How to Update (Add/Modify/Delete) keys in AppSettings section of web.config at runtime

Question

I like to Update keys/Values defined in AppSettings section of Web.config at runtime. however I DO NOT want to actually save them to Web.conf

Answer 1

Thanks to nkvu which directed me to a his first link which in turn sent me to Williarob's post "Override Configuration Manager" I managed to find a solution to my question.

The mentioned blog post covers how to read settings from another XML file and it works with both windowed applications and web applications (with a little modification in config file name and path). Although this blog written on 2010 it is still working fine with .NET4 without problem.

However as I was going to read my configuration from a secure device, I simplified the class and here is how to use the classes provided by Williarob

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Collections.Specialized;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Configuration.Internal;
using System.Linq;
using System.Reflection;

namespace Williablog.Core.Configuration {

    public sealed class ConfigSystem: IInternalConfigSystem {
        private static IInternalConfigSystem clientConfigSystem;

        private object appsettings;

        private object connectionStrings;

        /// <summary>
        /// Re-initializes the ConfigurationManager, allowing us to merge in the settings from Core.Config
        /// </summary>
        public static void Install() {
            FieldInfo[] fiStateValues = null;
            Type tInitState = typeof(System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager).GetNestedType("InitState", BindingFlags.NonPublic);

            if (null != tInitState) {
                fiStateValues = tInitState.GetFields();
            }

            FieldInfo fiInit = typeof(System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager).GetField("s_initState", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Static);
            FieldInfo fiSystem = typeof(System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager).GetField("s_configSystem", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Static);

            if (fiInit != null && fiSystem != null && null != fiStateValues) {
                fiInit.SetValue(null, fiStateValues[1].GetValue(null));
                fiSystem.SetValue(null, null);
            }

            ConfigSystem confSys = new ConfigSystem();
            Type configFactoryType = Type.GetType("System.Configuration.Internal.InternalConfigSettingsFactory, System.Configuration, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a", true);
            IInternalConfigSettingsFactory configSettingsFactory = (IInternalConfigSettingsFactory) Activator.CreateInstance(configFactoryType, true);
            configSettingsFactory.SetConfigurationSystem(confSys, false);

            Type clientConfigSystemType = Type.GetType("System.Configuration.ClientConfigurationSystem, System.Configuration, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a", true);
            clientConfigSystem = (IInternalConfigSystem) Activator.CreateInstance(clientConfigSystemType, true);
        }

        #region IInternalConfigSystem Members
        public object GetSection(string configKey) {
            // get the section from the default location (web.config or app.config)
            object section = clientConfigSystem.GetSection(configKey);

            switch (configKey) {
                case "appSettings":
                    // Return cached version if exists
                    if (this.appsettings != null) {
                        return this.appsettings;
                    }

                    // create a new collection because the underlying collection is read-only
                    var cfg = new NameValueCollection();

                    // If an AppSettings section exists in Web.config, read and add values from it
                    if (section is NameValueCollection) {
                        NameValueCollection localSettings = (NameValueCollection) section;
                        foreach (string key in localSettings) {
                            cfg.Add(key, localSettings[key]);
                        }
                    }

                    // --------------------------------------------------------------------
                    // Here I read and decrypt keys and add them to secureConfig dictionary
                    // To test assume the following line is a key stored in secure sotrage.
                    //secureConfig = SecureConfig.LoadConfig();
                    secureConfig.Add("ACriticalKey", "VeryCriticalValue");
                    // --------------------------------------------------------------------                        
                    foreach (KeyValuePair<string, string> item in secureConfig) {
                        if (cfg.AllKeys.Contains(item.Key)) {
                            cfg[item.Key] = item.Value;
                        } else {
                            cfg.Add(item.Key, item.Value);
                        }
                    }
                    // --------------------------------------------------------------------                        


                    // Cach the settings for future use
                    this.appsettings = cfg;
                    // return the merged version of the items from secure storage and appsettings
                    section = this.appsettings;
                    break;

                case "connectionStrings":
                    // Return cached version if exists
                    if (this.connectionStrings != null) {
                        return this.connectionStrings;
                    }

                    // create a new collection because the underlying collection is read-only
                    ConnectionStringsSection connectionStringsSection = new ConnectionStringsSection();

                    // copy the existing connection strings into the new collection
                    foreach (ConnectionStringSettings connectionStringSetting in ((ConnectionStringsSection) section).ConnectionStrings) {
                        connectionStringsSection.ConnectionStrings.Add(connectionStringSetting);
                    }

                    // --------------------------------------------------------------------
                    // Again Load connection strings from secure storage and merge like below
                    // connectionStringsSection.ConnectionStrings.Add(connectionStringSetting);
                    // --------------------------------------------------------------------                        

                    // Cach the settings for future use
                    this.connectionStrings = connectionStringsSection;
                    // return the merged version of the items from secure storage and appsettings
                    section = this.connectionStrings;
                    break;
            }

            return section;
        }

        public void RefreshConfig(string sectionName) {
            if (sectionName == "appSettings") {
                this.appsettings = null;
            }

            if (sectionName == "connectionStrings") {
                this.connectionStrings = null;
            }

            clientConfigSystem.RefreshConfig(sectionName);
        }

        public bool SupportsUserConfig { get { return clientConfigSystem.SupportsUserConfig; } }

        #endregion
    }
}

To install this (or original version of configuration override) add following line to your Global. class (Global.asax.cs) in Application_Start

Williablog.Core.Configuration.ConfigSystem .Install();

like below:

public class Global: System.Web.HttpApplication {

    //...

    #region protected void Application_Start(...)
    protected void Application_Start(object sender, EventArgs e) {
        Williablog.Core.Configuration.ConfigSystem .Install();

        //...

    }
    #endregion

    //...

}

Answer 2

You need to make use of WebConfigurationManager.OpenWebConfiguration()

Configuration config = WebConfigurationManager.OpenWebConfiguration(HttpContext.Current.Request.ApplicationPath);
config.AppSettings.Settings.Remove("Variable");
config.AppSettings.Settings.Add("Variable", "valyue");
config.Save();

Answer 3

I know this is an old question, but I ran into the same problem and I found that Set works in the same way as Add, and does not throw an exception, so just replace Add with Set, like so:

ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Set(item.Key, item.Value);

Answer 4

Perhaps this link will help. It references 2.0 but I believe the method is still valid in 4.0.

Also, the SO question on the same/similar topic here may be of interest.

Also, modifying the web.config at runtime should cause an application pool recycle each time. Not trying to tell you how to suck eggs, just thought I'd note it for anyone's prospective interest...Thx.