How to get "Manage User Secrets" in a .NET Core console-application?

Question

When I create a new ASP .NET Core Web-Application, I can right-click the project in Visual Studio, and I see a context-menu entry called "Manage User Secrets".

When I create a new .NET Core Console-Application, I don't see this context-menu entry.

However, a "Web"-Application shows as "console" application in the project settings. Is there any way I can get this context-menu entry in a console-application ?

Powershell gist to use as an external command in VS: https://gist.github.com/Zonciu/0b5cf2356b798cd82af1a6e92443b8cb — Tim Abell, Aug 01 '18 at 09:58
official msdn has an answer https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/security/app-secrets?view=aspnetcore-6.0&tabs=windows — Hameed Syed, Feb 12 '23 at 14:02

Grant Hair · Answer 1 · 2019-04-19T06:50:45.200

"Manage user secrets" from a right click is only available in web projects.

There is a slightly different process for console applications

It requires manually typing the required elements into your csproj file then adding secrets through the PMC

I have outlined the process that worked for me in my current project step by step in this blog post :

https://medium.com/@granthair5/how-to-add-and-use-user-secrets-to-a-net-core-console-app-a0f169a8713f

tl;dr

Step 1

Right click project and hit edit projectName.csproj

Step 2

add <UserSecretsId>Insert New Guid Here</UserSecretsId> into csproj under TargetFramework

add <DotNetCliToolReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.SecretManager.Tools" Version="2.0.0"/> within Item Group in csproj

Step 3

Open PowerShell (admin) cd into project directory and

enter dotnet user-secrets set YourSecretName "YourSecretContent"

This will create a secrets.json file in:

%APPDATA%\microsoft\UserSecrets\<userSecretsId>\secrets.json

Where userSecretsId = the new Guid you created for your csproj

Step 4

Open secrets.json and edit to look similar to this

{
 "YourClassName":{
    "Secret1":"Secret1 Content",
    "Secret2":"Secret2 Content"
   }
}

By adding the name of your class you can then bind your secrets to an object to be used.

Create a basic POCO with the same name that you just used in your JSON.

namespace YourNamespace
{
    public class YourClassName
    {
        public string Secret1 { get; set; }
        public string Secret2 { get; set; }
    }
}

Step 5

Add Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.UserSecrets Nuget package to project

Add

var builder = new ConfigurationBuilder()
.SetBasePath(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory())
.AddJsonFile("appsettings.json", optional: false, reloadOnChange: true)
.AddUserSecrets<YourClassName>()
.AddEnvironmentVariables();

&

var services = new ServiceCollection()
.Configure<YourClassName>(Configuration.GetSection(nameof(YourClassName)))
.AddOptions()
.BuildServiceProvider();

services.GetService<SecretConsumer>();

To your Program.cs file.

Then inject IOptions<YourClassName> into the constructor of your class

private readonly YourClassName _secrets;

public SecretConsumer(IOptions<YourClassName> secrets)
{
  _secrets = secrets.Value;
}

Then access secrets by using _secrets.Secret1;

Thanks to Patric for pointing out that services.GetService<NameOfClass>(); should be services.GetService<SecretConsumer>();

This is the approach that we used too and it works nicely. It has the added benefit of being the most compatible approach with the (expected) fix that the VS team will eventually make (assuming it will work the same as for Web projects). — A. Murray, Feb 07 '18 at 14:45
To help this steps, I've published Visual Studio Extensions for UserSecrets Management, called `Open UserSecrets`. I hope it helps you. https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=guitarrapc.OpenUserSecrets — guitarrapc, Feb 21 '19 at 20:22
Shouldn't "services.GetService();" be "services.GetService();" ? — Patric, Mar 27 '19 at 15:04
@Patric thanks for pointing that out, I have updated the answer — Grant Hair, Apr 19 '19 at 06:52
I'm trying this with a .NET 5 WinForms test app, the `var service = new ServiceCollection();` line requires a `using System.Web.Services.Description;` from `System.Web.Services` which just stalls at the "Executing Suggested Action" modal dialog box and never ends. Is this reference required? It's not mentioned in the article or steps above. (Yes, I have included the `Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.UserSecrets` NuGet package.) — Geoff, Dec 02 '20 at 21:54
Working fine! Two notes: 1. DotNetCliToolReference needs to be placed in the ItemGroups where the other package references are. 2. After adding GUID and DotNetCliToolReference, reload the csproj file - then you can right click on it and select "Manage User Secrets", which will create the secrets.json file for you. Just an alternative way instead of using the console (it will work for example in test projects too - after you've edited the csproj file as described). Finally, a useful link: [read user secrets](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/51062080/cannot-read-user-secrets-in-net-core-2-1) — Matt, Mar 02 '22 at 13:16

