Introduction
This article explains the self hosting of ASP.NET SignalR. Generally an ASP.NET SignalR application is hosted in the IIS, but you can also self-host your application using the self-host library. OWIN is the base of the SignalR library. You also know that OWIN is used to do a decoupled architecture between web server and web application, from this great feature OWIN is the ideal feature to self-host a SignalR application.
The following are reasons to not host in IIS:
- The availability of IIS. You can also use an existing server.
- The IIS performance.
- The functionality of SignalR is to be added to an existing application that runs on a Windows Service or any other process.
Let's proceed with the following sections:
- Self Hosting Application
- Accessing Hosting Application
Self Hosting Application
In this section we will create a console application for self hosting. Use the following procedure.
Step 1: Open Visual Studio and create a console application.
![ConsoleApp-in-RC2013.jpg]()
Step 2: Open the Package Manager Console from the Tools/Library Package Manager.
![Pmc.jpg]()
Step 3: Write the following command:
install-package Microsoft.AspNet.SignalR.SelfHost -pre
![pmc2.jpg]()
Step 4: Now paste the following code in the Progran.cs file:
using System;
using Microsoft.AspNet.SignalR;
using Microsoft.Owin.Hosting;
using Owin;
namespace SignalRHostApp
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string url = "http://localhost:6118";
using (WebApp.Start<Startup>(url))
{
Console.WriteLine("The Server URL is: {0}", url);
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
class Startup
{
public void Configuration(IAppBuilder MyApp)
{
MyApp.MapSignalR();
}
}
public class ChatHub : Hub
{
public void LetsChat(string Cl_Name, string Cl_Message)
{
Clients.All.NewMessage(Cl_Name, Cl_Message);
}
}
}
Step 5: Run your application.
![Console.jpg]()
Step 6: If you get an exception named System.Reflection.TargetInvocationException that was unhandled then it might be possible that you did not open Visual Studio as an Administrator.
Step 7: Stop the execution.
Accessing Hosting Application
In this section I am developing an ASP.NET SignalR application as I described in my previous article, but the only difference is that the URL is provided explicitly. Proceed with the following procedure.
Step 1: Add a new project by right-clicking on your solution.
![NewProject.jpg]()
![ClientApp.jpg]()
Step 2: Select an Empty project template.
![EmptyTemplate-in-rc2013.jpg]()
Step 3: Set the Client App project as a Startup project. Open the Package Manager Console and write the following command:
Install-Package Microsoft.AspNet.SignalR -pre
Step 4: Add an HTML page to your project.
![htmlpage.jpg]()
Step 5: Copy the following code into your HTML file:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<title>ASP.NET SignalR Chat</title>
<style type="text/css">
.wrapper {
background-color: #99CCFF;
border: thick solid #808080;
padding: 20px;
margin: 20px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="container">
<input type="text" id="TxtMessage" />
<input type="button" id="BtnSend" value="Send" />
<input type="hidden" id="UserName" />
<ul id="Chats"></ul>
</div>
<script src="Scripts/jquery-1.6.4.min.js"></script>
<script src="Scripts/jquery.signalR-2.0.0-rc1.min.js"></script>
<script src="http://localhost:6118/signalr/hubs"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
$(function () {
$.connection.hub.url = "http://localhost:6118/signalr";
var chat = $.connection.chatHub;
chat.client.NewMessage = function (Cl_Name, Cl_Message) {
var User = $('<div />').text(Cl_Name).html();
var UserChat = $('<div />').text(Cl_Message).html();
$('#Chats').append('<li><strong>' + User
+ '</strong>: ' + UserChat + '</li>');
};
$('#UserName').val(prompt('Please Enter Your Name:', ''));
$('#TxtMessage').focus();
$.connection.hub.start().done(function () {
$('#BtnSend').click(function () {
chat.server.LetsChat($('#UserName').val(), $('#TxtMessage').val());
$('#TxtMessage').val('').focus();
});
});
});
</script>
</body>
</html>
Step 6: In your Solution Explorer, select your solution and choose "Set Startup Projects" by right-clicking.
![StartupProject.jpg]()
Step 7: Do as directed below:
![MultipleProject-in-RC2013.jpg]()
Step 8: Set HtmlPage as a Start Page and run your application. It will run as described in my previous article.
Summary
This article will help you to self-host your application and use a SignalR application with OWIN. You will create a server and a client using a console and web application. Thanks for reading.