Persistent Storage

Installation and Setup

To start, you must first complete the Setting Up The Provider quick start. Once you've completed it, you can proceed.

Let's open OpenSettings.Api and configure persistent storage.

OpenSettings does not contain built-in storage. You must decide which storage you want and configure it yourself. In the Setting Up The Provider quick start, we set up InMemory storage, meaning data is recreated every time the application restarts. If we want persistent storage, we need to configure a database.

For this quick start, we'll use SQL Server, but the steps are similar for other databases.

1️⃣ Install SQL Server Package

dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer

var migrationsAssembly = typeof(Program).Assembly.GetName().Name;

openSettingsProviderConfiguration.Provider.Orm.ConfigureDbContext = optsBuilder =>
{
    // Configure your database provider here. (e.g. UseSqlServer, UseNpgsql, UseInMemoryDatabase)
    //optsBuilder.UseInMemoryDatabase("OpenSettings");
    optsBuilder.UseSqlServer(
        @"Data Source=(localdb)\MSSQLLocalDB;Initial Catalog=OpenSettings;Integrated Security=True;MultipleActiveResultSets=True",
        opts => opts.MigrationsAssembly(migrationsAssembly));
};

In this example, we use MSSQLLocalDB instance, but you can modify the connection string to match your setup.

2️⃣ Install EF Core Tools

To create migrations, install the EF Core Tools:

dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef

EF Core Tools require Microsoft.EntityFramework.Design package to work.

dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Design

3️⃣ Generate Database Migrations

Run this command inside the OpenSettings.Api folder:

dotnet ef migrations add InitialOpenSettingsDbMigration -c OpenSettingsDbContext -o Data/Migrations/OpenSettings/OpenSettingsDb

Migrations generate database schemas and relationships.

Now, run the application to verify that your database is created.

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4️⃣ Configuring Connection Strings in appsettings

Hardcoding connection strings in the code is not recommended. Instead, store it in appsettings.json:

{
  "Logging": {
    "LogLevel": {
      "Default": "Information",
      "Microsoft.AspNetCore": "Warning"
    }
  },
  "AllowedHosts": "*",
  "SqlServerConnectionString": "Data Source=(localdb)\\MSSQLLocalDB;Initial Catalog=OpenSettings;Integrated Security=True;MultipleActiveResultSets=True",
  "OpenSettingsConfiguration": {
    "Client": {
      "Id": "adbdf741-bb4d-4673-b2a8-23e677fcf454",
      "Secret": "4294a5e3-0839-4358-a03d-1ac52585ae5f"
    },
    "Selection": 1
  }
}

5️⃣ Load Configuration in Program.cs

Before dotnet initializes, load the configuration:

var configuration = new ConfigurationBuilder()
    .AddJsonFile("appsettings.json")
    .AddJsonFile($"appsettings.{OpenSettings.Helper.GetEnvironmentName()}.json", optional: true)
    .Build();

Create a method to retrieve the OpenSettingsConfiguration:

static OpenSettingsConfiguration GetOpenSettingsConfiguration(IConfiguration configuration)
{
    var migrationsAssembly = typeof(Program).Assembly.GetName().Name;

    var settingsServiceConfiguration = configuration.GetSection(nameof(OpenSettingsConfiguration)).Get<OpenSettingsConfiguration>();

    settingsServiceConfiguration.Provider.Orm.ConfigureDbContext = optsBuilder =>
    {
        optsBuilder.UseSqlServer(configuration["SqlServerConnectionString"], opts => opts.MigrationsAssembly(migrationsAssembly));
    };

    return settingsServiceConfiguration;
}

Then, use this method in your setup:

var openSettingsProviderConfiguration = GetOpenSettingsConfiguration(configuration);

🚀 Do You Want To Start Even Faster?

Clone the repository and run the application instantly:

git clone git@github.com:OpenSettings/open-settings-samples.git
cd open-settings-samples/versions/v1/quick-starts/3-quick-start-persistent-storage/src/OpenSettings.Api/

🔧 Configure Your Database

Before running the project, update your database configuration:

• Modify SqlServerConnectionString in appsettings.json to match your database.
• If you're using a different database provider (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL), install the required package, update the database configuration in settingsServiceConfiguration.Provider.Orm.ConfigureDbContext, delete the Data folder, and rerun migrations (see Generate Database Migrations).

▶️ Run the Project

Once configured, start the application:

dotnet run

That's it! OpenSettings.Api will be up and running in seconds. 🎉

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✅ What's Next?

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✨ OpenSettings makes settings management simple and efficient! 🚀