Configure .NET Framework with web.config file

You can specify the configuration options in an application's web.config file or using YAML configuration. For the agent to pick up customized application settings with web.config, you must place these settings in the application web.config file's root configuration appSettings section.

For example, two applications hosted in the same application pool will report as different servers if you configure the contrast.server.name property in the appSettings in each application's web.config file. Or, you could use web.config to configure the contrast.application.name, like this:

<configuration>
   <appSettings>
     <add key="contrast.application.name" value="MyWebAppName" />
     <add key="contrast.application.version" value="1.2.3" />
   </appSettings>
   <system.web>
     ...

See the .NET Framework YAML template for a description of other available properties.

If your agent version is earlier than 21.1.4, only some properties can be configured with web.config as listed here.

Properties

Introduced with this .NET Framework agent version

contrast.application.code

19.6.3

contrast.application.group

19.1.3

contrast.application.metadata

19.1.3

contrast.application.name

19.1.3

contrast.application.session_id

20.6.6

contrast.application.session_metadata

20.6.6

contrast.application.tags

19.1.3

contrast.application.version

19.1.3

contrast.assess.tags

19.1.3

contrast.inventory.tags

19.1.3

Note

If contrast.application.name is not specified, the .NET Framework agent will use the application's virtual path as an application name. If the application is hosted in the root of a site (meaning, the virtual path is /), the .NET Framework agent will use the site's name as the application name.

Important

Starting with agent version 21.1.4, users can set most agent configuration settings either with the application's web.config file or with a contrast_security.yaml file in the same directory as the application. For example, two applications hosted in the same application pool can now report as different servers by setting contrast.server.name in the appSettings in each application's web.config file.

The following configuration settings are applied at the process level and cannot be customized separately for each application. You cannot set these properties using web.config and must set these configurations another way (like with YAML).

  • agent.dotnet.app_pool_denylist

  • agent.dotnet.app_pool_allowlist

  • agent.dotnet.enable_instrumentation_optimizations

  • agent.dotnet.enable_jit_inlining

  • agent.dotnet.enable_transparency_checks

  • agent.dotnet.enable_struct_dataflow

  • assess.enable_control_detection

Additionally, the agent's profiler component uses the process-level settings for the following keys, while the agent's sensor component will use the application-specific settings (if specified):

  • agent.logger.level

  • agent.logger.stdout

In this section: