Get started with the SQL Server Entity Framework Core integrations

SQL Server is a relational database management system developed by Microsoft. The Aspire SQL Server Entity Framework Core (EF Core) integration enables you to connect to existing SQL Server instances or create new instances from .NET with the mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server container image.

In this introduction, you'll see how to install and use the Aspire SQL Server EF Core integrations in a simple configuration. If you already have this knowledge, see the links below for full reference details.

Note

To follow this guide, you must have created an Aspire solution to work with. To learn how to do that, see Build your first Aspire app.

Set up hosting integration

To begin, install the Aspire SQL Server Hosting integration in your Aspire AppHost project. This integration allows you to create and manage SQL Server database instances from your Aspire hosting projects:

Install the NuGet package

dotnet add package Aspire.Hosting.SqlServer

Note

The Aspire SQL Server Hosting integration is used in the App Host with both the EF Core and non-EF Core client integrations.

Next, in the AppHost project, create instances of SQL Server server and database resources, then pass the database to the consuming client projects:

var builder = DistributedApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
  
var sql = builder.AddSqlServer("sql");
var sqldb = sql.AddDatabase("sqldb");
  
var exampleProject = builder.AddProject<Projects.ExampleProject>("exampleproject")
                            .WaitFor(sqldb)
                            .WithReference(sqldb);
  
builder.Build().Run();

Tip

This is the simplest implementation of SQL Server resources in the AppHost. There are many more options you can choose from to address your requirements. For full details, see SQL Server Hosting integration.

Use the integration in client projects

Now that the hosting integration is ready, the next step is to install and configure the Aspire SQL Server EF Core client integration in any projects that need to use it.

Set up client projects

In each of these consuming client projects, install the Aspire SQL Server EF Core client integration:

Install the NuGet package

dotnet add package Aspire.Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer

In the Program.cs file of your client-consuming project, call the AddSqlServerDbContext extension method on any IHostApplicationBuilder to register a DbContext for use via the dependency injection container. The method takes a connection name parameter.

builder.AddSqlServerDbContext<ExampleDbContext>(connectionName: "sqldb");

Tip

The connectionName parameter must match the name used when adding the SQL Server database resource in the AppHost project. For more information, see Set up hosting integration.

Use injected SQL Server properties

In the AppHost, when you used the WithReference method to pass a SQL Server database resource to a consuming client project, Aspire injects several configuration properties that you can use in the consuming project.

Aspire exposes each property as an environment variable named [RESOURCE]_[PROPERTY]. For instance, the Uri property of a resource called sqldb becomes SQLDB_URI.

Use the GetValue() method to obtain these environment variables in consuming projects:

string sqlHost = builder.Configuration.GetValue<string>("SQLDB_HOST");
string sqlPort = builder.Configuration.GetValue<string>("SQLDB_PORT");
string sqlJDBCConnectionString = builder.Configuration.GetValue<string>("SQLDB_JDBCCONNECTIONSTRING");

Tip

The full set of properties that Aspire injects depends on the SQL Server resource configuration. For more information, see Properties of the SQL Server resources.

Use SQL Server resources in client code

You can now retrieve the ExampleDbContext instance using dependency injection. For example, to retrieve the context from a service:

public class ExampleService(ExampleDbContext context)
{
    // Use context...
}

For more information on dependency injection, see .NET dependency injection.