When I publish, the content of connectionStrings in Web.Release.config is not copied

asp.net-mvc, asp.net-mvc-4, connection-string

Solution

The problem is that you are not using Web.debug.config / Web.release.config as transformation.

You need to do:

<configuration xmlns:xdt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/XML-Document-Transform">
  <connectionStrings>
    <add name="MyContext"
         connectionString="Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog=SalvaVidas;Server=ServerName;Database=MyDb;Trusted_Connection=True;Integrated Security=SSPI;" 
         xdt:Transform="SetAttributes"
         xdt:Locator="Match(name)"/>
</connectionStrings>

The `xdt:Locator` entry will find an entry in your original `Web.config` by the `name` attribute, located in `connectionString > add`. The `xdt:Transform` will change the attributes to the one specified in your `Web.release/debug.config`.

However, this will not work in the current state of your Web.config because the connection string entry is commented out. If you leave it commented, you need to change the `xdt:Transform` to `Insert`.

For more information on Web.config transforms, look at this MSDN entry

Problem

I have a connectionString in `Web.Debug.config`, and another one, different, in `Web.Release.config`. When I publish my project, the content of `Web.Release.config` does not appear in the `Web.config` published. Why? Web.config ``` <configuration> <connectionStrings> <!-- <add name="DefaultConnection" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" connectionString="Data Source=(LocalDb)\v11.0;Initial Catalog=aspnet-SalvaVidas-20130610104655;Integrated Security=SSPI;AttachDBFilename=|DataDirectory|\aspnet-SalvaVidas-20130610104655.mdf" /> --> </connectionStrings> ``` Web.Debug.config ``` <configuration xmlns:xdt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/XML-Document-Transform"> <connectionStrings> <add name="MyContext" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" connectionString="Data Source=(LocalDb)\v11.0;Initial Catalog=MyDb;Integrated Security=SSPI;AttachDBFilename=|DataDirectory|\MyDb.mdf" /> </connectionStrings> ``` Web.Release.config ``` <configuration xmlns:xdt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/XML-Document-Transform"> <connectionStrings> <add name="MyContext" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" connectionString="Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog=MyDb;Server=ServerName;Database=MyDb;Trusted_Connection=True;Integrated Security=SSPI;" /> </connectionStrings> ```

Original source