Is AddDirectoryBrowser is optional.

Question

Is AddDirectoryBrowser is optional.

Amit Singh Rawat 731

Microsoft document says, to enable directory browsing we need to add services.AddDirectoryBrowser().
I tried same example in Microsoft site and able to browse directories without adding AddDirectoryBrowser.
Is it optional. If yes, why it is not mentioned in the Microsoft Site. Did I miss something?

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/fundamentals/static-files?view=aspnetcore-5.0

Visual studio 2019. Version 16.9.3.
.NET5

Anonymous

2021-08-02T09:38:32.177+00:00

Hi @Amit Singh Rawat ,

I could reproduce the problem on my side, it seems that this is a document issue, the AddDirectoryBrowser is optional, I have submitted feedback about this issue, and I will give you a reply if get any response. Have an enjoyable day!

Answer accepted by question author

Rick0 76

You might be able to get away with not calling AddDirectoryBrowser in some cases, but it should be called. I updated the doc to explain why. See the paragraph just above [Serve default documents][1] which has links to the relevant source code. In the sample code I wrote for the doc you can remove the call to AddDirectoryBrowser and all the sample code works. I think that's why @Amit Vasu Rawat was asking.

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Anonymous

2021-08-02T09:38:32.177+00:00

Hi @Amit Singh Rawat ,

I could reproduce the problem on my side, it seems that this is a document issue, the AddDirectoryBrowser is optional, I have submitted feedback about this issue, and I will give you a reply if get any response. Have an enjoyable day!

Answer 1

Rick0 76

@Bruce (SqlWork.com) how do I change my profile? I might work for MS, but I'm never on this site.

Edit I can see my profile. How did you remove your email from your profile?

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Answer 2

Bruce (SqlWork.com) 84,061

IIS supports directory browsing, but its for the site. You will expose the .net core code.

The .net core static file handler (used instead of IIS for static files), also supports directory browsing. This only allows browsing of the wwwroot folder, not the site. it also works when not hosted by IIS.

Amit Singh Rawat 731 Reputation points

2021-07-28T04:21:18.957+00:00

Hi @Bruce (SqlWork.com)

This is not an actual project. I am learning the .NET core and trying to explore each feature individually.
My only concern is if I place app.UseDirectoryBrowser() in my Configure Method (or so called Middleware). Nothing else. No service. Default / Empty template. Then also I am able to browse the directory via Visual Studio, via IIS, and via CLI. So what is the purpose of services.AddDirectoryBrowser().

Here is the link of M/S Site.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/fundamentals/static-files?view=aspnetcore-5.0

Where they specify Enable directory browsing with:

AddDirectoryBrowser in Startup.ConfigureServices.
UseDirectoryBrowser in Startup.Configure.

But I didn't add "AddDirectoryBrowser " and still able to browse directory.
Bruce (SqlWork.com) 84,061 Reputation points

2021-07-28T14:57:52.98+00:00

Directory browsing is a website feature. If you hit the root (or any sub folder) instead of a default document, it returns an html page that is a list of links to the files in the folder.

Typically an asp.net core routing module would return a default action/page or not found error. The add browsing support, adds support to return the list.

You would learn more if you try writing sample apps to understand features.

Answer 3

Michael Taylor 61,221

Directory browsing is disabled by default as it is a security risk. I question why you would turn it on in an MVC application other than for a specific folder (and even then it seems odd to me). You have to add the calls mentioned in the link.

Please provide a link to the example from MS that you see where they don't have this code and browsing is working (note that if you configure it in IIS then you're skipping MVC which would be bad).

Amit Singh Rawat 731 Reputation points

2021-07-28T04:20:32.237+00:00

Hi @Michael Taylor
,
This is not an actual project. I am learning the .NET core and trying to explore each feature individually.
My only concern is if I place app.UseDirectoryBrowser() in my Configure Method (or so called Middleware). Nothing else. No service. Default / Empty template. Then also I am able to browse the directory via Visual Studio, via IIS, and via CLI. So what is the purpose of services.AddDirectoryBrowser().

Here is the link of M/S Site.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/fundamentals/static-files?view=aspnetcore-5.0

Where they specify Enable directory browsing with:

AddDirectoryBrowser in Startup.ConfigureServices.
UseDirectoryBrowser in Startup.Configure.

But I didn't add "AddDirectoryBrowser " and still able to browse directory.
Michael Taylor 61,221 Reputation points

2021-07-28T13:42:16.453+00:00

The Configure method is where you register your middleware components which specify what features are available. The ConfigureServices method is for dependency injection and it configures the middleware that you previously registered. By specifying UseDirectoryBrowser you are enabling the feature. When you call AddDirectoryBrowser it registers the middleware services with DI so they can be used elsewhere.

It is confusing and can be easily messed up. In your case since directory browsing doesn't require much server side logic it'll work if you don't call the add method. However if you were to try to access the services the middleware provides programmatically it would fail. In this case it wouldn't matter too much but most middleware has features the server side code needs (authentication, MVC routing, etc).
Amit Singh Rawat 731 Reputation points

2021-08-02T04:24:37.54+00:00

@Michael Taylor ,
It means ,if I add authentication and routing then directory browsing will not work without adding AddDirectoryBrowser Service?
Michael Taylor 61,221 Reputation points

2021-08-02T13:19:51.097+00:00

ConfigureServices is for registering stuff with IoC. It also is where you configure options for most services. So if you leave it out the middleware may or may not work correctly (depends on the middleware). But more importantly you won't be able to use it elsewhere. Authentication, as an example, is probably going to be needed elsewhere so forgetting to add it (with its options) is going to cause it to not work.

Whether you actually need it for directory browsing or not I don't know. You'd have to look at the source. But honestly I cannot think of a single reason why you would not add the service to IoC. You gain nothing by not registering it and a potential change to the middleware in the future could make it such that not adding it breaks it. Again, I don't see a single use case where you wouldn't just register it with IoC.

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