Multiple hosted ASP.NET Core Blazor WebAssembly apps

Article
11/18/2024

Note

This isn't the latest version of this article. For the latest version of this article, see the .NET 7 version.

This article explains how to configure a hosted Blazor WebAssembly app to host multiple Blazor WebAssembly apps.

Configuration

Select the version of this article that matches your hosting requirements, either port/domain hosting (for example, :5001/:5002 or firstapp.com/secondapp.com) or route subpath hosting (for example, /FirstApp and /SecondApp).

With the current hosting selection, this article covers port/domain hosting (for example, :5001/:5002 or firstapp.com/secondapp.com).

In the following examples:

The project name of the hosted Blazor WebAssembly app is MultipleBlazorApps in a folder named MultipleBlazorApps.
The three projects in the solution before a second client app is added are MultipleBlazorApps.Client in the Client folder, MultipleBlazorApps.Server in the Server folder, and MultipleBlazorApps.Shared in the Shared folder.
The initial (first) client app is the default client project of the solution created from the Blazor WebAssembly project template.
A second client app is added to the solution, MultipleBlazorApps.SecondClient in a folder named SecondClient.
Optionally, the server project (MultipleBlazorApps.Server) can serve pages or views as a Razor Pages or MVC app.
The first client app is accessible in a browser at port 5001 or with a host of firstapp.com. The second client app is accessible in a browser at port 5002 or with a host of secondapp.com.

With the current selection, this article covers route subpath hosting (for example, /FirstApp and /SecondApp).

In the following examples:

The project name of the hosted Blazor WebAssembly app is MultipleBlazorApps in a folder named MultipleBlazorApps.
The three projects in the solution before a second client app is added are MultipleBlazorApps.Client in the Client folder, MultipleBlazorApps.Server in the Server folder, and MultipleBlazorApps.Shared in the Shared folder.
The initial (first) client app is the default client project of the solution created from the Blazor WebAssembly project template.
A second client app is added to the solution, MultipleBlazorApps.SecondClient in a folder named SecondClient.
Optionally, the server project (MultipleBlazorApps.Server) can serve pages or views as a formal Razor Pages or MVC app.
Both client apps use the default port defined by the MultipleBlazorApps.Server project's Properties/launchSettings.json file in its applicationUrl value. The first client app is accessible in a browser at the /FirstApp subpath. The second client app is accessible in a browser at the /SecondApp subpath.

The examples shown in this article require additional configuration for:

Accessing the apps directly at the example host domains, firstapp.com and secondapp.com.
Certificates for the client apps to enable TLS/HTTPS security.
Configuring the server app as a Razor Pages app for the following features:
- Integration of Razor components into pages or views.
- Prerendering Razor components.

The preceding configurations are beyond the scope of this article. For more information, see the following resources:

Use an existing hosted Blazor WebAssembly solution or create a new hosted Blazor WebAssembly solution from the Blazor WebAssembly project template by passing the -ho|--hosted option if using the .NET CLI or selecting the ASP.NET Core Hosted checkbox in Visual Studio when the project is created in the IDE.

Use a folder for the solution named MultipleBlazorApps and name the project MultipleBlazorApps.

Create a new folder in the solution named SecondClient. In the new folder, add a second Blazor WebAssembly client app named MultipleBlazorApps.SecondClient. Add the project as a standalone Blazor WebAssembly app. To create a standalone Blazor WebAssembly app, don't pass the -ho|--hosted option if using the .NET CLI or don't use the ASP.NET Core Hosted checkbox if using Visual Studio.

Make the following changes to the MultipleBlazorApps.SecondClient project:

Copy the FetchData component (Pages/FetchData.razor) from the Client/Pages folder to the SecondClient/Pages folder. This step is required because a standalone Blazor WebAssembly app doesn't call a Server project's controller for weather data, it uses a static data file. By copying the FetchData component to the added project, the second client app also makes a web API call to the server API for weather data.
Delete the SecondClient/wwwroot/sample-data folder, as the weather.json file in the folder isn't used.

The following table describes the solution's folders and project names after the SecondClient folder and MultipleBlazorApps.SecondClient project are added.

Physical folder	Project name	Description
`Client`	`MultipleBlazorApps.Client`	Blazor WebAssembly client app
`SecondClient`	`MultipleBlazorApps.SecondClient`	Blazor WebAssembly client app
`Server`	`MultipleBlazorApps.Server`	ASP.NET Core server app
`Shared`	`MultipleBlazorApps.Shared`	Shared resources project

The MultipleBlazorApps.Server project serves the two Blazor WebAssembly client apps and provides weather data to the client apps' FetchData components via an MVC controller. Optionally, the MultipleBlazorApps.Server project can also serve pages or views, as a traditional Razor Pages or MVC app. Steps to enable serving pages or views are covered later in this article.

