Configure Redis Session State on Azure

Question

I've got the Redis Session State Provider working fine locally with my ASP.Net site and in Azure with my Azure Website. But I've got a question about configuration...

Is there any way to store the configuration for that in the Azure Website itself using the App Settings (or Configuration Strings) section in the Website Properties screen?

That would be very convenient because it would mean that I don't have to modify the web.config file when I publish. I already do this for connection strings and app settings, but I just don't see a way to do that for anything in the <system.web> node of the web.config file, like the <sessionState> node.

Answer 1

There isn't a way to change the behaviour of the provider-based session state from utilising the web.config file.

You could write your own provider and modify where it finds the connection details from so you can publish those details somewhere other than in the web.config, but this wouldn't be standard behaviour.

Answer 2

This question has the way to make this work.

<appSettings>
  <add key="REDIS_CONNECTION_STRING" value="[your dev connection string]" />
</appSettings>
<system.web>
  <sessionState mode="Custom" customProvider="RedisProvider">
    <providers>
      <add name="RedisProvider" type="Microsoft.Web.Redis.RedisSessionStateProvider" connectionString="REDIS_CONNECTION_STRING" />
    </providers>
  </sessionState>
</system.web>

Then, in the portal, you can create an app setting with the name 'REDIS_CONNECTION_STRING' with the correct connection string. You cannot use connection strings section of web.config or azure portal. It must be app settings. Not sure why, but connection strings just uses whatever is in the web.config and is not replaced with what is in the portal.