The Azure Shells Configuration and Database Shells Configuration providers allow hosting of shell / tenant tenants.json files and related tenants appsettings.json configuration settings in an environment external to the Orchard Core host.

By default the tenants.json and related appsettings.json for the Default shell and any configured tenants are stored in the App_Data folder.

This configuration in the App_Data folder is suitable for most sites, however for advanced configuration of stateless multi-tenancy environments, where multiple hosts require write access to these shared configuration settings, you can choose to use either the Azure Shells Configuration or Database Shells Configuration providers.

The primary purpose of the Shell Configuration providers is to provide a shared external environment for multi-tenancy where tenants need to be created, and their settings mutated, during live operation of the stateless hosts.

It is not intended to support shared configuration between local development and production environments.

The Azure Shells Configuration provider uses an Azure Blob Storage Container to store the tenants.json and related tenant appsettings.json files in a similar hierarchy to that of the default App_Data configuration.

The root of the Azure Blob Container includes a tenants.json file, and optionally can include a appsettings.json file.

Each shell, or tenant has a directory under the Sites folder, named for the tenant, with an individual appsettings.json file.

The hierarchy is seperated into single files, and is useful if you need to manage the tenants appsettings.json independently from Orchard Core. For example, you may prefer to provide different Azure Blob Storage keys, for each tenant when using the Azure Media Storage feature.

The Azure Shells Configuration supports a root appsettings.json and appsettings.Environment.json file.

!!! note Individual tenants do not support a appsettings.Environment.json file.

The Azure Shells Configuration is provided by a seperate NuGet package: OrchardCore.Shells.Azure

The Azure Shells Configuration is configured via the appsettings.json section in the web host project.

{
  "OrchardCore": {
    "OrchardCore_Shells_Azure": {
      "ConnectionString": "", // Set to your Azure Storage account connection string.
      "ContainerName": "hostcontainer", // Set to the Azure Blob container name.
      "BasePath": "some/base/path", // Optionally, set to a subdirectory inside your container.
      "MigrateFromFiles": true // Optionally, enable to migrate existing App_Data files to Blob automatically.
    }
  }
}

In the web host Startup.cs it is enabled via an extension method on the Orchard Core Builder.

namespace OrchardCore.Cms.Web
{
    public class Startup
    {
        public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
        {
            services.AddOrchardCms()
                .AddAzureShellsConfiguration();
        }
    }
}

!!! note The container must be created before using the Azure Shells Configuration provider. Make sure this container is secure and access to keys is limited.

The Database Shells Configuration provider uses any supported database to store all the tenant related configuration as part of a single json document.

The Database Shells Configuration provider does not support a site appsettings.json and appsettings.Environment.json file.

The Database Shells Configuration is configured via the appsettings.json section in the web host project.

{
  "OrchardCore": {
    "OrchardCore.Shells.Database": {
      "DatabaseProvider": "SqlConnection", // Set to a supported database provider.
      "ConnectionString": "", // Set to the database connection string.
      "TablePrefix": "", // Optionally, configure a table prefix.
      "MigrateFromFiles": true // Optionally, enable to migrate existing App_Data files to Database automatically.
    },
  }
}

In the web host Startup.cs it is enabled via an extension method on the Orchard Core Builder.

namespace OrchardCore.Cms.Web
{
    public class Startup
    {
        public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
        {
            services.AddOrchardCms()
                .AddDatabaseShellsConfiguration();
        }
    }
}

!!! note The database must be created before using the Database Configuration provider. Make sure this database is secure and access to it is limited.

The MigrateFromFiles option is available for both the Azure Shells and Database Shells Configuration providers to assist migrating from an existing App_Data configuration.

When enabled the Shell Configuration provider will first check to see if a configuration exists for a given tenant for the chosen storage platform, Database, or Azure Blob Storage.

If the configuration does not exist, the provider will try to load it from the App_Data folder, and migrate it to the storage platform of choice.

To disable a provider in Development, or different environments, inject the IHostEnvironment

namespace OrchardCore.Cms.Web
{
    public class Startup
    {
        private readonly IHostEnvironment _env;

        public Startup(IHostEnvironment env)
        {
            _env = env;
        }

        public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
        {
            var builder = services.AddOrchardCms();
            if (!_env.IsDevelopment())
            {
                builder.AddDatabaseShellsConfiguration();
            }
        }
    }
}