Needing dotnet IConfiguration inside xUnit.net tests

• Create xunit project and packages

    dotnet new xunit --name xunit-dotnet-iconfig
    cd xunit-dotnet-iconfig
    dotnet add package Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration
    dotnet add package Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Binder
    dotnet add package Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Json
    dotnet add package Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.EnvironmentVariables
    dotnet add package Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.UserSecrets        
  

• Create appsettings.json file (you can commit it, but without sensitive data). Here you put your config and placeholders for sensitive data)

• Create appsettings.local.json file (you must not commit it, .gitignore ). Here you put you sensitive data (overriding placeholders)
  Note: In this project it is committed just for demonstration purposes.

• Copy to output directory appsettings.json and appsettings.local.json by adding these lines to .csproj file:

  <ItemGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)' == 'Debug'">
      <None Update="appsettings.json" CopyToOutputDirectory="PreserveNewest" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)' == 'Debug'">
      <None Update="appsettings.local.json" CopyToOutputDirectory="PreserveNewest" />
  </ItemGroup>

• Create an Utilty class (TestConfigHelper) for setting up IConfiguration in every test and binding configuration to your config object (adjust as needed)

• Your test should inherit from a BaseTestClass which loads configuration

• When debugging your code you will use your appsettings + appsettings.local

• When you deploy your code (i.e. to your CI/CD pipeline) you can grab sensitive data from environment You ca test this behavior also locally setting env vars inline when running tests, for instance like this (bash):

  MyApp__Auth__TICKETOFFICE__UserName="override_secret" dotnet test
  

• Moreover, for local development, you can configure user secrets. This requires some more configuration.

  • Creating and setting a secret

    dotnet user-secrets init
    dotnet user-secrets set key value
    

  • Adding the user secrets key to the .csproj file:

    <UserSecretsId>your-secret-id-here</UserSecretsId>

  • Configuring also Secrets in TestConfigHelper.cs (default code is commented out), something like this:

    public static IConfigurationRoot GetIConfigurationRoot()
    {
        return new ConfigurationBuilder()
            .AddJsonFile("appsettings.json", optional: true, reloadOnChange: true)
            .AddJsonFile("appsettings.local.json", optional: true, reloadOnChange: true)
            .AddUserSecrets("e3dfcccf-0cb3-423a-b302-e3e92e95c128")         // <-- this is the new line !!
            .AddEnvironmentVariables()
            .Build();
    }