When setting up a WCF client and server, how synchronized does the config files must be?

Question

Most of the WCF examples out there show you how to configure WCF client and server. Now, what happens if you differ the configuration slightly between them? I mean, who has the

Answer 1

In order to address your request in your last comment to my previous answer, I tried to come up with my approach to how I would create (and modify) server- and client-side config's for any given service. This is based on both theory I read (books, blogs), things I've learned in Juval Lowy's WCF Master Class, and quite a bit of practical experience with several large service implementation projects - this isn't available in one single place, on the web or in a book.... so here it goes:

I would start basically from scratch. Think about your service first:

• what address does your service live at?
• what binding(s) do you want to support?

Simplest scenario: single service, single endpoint, basicHttpBinding, all defaults

Service config:

Corresponding client config:

Then only ever change something if you really must! And most of all: NEVER EVER let Visual Studio (Add Service Reference) or svcutil.exe screw up your config! Protect it like the apple of your eye!

Then: if e.g. your data transfer takes more time than the default timeout of 1 minute allows, change that one single setting on both the service side and the client side. Do this by defining a custom binding configuration and referencing that from your endpoints - but change only that - not more! Leave everything else as is, with default values. Don't ever change anything unless you absolutely must (and know what you're doing, and why you're doing it).

Mind you: the sendTimeout on the client (time allowed until the whole message has been sent) will correspond to the receiveTimeout on the server - the time allowed for the whole message to come in (see this excellent blog post and this MSDN forum thread for more information)

Service config:

Corresponding client config:

As you need other changes, like multiple endpoints on the service side, or local settings like bypassProxyOnLocal - adapt your config, do it carefully, step by step, manually, and consider your config an extremely essential part of your whole service - take care of it, put it in version control etc.