Note

The demonstration in this article uses static web asset path names of FirstApp for the MultipleBlazorApps.Client project and SecondApp for the MultipleBlazorApps.SecondClient project. The names "FirstApp" and "SecondApp" are merely for demonstration purposes. Other names are acceptable to distinguish the client apps, such as App1/App2, Client1/Client2, 1/2, or any similar naming scheme.

When routing requests to the client apps by a port or a domain, "FirstApp" and "SecondApp" are used internally to route requests and serve responses for static assets and aren't seen in the browser's address bar.

Note

"FirstApp" and "SecondApp" also appear in the browser's address bar because requests are routed to the two client apps using these names. Other valid URL route segments are supported, and the route segments don't strictly need to match the names used to route static web assets internally. Using "FirstApp" and "SecondApp" for both the internal static asset routing and app request routing is merely for convenance in this article's examples.

In the first client app's project file (MultipleBlazorApps.Client.csproj), add a <StaticWebAssetBasePath> property to a <PropertyGroup> with a value of FirstApp to set the base path for the project's static assets:

<StaticWebAssetBasePath>FirstApp</StaticWebAssetBasePath>

In the MultipleBlazorApps.SecondClient app's project file (MultipleBlazorApps.SecondClient.csproj):

Add a <StaticWebAssetBasePath> property to a <PropertyGroup> with a value of SecondApp:
```
<StaticWebAssetBasePath>SecondApp</StaticWebAssetBasePath>
```

Add a project reference for the MultipleBlazorApps.Shared project to an <ItemGroup>:

<ItemGroup>
  <ProjectReference Include="..\Shared\MultipleBlazorApps.Shared.csproj" />
</ItemGroup>

In the server app's project file (Server/MultipleBlazorApps.Server.csproj), create a project reference for the added MultipleBlazorApps.SecondClient client app in an <ItemGroup>:

<ProjectReference Include="..\SecondClient\MultipleBlazorApps.SecondClient.csproj" />

In the server app's Properties/launchSettings.json file, configure the applicationUrl of the Kestrel profile (MultipleBlazorApps.Server) to access the client apps at ports 5001 and 5002. If you configure your local environment to use the example domains, URLs for applicationUrl can use firstapp.com and secondapp.com and not use the ports.

Note

The use of ports in this demonstration allows access to the client projects in a local browser without the need to configure a local hosting environment so that web browsers can access the client apps via the host configurations, firstapp.com and secondapp.com. In production scenarios, a typical configuration is to use subdomains to distinguish the client apps.

For example:

The ports are dropped from the configuration of this demonstration.
The hosts are changed to use subdomains, such as www.contoso.com for site visitors and admin.contoso.com for administrators.
Additional hosts can be included for additional client apps, and at least one more host is required if the server app is also a Razor Pages or MVC app that serves pages or views.

If you plan to serve pages or views from the server app, use the following applicationUrl setting in the Properties/launchSettings.json file, which permits the following access:

Optionally, the Razor Pages or MVC app (MultipleBlazorApps.Server project) responds to requests at port 5000.
Responses to requests for the first client (MultipleBlazorApps.Client project) are at port 5001.
Responses to requests for the second client (MultipleBlazorApps.SecondClient project) are at port 5002.

"applicationUrl": "https://localhost:5000;https://localhost:5001;https://localhost:5002",

If you don't plan for the server app to serve pages or views and only serve the Blazor WebAssembly client apps, use the following setting, which permits the following access:

The first client app responds on port 5001.
The second client app responds on port 5002.

"applicationUrl": "https://localhost:5001;https://localhost:5002",

In the server app's Program.cs file, remove the following code, which appears after the call to UseHttpsRedirection:

If you plan to serve pages or views from the server app, delete the following lines of code:
```
- app.UseBlazorFrameworkFiles();
```
```
- app.MapFallbackToFile("index.html");
```

If you plan for the server app to only serve the Blazor WebAssembly client apps, delete the following code:

- app.UseBlazorFrameworkFiles();

...

- app.UseRouting();

- app.MapRazorPages();
- app.MapControllers();
- app.MapFallbackToFile("index.html");

Leave Static File Middleware in place:

app.UseStaticFiles();

Add middleware that maps requests to the client apps. The following example configures the middleware to run when the request port is either 5001 for the first client app or 5002 for the second client app, or the request host is either firstapp.com for the first client app or secondapp.com for the second client app.

