Table of Contents

Virtual Environments

Virtual environments allow you to run multiple solutions with different configurations. This is particularly useful when you need to run different solutions with different connection strings, environment variables, or settings.

Overview

Virtual environments solve the problem of managing different configurations for:

  • Different databases (SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MongoDB)
  • Different connection strings
  • Different service URLs
  • Different environment variables

Configure Virtual Environments

Using the Command

abpvdev env config

This opens an interactive configuration tool where you can:

  • Add new environments
  • Edit existing environments
  • Delete environments
  • Select active environment

Configuration File

The virtual environments are stored in your abpvdev.yml file:

{
  "Environments": {
    "SqlServer": {
      "Variables": {
        "ConnectionStrings__Default": "Server=localhost;Database={AppName}_{Today};User ID=SA;Password=12345678Aa;TrustServerCertificate=True"
      }
    },
    "MongoDB": {
      "Variables": {
        "ConnectionStrings__Default": "mongodb://localhost:27017/{AppName}_{Today}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Placeholders

Placeholder Description Example
{AppName} Application name MyApp
{Today} Current date (yyyy-MM-dd) 2024-01-15

Example

With {AppName}_{Today}:

  • SQL Server: Server=localhost;Database=MyApp_2024-01-15;...
  • MongoDB: mongodb://localhost:27017/MyApp_2024-01-15

This allows running multiple instances with separate databases each day.

Using Virtual Environments

Run with Environment

abpvdev run -e SqlServer

Uses the SqlServer environment configuration.

Build with Environment

abpvdev build -e SqlServer

Add Custom Variables

{
  "Environments": {
    "Development": {
      "Variables": {
        "ConnectionStrings__Default": "Server=localhost;Database=MyApp_Dev",
        "App__SelfUrl": "https://localhost:44350",
        "AuthServer__Authority": "https://localhost:44350"
      }
    }
  }
}

Common Use Cases

Multiple Database Providers

Run the same solution with different databases:

# Run with SQL Server
abpvdev run -e SqlServer

# Run with MongoDB
abpvdev run -e MongoDB

Development vs Production

{
  "Environments": {
    "Development": {
      "Variables": {
        "ConnectionStrings__Default": "Server=localhost;Database=MyApp_Dev"
      }
    },
    "Production": {
      "Variables": {
        "ConnectionStrings__Default": "Server=prodserver;Database=MyApp_Prod"
      }
    }
  }
}

Troubleshooting

Environment Not Found

Make sure the environment is defined in your abpvdev.yml file.

Variables Not Applied

Check that the variable names match your application's configuration keys exactly.

Placeholder Not Replaced

Ensure placeholders are in curly braces: {AppName} not AppName.

Next Steps

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