AspNetCore.Docs/aspnetcore/fundamentals/startup.md

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Application startup in ASP.NET Core ardalis Discover how the Startup class in ASP.NET Core configures services and the app's request pipeline. wpickett tdykstra mvc 12/08/2017 asp.net-core aspnet article fundamentals/startup

Application startup in ASP.NET Core

By Steve Smith, Tom Dykstra, and Luke Latham

The Startup class configures services and the app's request pipeline.

The Startup class

ASP.NET Core apps use a Startup class, which is named Startup by convention. The Startup class:

  • Can optionally include a ConfigureServices method to configure the app's services.
  • Must include a Configure method to create the app's request processing pipeline.

ConfigureServices and Configure are called by the runtime when the app starts:

[!code-csharpMain]

Specify the Startup class with the WebHostBuilderExtensions UseStartup<TStartup> method:

[!code-csharpMain]

The Startup class constructor accepts dependencies defined by the host. A common use of dependency injection into the Startup class is to inject:

[!code-csharpMain]

An alternative to injecting IHostingEnvironment is to use a conventions-based approach. The app can define separate Startup classes for different environments (for example, StartupDevelopment), and the appropriate startup class is selected at runtime. The class whose name suffix matches the current environment is prioritized. If the app is run in the Development environment and includes both a Startup class and a StartupDevelopment class, the StartupDevelopment class is used. For more information, see Working with multiple environments.

To learn more about WebHostBuilder, see the Hosting topic. For information on handling errors during startup, see Startup exception handling.

The ConfigureServices method

The ConfigureServices method is:

  • Optional.
  • Called by the web host before the Configure method to configure the app's services.
  • Where configuration options are set by convention.

Adding services to the service container makes them available within the app and in the Configure method. The services are resolved via dependency injection or from IApplicationBuilder.ApplicationServices.

The web host may configure some services before Startup methods are called. Details are available in the Hosting topic.

For features that require substantial setup, there are Add[Service] extension methods on IServiceCollection. A typical web app registers services for Entity Framework, Identity, and MVC:

[!code-csharpMain]

Services available in Startup

The web host provides some services that are available to the Startup class constructor. The app adds additional services via ConfigureServices. Both the host and app services are then available in Configure and throughout the application.

The Configure method

The Configure method is used to specify how the app responds to HTTP requests. The request pipeline is configured by adding middleware components to an IApplicationBuilder instance. IApplicationBuilder is available to the Configure method, but it isn't registered in the service container. Hosting creates an IApplicationBuilder and passes it directly to Configure (reference source).

The ASP.NET Core templates configure the pipeline with support for a developer exception page, BrowserLink, error pages, static files, and ASP.NET MVC:

[!code-csharpMain]

Each Use extension method adds a middleware component to the request pipeline. For instance, the UseMvc extension method adds the routing middleware to the request pipeline and configures MVC as the default handler.

Additional services, such as IHostingEnvironment and ILoggerFactory, may also be specified in the method signature. When specified, additional services are injected if they're available.

For more information on how to use IApplicationBuilder, see Middleware.

Convenience methods

ConfigureServices and Configure convenience methods can be used instead of specifying a Startup class. Multiple calls to ConfigureServices append to one another. Multiple calls to Configure use the last method call.

[!code-csharpMain]

Startup filters

Use IStartupFilter to configure middleware at the beginning or end of an app's Configure middleware pipeline. IStartupFilter is useful to ensure that a middleware runs before or after middleware added by libraries at the start or end of the app's request processing pipeline.

IStartupFilter implements a single method, Configure, which receives and returns an Action<IApplicationBuilder>. An IApplicationBuilder defines a class to configure an app's request pipeline. For more information, see Creating a middleware pipeline with IApplicationBuilder.

Each IStartupFilter implements one or more middlewares in the request pipeline. The filters are invoked in the order they were added to the service container. Filters may add middleware before or after passing control to the next filter, thus they append to the beginning or end of the app pipeline.

The sample app (how to download) demonstrates how to register a middleware with IStartupFilter. The sample app includes a middleware that sets an options value from a query string parameter:

[!code-csharpMain]

The RequestSetOptionsMiddleware is configured in the RequestSetOptionsStartupFilter class:

[!code-csharpMain]

The IStartupFilter is registered in the service container in ConfigureServices:

[!code-csharpMain]

When a query string parameter for option is provided, the middleware processes the value assignment before the MVC middleware renders the response:

Browser window showing the rendered Index page. The value of Option is rendered as 'From Middleware' based on requesting the page with the query string parameter and value of option set to 'From Middleware'.

Middleware execution order is set by the order of IStartupFilter registrations:

  • Multiple IStartupFilter implementations may interact with the same objects. If ordering is important, order their IStartupFilter service registrations to match the order that their middlewares should run.
  • Libraries may add middleware with one or more IStartupFilter implementations that run before or after other app middleware registered with IStartupFilter. To invoke an IStartupFilter middleware before a middleware added by a library's IStartupFilter, position the service registration before the library is added to the service container. To invoke it afterward, position the service registration after the library is added.

Additional resources