score 36 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 16 '21 at 00:52

36

Dotnet Core 3.1 - simplest method I have found in situations when I just need to hide a password.
Create user secrets using command line from project folder

dotnet user-secrets init
dotnet user-secrets set mailpassword password1

in Program.cs

var config = new ConfigurationBuilder().AddUserSecrets<Program>().Build();
            
var secretProvider = config.Providers.First();
secretProvider.TryGet("mailpassword", out var secretPass);

//'secretPass' should now contain the password
//if the "mailpassword" secret is not found, then 'secretPass' will be null

If you are doing more things with configuration you may need to adjust the .First()

edited Dec 16 '21 at 00:52

Ambrose Leung

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answered Jul 18 '20 at 19:06

Bruce

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In case anyone wanted to look at the official docs on how this method is done: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/security/app-secrets?view=aspnetcore-5.0&tabs=linux#secret-manager – Nomnom Dec 09 '20 at 20:37
1

I'm not sure why [the edit](https://stackoverflow.com/revisions/62972670/2) was necessary to explain what's already known about how `out` variables work, but ok... – Lance U. Matthews Dec 16 '21 at 01:30

Rabadash8820 · Answer 3 · 2020-05-28T19:54:37.743

26

Manage User Secrets is available from the context menu of .NET Core Console projects (not just ASP.NET Core projects) since Visual Studio 2019 (verified in version 16.1.3), once you reference the Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.UserSecrets NuGet.

edited May 28 '20 at 19:54

answered Jun 13 '19 at 20:29

Rabadash8820

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After testing, for me (VS2019 enterprise v16.2) it only appears after adding the package 'Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.UserSecrets' – Seth Aug 06 '19 at 18:05
3

In 16.4.4, it seems the option is visible for all projects, and prompts you to install the package if necessary. Thanks for the answer, @Rabadash8820! – Chris Jun 17 '20 at 09:26
Docs on how to achieve this using the command line for VS Code users: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/security/app-secrets?view=aspnetcore-5.0&tabs=linux#secret-manager – Nomnom Dec 09 '20 at 20:39

Fred Johnson · Answer 4 · 2018-05-23T09:12:00.777

9

1.Add to your project file (Prior to dotnet 2.1 only):

<ItemGroup>
    <DotNetCliToolReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.SecretManager.Tools" Version="2.0.0" />
 </ItemGroup>

2.Set

 <PropertyGroup>
     <UserSecretsId>a random user id: manually add</UserSecretsId>
 </PropertyGroup>

Move to the migration project folder in Package Manager Console and add a key:value like:
```
dotnet user-secrets set "ConnectionStrings:DefaultConnection" "xxxxx"
```

Remember to be in the directory of that project (for Package manager console this means cd'ing into the project, not solution level)

edited May 23 '18 at 09:12

answered Dec 07 '17 at 10:20

Fred Johnson

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As a side note, with .NET Core SDK 2.1 the first step will become redundant as you'll get warning `Using DotNetCliToolReference to reference 'Microsoft.Extensions.SecretManager.Tools' is obsolete and can be removed from this project. This tool is bundled by default in the .NET Core SDK.` – Mark G May 15 '18 at 18:20

score 4 · Answer 5 · edited Jan 10 '18 at 15:44

4

Right click on the project and click edit csproj file.
On first line replace <Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk"> with <Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Web"> and save.

Now you can access to manage user secrets menu, edit it and save. Then you have to restore the first line of the csproj file to its defaults to be again a console app.

It's stupid but it works. Remember replace the usersecretsid property for every project or will just have one secrets.json for all your projects.

edited Jan 10 '18 at 15:44

Kos

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answered Jan 10 '18 at 12:43

Tomás López

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It does seem stupid, and it does work - are there unintended side effects? – Aaron Hudon May 05 '18 at 05:51
I’ve not found any related issues when using it. – Tomás López May 05 '18 at 10:59

score 3 · Answer 6 · edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

It appears that they haven't added that (at least to Visual Studio 2015) as an option for Console or DLL apps.

