.NET Aspire SqlServer Entity Framework Core integration
In this article, you learn how to use the .NET Aspire SqlServer Entity Framework Core integration. The Aspire.Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer
library is used to:
- Registers EntityFrameworkCore DbContext service for connecting to a SQL database.
- Automatically configures the following:
- Connection pooling to efficiently managed HTTP requests and database connections
- Health checks, logging and telemetry to improve app monitoring and diagnostics
Prerequisites
- SQL database and connection string for accessing the database.
Get started
To get started with the .NET Aspire SQL Server Entity Framework Core integration, install the Aspire.Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer NuGet package in the client-consuming project, i.e., the project for the application that uses the SQL Server Entity Framework Core client.
dotnet add package Aspire.Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer
For more information, see dotnet add package or Manage package dependencies in .NET applications.
Example usage
In the Program.cs file of your integration-consuming project, call the AddSqlServerDbContext extension to register a DbContext
for use via the dependency injection container.
builder.AddSqlServerDbContext<YourDbContext>("sqldb");
To retrieve YourDbContext
object from a service:
public class ExampleService(YourDbContext client)
{
// Use client...
}
App host usage
To model the SqlServer resource in the app host, install the Aspire.Hosting.SqlServer NuGet package in the app host project.
dotnet add package Aspire.Hosting.SqlServer
In your app host project, register a SqlServer database and consume the connection using the following methods:
var builder = DistributedApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
var sql = builder.AddSqlServer("sql");
var sqldb = sql.AddDatabase("sqldb");
var myService = builder.AddProject<Projects.MyService>()
.WithReference(sqldb);
Configuration
The .NET Aspire SQL Server Entity Framework Core integration provides multiple configuration approaches and options to meet the requirements and conventions of your project.
Use connection string
When using a connection string from the ConnectionStrings
configuration section, you provide the name of the connection string when calling builder.AddSqlServerDbContext<TContext>()
:
builder.AddSqlServerDbContext<MyDbContext>("myConnection");
The connection string is retrieved from the ConnectionStrings
configuration section:
{
"ConnectionStrings": {
"myConnection": "Data Source=myserver;Initial Catalog=master"
}
}
The EnrichSqlServerDbContext
won't make use of the ConnectionStrings
configuration section since it expects a DbContext
to be registered at the point it's called.
For more information, see the ConnectionString.
Use configuration providers
The .NET Aspire SQL Server Entity Framework Core integration supports Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration. It loads the MicrosoftEntityFrameworkCoreSqlServerSettings from configuration files such as appsettings.json by using the Aspire:Microsoft:EntityFrameworkCore:SqlServer
key. If you have set up your configurations in the Aspire:Microsoft:EntityFrameworkCore:SqlServer
section you can just call the method without passing any parameter.
The following is an example of an appsettings.json file that configures some of the available options:
{
"Aspire": {
"Microsoft": {
"EntityFrameworkCore": {
"SqlServer": {
"ConnectionString": "YOUR_CONNECTIONSTRING",
"DbContextPooling": true,
"DisableHealthChecks": true,
"DisableTracing": true,
"DisableMetrics": false
}
}
}
}
}
Use inline configurations
You can also pass the Action<MicrosoftEntityFrameworkCoreSqlServerSettings>
delegate to set up some or all the options inline, for example to turn off the metrics:
builder.AddSqlServerDbContext<YourDbContext>(
"sql",
static settings =>
settings.DisableMetrics = true);
Configure multiple DbContext connections
If you want to register more than one DbContext
with different configuration, you can use $"Aspire.Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer:{typeof(TContext).Name}"
configuration section name. The json configuration would look like:
{
"Aspire": {
"Microsoft": {
"EntityFrameworkCore": {
"SqlServer": {
"ConnectionString": "YOUR_CONNECTIONSTRING",
"DbContextPooling": true,
"DisableHealthChecks": true,
"DisableTracing": true,
"DisableMetrics": false,
"AnotherDbContext": {
"ConnectionString": "AnotherDbContext_CONNECTIONSTRING",
"DisableTracing": false
}
}
}
}
}
}
Then calling the AddSqlServerDbContext
method with AnotherDbContext
type parameter would load the settings from Aspire:Microsoft:EntityFrameworkCore:SqlServer:AnotherDbContext
section.
builder.AddSqlServerDbContext<AnotherDbContext>("another-sql");
Configuration options
Here are the configurable options with corresponding default values:
Name | Description |
---|---|
ConnectionString |
The connection string of the SQL Server database to connect to. |
DbContextPooling |
A boolean value that indicates whether the db context will be pooled or explicitly created every time it's requested |
MaxRetryCount |
The maximum number of retry attempts. Default value is 6, set it to 0 to disable the retry mechanism. |
DisableHealthChecks |
A boolean value that indicates whether the database health check is disabled or not. |
DisableTracing |
A boolean value that indicates whether the OpenTelemetry tracing is disabled or not. |
DisableMetrics |
A boolean value that indicates whether the OpenTelemetry metrics are disabled or not. |
Timeout |
The time in seconds to wait for the command to execute. |
Health checks
By default, .NET Aspire integrations enable health checks for all services. For more information, see .NET Aspire integrations overview.
By default, the .NET Aspire Sql Server Entity Framework Core integration handles the following:
- Adds the
DbContextHealthCheck
, which calls EF Core's CanConnectAsync method. The name of the health check is the name of theTContext
type. - Integrates with the
/health
HTTP endpoint, which specifies all registered health checks must pass for app to be considered ready to accept traffic
Observability and telemetry
.NET Aspire integrations automatically set up Logging, Tracing, and Metrics configurations, which are sometimes known as the pillars of observability. For more information about integration observability and telemetry, see .NET Aspire integrations overview. Depending on the backing service, some integrations may only support some of these features. For example, some integrations support logging and tracing, but not metrics. Telemetry features can also be disabled using the techniques presented in the Configuration section.
Logging
The .NET Aspire SQL Server Entity Framework Core integration uses the following Log categories:
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.ChangeTracking
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Database.Command
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Database.Connection
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Database.Transaction
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Infrastructure
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Migrations
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Model
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Model.Validation
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Query
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Update
Tracing
The .NET Aspire SQL Server Entity Framework Core integration will emit the following Tracing activities using OpenTelemetry:
- "OpenTelemetry.Instrumentation.EntityFrameworkCore"
Metrics
The .NET Aspire SQL Server Entity Framework Core integration will emit the following metrics using OpenTelemetry:
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore:
ec_Microsoft_EntityFrameworkCore_active_db_contexts
ec_Microsoft_EntityFrameworkCore_total_queries
ec_Microsoft_EntityFrameworkCore_queries_per_second
ec_Microsoft_EntityFrameworkCore_total_save_changes
ec_Microsoft_EntityFrameworkCore_save_changes_per_second
ec_Microsoft_EntityFrameworkCore_compiled_query_cache_hit_rate
ec_Microsoft_Entity_total_execution_strategy_operation_failures
ec_Microsoft_E_execution_strategy_operation_failures_per_second
ec_Microsoft_EntityFramew_total_optimistic_concurrency_failures
ec_Microsoft_EntityF_optimistic_concurrency_failures_per_second
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