Reading appsettings.json from a Console Application

Table of Contents

When developing C# .NET applications, it’s common to store configuration settings in a JSON file, typically named appsettings.json.

This approach is not only useful for ASP.NET applications but can also be effectively used in C# Console Applications.

Before we start, let’s make sure to have:

.NET SDK installed on your machine.
A basic understanding of C# and .NET.

🚗 Step-by-Step Guide #

First, create a new .NET console application.

dotnet new console -n ConfigDemo cd ConfigDemo

To read from appsettings.json, we need to add the Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration package.

Run the following command.

dotnet add package Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration 
dotnet add package Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Json 
dotnet add package Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Binder

In the root of your project, create a file named appsettings.json and add some configuration settings.

{ 
  "ApplicationName": "ConfigDemo", 
  "Logging": { 
    "LogLevel": { 
      "Default": "Information", 
      "Microsoft": "Warning", 
      "Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime": "Information" 
	} 
  } 
}

Let’s modify the Program.cs file to read configurations from appsettings.json.

using Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration; 

// Build configuration 
var basePath = System.IO.Directory.GetCurrentDirectory();
var configuration = new ConfigurationBuilder()
	.SetBasePath(basePath) 
	.AddJsonFile("appsettings.json", optional: false, reloadOnChange: true) 	.Build(); 
    
// Read settings 
var appName = configuration["ApplicationName"]; 
var logLevelDefault = configuration["Logging:LogLevel:Default"]; 
var logLevelMicrosoft = configuration["Logging:LogLevel:Microsoft"]; 

Console.WriteLine($"Application Name: {appName}"); 
Console.WriteLine($"Default Log Level: {logLevelDefault}"); 
Console.WriteLine($"Microsoft Log Level: {logLevelMicrosoft}"); } } }

Run the application to see the configuration settings printed to the console.

dotnet run

You should see output similar to.

Application Name: ConfigDemo
Default Log Level: Information 
Microsoft Log Level: Warning

Conclusion #

Using appsettings.json in console applications ensures consistency across different types of .NET applications and simplifies the management of configuration settings.

Happy coding! 😎