Configuration file schema for .NET Framework

Configuration files are standard XML files that you can use to change settings and set policies for your apps. The .NET Framework configuration schema consists of elements that you can use in configuration files to control the behavior of your apps. The table of contents for this section reflects the schema hierarchy for startup, runtime, network, and other types of configuration settings.

For information about the types, format, and location of configuration files, see Configure apps. Familiarize yourself with XML if you want to edit the configuration files directly.

Important

XML tags and attributes in configuration files are case-sensitive.

In this section

<configuration> Element
The top-level element for all configuration files.

<assemblyBinding> Element
Specifies assembly binding policy at the configuration level.

<linkedConfiguration> Element
Specifies a configuration file to include.

Startup Settings Schema
Elements that specify which version of the common language runtime to use.

Runtime Settings Schema
Elements that configure assembly binding and runtime behavior.

Network Settings Schema
Elements that specify how the .NET Framework connects to the internet.

Cryptography Settings Schema
Elements that map friendly algorithm names to classes that implement cryptography algorithms.

Configuration Sections Schema
Elements used to create and use configuration sections for custom settings.

Trace and Debug Settings Schema
Elements that specify trace switches and listeners.

Compiler and Language Provider Settings Schema
Elements that specify compiler configuration for available language providers.

Application Settings Schema
Elements that enable a Windows Forms or ASP.NET application to store and retrieve application-scoped and user-scoped settings.

App Settings Schema
Contains custom application settings, such as file paths, XML Web service URLs, or any other custom configuration information for an application.

Web Settings Schema
Elements for configuring how ASP.NET works with a host application such as IIS. Used in Aspnet.config files.

Windows Forms Configuration Schema
All elements in the Windows Forms application configuration section, which includes customizations such as multi-monitor and high-DPI support.

WCF Configuration Schema
All elements that enable you to configure WCF service and client applications.

WCF Directive Syntax
Describes the @ServiceHost directive, which defines page-specific attributes used by the .svc compiler.

Remoting Settings Schema
Describes the elements that configure client and server applications that implement remoting.

ASP.NET Settings Schema
Describes the elements that control the behavior of ASP.NET Web applications.

Web Services Settings Schema
Describes the elements that control the behavior of ASP.NET Web services and their clients.

Configuring .NET Framework Apps
Describes how to configure security, assembly binding, and remoting in the .NET Framework.