Configure Session Sharing between ASP.NET Core and ASP.NET

Note

For NCache 5.0 or above, use ASP.NET Core version 3.0.

With the advent of .NET Core, many organizations have moved to this framework because of its increased performance and cross-platform, open-source support. However, in some cases, the cost to switch entire complex applications to a new framework can sometimes outweigh the benefits of the framework. Thus, it is feasible for companies to keep some modules in ASP.NET while keeping the others in ASP.NET Core.

In such a case, the need for seamless sharing sessions between the two frameworks arises. This means that if a .NET session has been created, ASP.NET Core apps can read and update to that session and vice versa. Session sharing also allows single sign-on (SSO) experience for websites that have multiple back-end applications running in ASP.NET and ASP.NET Core. Moreover, session sharing encourages less utilization of resources and cuts down on the cost of creating new sessions as the same session can be reused by multiple applications.

NCache offers exclusive support to share your ASP.NET and ASP.NET Core sessions with negligible programming effort on your part. It allows both ASP.NET and ASP.NET Core to collaborate with each other using NCache as a data sharing medium with just a few configuration changes.

Session Sharing NCache

Install NuGet Package

Install NuGet Package for ASP.NET

Open Package Manager Console in your Visual Studio project and install the NuGet package AspNet.SessionState.NCache Enterprise/Professional in your application by executing the following command:

  • For Enterprise:

    Install-Package AspNet.SessionState.NCache

  • For Professional:

    Install-Package AspNet.SessionState.NCache.Professional

Install NuGet Package for ASP.NET Core

Install the NuGet package AspNetCore.Session.NCache Enterprise/Professional in your application by executing the following command in the Package Manager Console:

  • For Enterprise: 

    Install-Package AspNetCore.Session.NCache

  • For Professional:

    Install-Package AspNetCore.Session.NCache.Professional

Pre-requisites

  • Include the following namespaces in your application:
    • Alachisoft.NCache.Web.SessionState
  • The application must be connected to cache before performing the operation.
  • Cache must be running.
  • To ensure the operation is fail safe, it is recommended to handle any potential exceptions within your application, as explained in Handling Failures.
  • To handle any unseen exceptions, refer to the Troubleshooting section.

Configure ASP.NET Core Sessions for Sharing

You can specify the configurations for session sharing within your ASP.NET Core application in Appsettings.json. EnableSessionSharing must be set to true, it is false by default. The new configuration section is named NCacheSettings; you can also specify a name of your choice.

Important

The cookie name must be the same as provided in the ASP.NET configuration. 

. . . 
"NCacheSettings": 
{    . . . 
   "EnableSessionSharing":  true, // Set to true, false by default
   "CacheName": "demoClusteredCache", // Replace name with name of your cache
    "SessionOptions": 
    {
      "CookieName": "ASP.NET_CORE_SessionId", // Must be same for both .NET Core and .NET 
      "CookieDomain": null,
      "CookiePath": "/",
      "CookieHttpOnly": "True",
      "IdleTimeout": "20",
      "CookieSecure": "None"
    }
}

In Startup.cs of your application, refer to the configurations by specifying the name of the configuration section (NCacheSettings in this case):

public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{ 
    //Add framework services
    services.AddMvc();

    //Add services to the container                    
    services.AddNCacheSession(Configuration.GetSection("NCacheSettings"));
}
Important

NCache allows adding and fetching custom objects with ASP.NET Core sessions, eliminating the need to serialize and deserialize the objects at the client end. Hence, you must use NCache extension methods while using ASP.NET Core sessions.

Configure ASP.NET Sessions for Sharing

To enable session sharing in your ASP.NET application, add the following configuration in XML format in web.config of your application. The enableSessionSharing tag must be set to true, it is false by default.

Important

The cookie name must be the same as provided in the ASP.NET Core configuration. 

<sessionState ...
            customProvider="NCacheSessionProvider"
            cookieName="ASP.NET_CORE_SessionId"
            sessionIDManagerType="Alachisoft.NCache.Web.SessionStateManagement.SharedSessionIdManager, Alachisoft.NCache.SessionStateManagement">
    <providers>
            <add name="NCacheSessionProvider" 
            type="Alachisoft.NCache.Web.SessionState.NSessionStoreProvider" 
            enableSessionSharing="true"
            sessionAppId="NCacheSharedSessionApp" 
            cacheName="myPartitionedCache"
            ... />
    </providers>
</sessionState>

Use Custom Objects in ASP.NET Core Sessions

The default ASP.NET Core session interface supports adding/fetching session data as byte[] with string key. Some solutions exist that provide primitive type support to add/fetch primitive type data from sessions. However, there is still need to serialize/deserialize data into a byte[] while dealing with custom objects. NCache provides extension methods on the ASP.NET Core session interface that supports adding and fetching custom objects and automatically handles the serialization/deserialization of objects for you. This takes away the need to use binary/JSON converters or write code to serialize/deserialize data at the client end.

Important

When using Session Sharing, you must use NCache extension methods with ASP.NET Core to add and fetch custom objects.

Add Custom Object to ASP.NET Core Session

You can add a custom object to the session using NCache extension for the ASP.NET Core session interface Set() method.

string key = "ProductID:1001";
Product customObejct = GetProduct(1001);

// Add custom object to session with against key
HttpContext.Session.Set(key, customObject);

Fetch Custom Object from ASP.NET Core Session

You can fetch a custom object from the session using NCache extension for the ASP.NET Core session interface TryGetValue() method.

string key = "ProductID:1001";

// Fetch custom object against key it was added against ("ProductID:1001")
HttpContext.Session.TryGetValue(key, out customObject);

if(customObject != null)
{ 
    // Use custom object 
}

See Also

Using NCache with ASP.NET Core
Configure NCache ASP.​NET Core Session Provider
Multi-Region ASP.​NET Core Session Provider for NCache
Object Caching in ASP.​NET Core
ASP.NET Core Response Caching