You can use this as a work around, but do so at your own risk, it will trick Visual Studio into believing that the dll project has Web capabilities as well.

Assuming Windows OS

Open File Explorer to C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v{Version Number}\DotNet note: 14.0 is VS 2015, 15.0 is 2017 etc
backup the file named Microsoft.DotNet.targets
Add this line to Microsoft.DotNet.targets next to the other ProjectCabability tag

<ProjectCapability Include="DotNetCoreWeb" />
Save the file, and unload and reload your project / restart visual studio.

You may also need to delete your .suo file and/or your .vs folder

You should now see the context menu. It also changes the icon unfortunately. It seems to build just fine, but this is pretty untested so seriously, use at your own risk.

score 3 · Answer 7 · edited Apr 30 '19 at 22:54

There is already an ~~open~~ closed issue related to this on GitHub.

What you can do until they solve it, is to use the command line approach as described on Visual Studio Code or Command Line: Installing the Secret Manager tool. This doesn't mean that you get your context menu item but it works nevertheless.

One note, the documentation is referring to <DotNetCliToolReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.SecretManager.Tools" Version="1.0.1" /> while version 2.0.0 is already out and can be used.

score 3 · Answer 8 · answered Nov 27 '18 at 12:24

Additionally to the answers posted here, if you want a link to your own secrets.json file in your project, you can add the following code to an ItemGroup in your project file:

<None Include="$(AppData)\microsoft\UserSecrets\$(UserSecretsId)\secrets.json" Link="secrets.json" />

score 2 · Answer 9 · answered Aug 03 '22 at 08:05

Install needed packages from cmd/terminal on project root directory

dotnet add package Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration
dotnet add package Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.UserSecrets

Set secrets from cmd/terminal on project root directory

dotnet user-secrets init
dotent user-secrets set "DemoApp:ConnectionString" "my connectin string"

Use secrets on the code. Instead Progam class in AddUserSecrets<Progam> any type from the project can be used.
- var config = new ConfigurationBuilder().AddUserSecrets<Progam>().Build();
- var connectionString = config.GetSection("DemoApp")["ConnectionString"];

score 1 · Answer 10 · edited Dec 28 '21 at 07:55

If it's only needed get the User Secrets configuration, it's enough on the constructor of YourSecretClass the follow code:

public YourSecretClass()
{
    var builder = new ConfigurationBuilder()
        .SetBasePath(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory())
        .AddUserSecrets<Secrets>().Build();

    SecretID = builder.GetSection("SecretID").Value;
    SecretPwd = builder.GetSection("SecretPwd").Value;
}

Ray · Answer 11 · 2022-05-19T14:01:08.557

As of 2022, this context menu entry is available for both web (Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Web) and non-web (Microsoft.NET.Sdk) projects, but only if you also have the "ASP.NET and web development" workload installed (you can untick all optional features during setup if you don't need them).

So once you add it via "Tools > Get Tools and Features..." it'll appear on both kinds of projects.

Typically happens to me on a fresh install not requiring to develop web projects by default, but using user secrets in console apps aswell.

score -3 · Answer 12 · answered Feb 18 '17 at 05:53

How to get “Manage User Secrets” in a .NET Core console-application?

Using Visual Studio 2015 Community with update 3

File -> New-> Project
Select Console Application (.NET Core)
Press CTRL+ALT+L
Click on the project to get “Manage User Secrets” it will open up a file called secrets.json

and where you can manually enter user-secrets.

I was able to use command prompt to setup user secrets:

c:\Projects\ConsoleApp2\src\ConsoleApp2>dotnet user-secrets set BrainTree_sandbox:Merchant ID:9rv9mhnb5gh7nnyx

How to get "Manage User Secrets" in a .NET Core console-application?

12 Answers12

Install needed packages from cmd/terminal on project root directory

Set secrets from cmd/terminal on project root directory

Use secrets on the code. Instead `Progam` class in `AddUserSecrets<Progam>` any type from the project can be used.

Linked

How to get "Manage User Secrets" in a .NET Core console-application?

12 Answers12

Install needed packages from cmd/terminal on project root directory

Set secrets from cmd/terminal on project root directory

Use secrets on the code. Instead Progam class in AddUserSecrets<Progam> any type from the project can be used.

Linked

Use secrets on the code. Instead `Progam` class in `AddUserSecrets<Progam>` any type from the project can be used.