != '' AND '$(Configuration)' != 'Debug' ">
    <EnvironmentName>Production</EnvironmentName>
  </PropertyGroup>

Above code would add the environment name as Development for Debug configuration or if no configuration is specified. For any other Configuration the Environment name would be Production in the generated web.config file. More details here

2. Adding the EnvironmentName Property in the publish profiles.

We can add the <EnvironmentName> property in the publish profile as well. Open the publish profile file which is located at the Properties/PublishProfiles/{profilename.pubxml} This will set the Environment name in web.config when the project is published. More Details here

<PropertyGroup>
  <EnvironmentName>Development</EnvironmentName>
</PropertyGroup>

3. Command line options using dotnet publish

Additionaly, we can pass the property EnvironmentName as a command line option to the dotnet publish command. Following command would include the environment variable as Development in the web.config file.

dotnet publish -c Debug -r win-x64 /p:EnvironmentName=Development

Answer 3

Simple way to set it in visual studio IDE.

Project > Properties> Debug > Environment variables

Answer 4

You should follow the instructions provided in the documentation, using the web.config.

<aspNetCore processPath="dotnet"
        arguments=".\MyApp.dll"
        stdoutLogEnabled="false"
        stdoutLogFile="\\?\%home%\LogFiles\aspnetcore-stdout">
  <environmentVariables>
    <environmentVariable name="ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT" value="Production" />
    <environmentVariable name="CONFIG_DIR" value="f:\application_config" />
  </environmentVariables>
</aspNetCore>

Note that you can also set other environment variables as well.

The ASP.NET Core Module allows you specify environment variables for the process specified in the processPath attribute by specifying them in one or more environmentVariable child elements of an environmentVariables collection element under the aspNetCore element. Environment variables set in this section take precedence over system environment variables for the process.

Answer 5

With the latest version of dotnet cli (2.1.400 or greater), you can just set this msbuild property $(EnvironmentName) and publish tooling will take care of adding ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT to the web.config with the environment name.

Also, XDT support is available starting 2.2.100-preview1.

Sample: https://github.com/vijayrkn/webconfigtransform/blob/master/README.md

Answer 6

This is how we can set in run-time:

public class Program
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable("ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT", "Development");

        BuildWebHost(args).Run();
    }

    public static IWebHost BuildWebHost(string[] args) =>
        WebHost.CreateDefaultBuilder(args)
            .UseStartup<Startup>()
            .Build();
}