Note

Use of the hosts (firstapp.com/secondapp.com) on a local system with a local browser requires additional configuration that's beyond the scope of this article. For local testing of this scenario, we recommend using ports. Typical production apps are configured to use subdomains, such as www.contoso.com for site visitors and admin.contoso.com for administrators. With the proper DNS and server configuration, which is beyond the scope of this article and depends on the technologies used, the app responds to requests at whatever hosts are named in the following code.

Where you removed the app.UseBlazorFrameworkFiles(); line from Program.cs, place the following code:
```
app.MapWhen(ctx => ctx.Request.Host.Port == 5001 || 
    ctx.Request.Host.Equals("firstapp.com"), first =>
{
    first.Use((ctx, nxt) =>
    {
        ctx.Request.Path = "/FirstApp" + ctx.Request.Path;
        return nxt();
    });

    first.UseBlazorFrameworkFiles("/FirstApp");
    first.UseStaticFiles();
    first.UseStaticFiles("/FirstApp");
    first.UseRouting();

    first.UseEndpoints(endpoints =>
    {
        endpoints.MapControllers();
        endpoints.MapFallbackToFile("/FirstApp/{*path:nonfile}", 
            "FirstApp/index.html");
    });
});

app.MapWhen(ctx => ctx.Request.Host.Port == 5002 || 
    ctx.Request.Host.Equals("secondapp.com"), second =>
{
    second.Use((ctx, nxt) =>
    {
        ctx.Request.Path = "/SecondApp" + ctx.Request.Path;
        return nxt();
    });

    second.UseBlazorFrameworkFiles("/SecondApp");
    second.UseStaticFiles();
    second.UseStaticFiles("/SecondApp");
    second.UseRouting();

    second.UseEndpoints(endpoints =>
    {
        endpoints.MapControllers();
        endpoints.MapFallbackToFile("/SecondApp/{*path:nonfile}", 
            "SecondApp/index.html");
    });
});
```
Warning

API that relies on the Host header, such as HttpRequest.Host and RequireHost, are subject to potential spoofing by clients.

To prevent host and port spoofing, use one of the following approaches:
- Use HttpContext.Connection (ConnectionInfo.LocalPort) where the ports are checked.
- Employ Host filtering.

Add middleware that maps requests to the client apps. The following example configures the middleware to run when the request subpath is /FirstApp for the first client app or /SecondApp for the second client app.

Where you removed the app.UseBlazorFrameworkFiles(); line from Program.cs, place the following code:

app.MapWhen(ctx => ctx.Request.Path.StartsWithSegments("/FirstApp", 
    StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase), first =>
{
    first.UseBlazorFrameworkFiles("/FirstApp");
    first.UseStaticFiles();
    first.UseStaticFiles("/FirstApp");
    first.UseRouting();

    first.UseEndpoints(endpoints =>
    {
        endpoints.MapControllers();
        endpoints.MapFallbackToFile("/FirstApp/{*path:nonfile}",
            "FirstApp/index.html");
    });
});

app.MapWhen(ctx => ctx.Request.Path.StartsWithSegments("/SecondApp", 
    StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase), second =>
{
    second.UseBlazorFrameworkFiles("/SecondApp");
    second.UseStaticFiles();
    second.UseStaticFiles("/SecondApp");
    second.UseRouting();

    second.UseEndpoints(endpoints =>
    {
        endpoints.MapControllers();
        endpoints.MapFallbackToFile("/SecondApp/{*path:nonfile}",
            "SecondApp/index.html");
    });
});

Set the base path in each client app:

In the first client app's index.html file (Client/wwwroot/index.html), update the <base> tag value to reflect the subpath. The trailing slash is required:
```
<base href="/FirstApp/" />
```
In the second client app's index.html file (SecondClient/wwwroot/index.html), update the <base> tag value to reflect the subpath. The trailing slash is required:
```
<base href="/SecondApp/" />
```

For more information on UseStaticFiles, see ASP.NET Core Blazor static files.

For more information on UseBlazorFrameworkFiles and MapFallbackToFile, see the following resources:

Note

Documentation links to .NET reference source usually load the repository's default branch, which represents the current development for the next release of .NET. To select a tag for a specific release, use the Switch branches or tags dropdown list. For more information, see How to select a version tag of ASP.NET Core source code (dotnet/AspNetCore.Docs #26205).

Requests from the client apps to /WeatherForecast in the server API are either to /FirstApp/WeatherForecast or /SecondApp/WeatherForecast depending on which client app makes the request. Therefore, the controller routes that return weather data from the server API require a modification to include the path segments.

In the server app's weather forecast controller (Controllers/WeatherForecastController.cs), replace the existing route ([Route("[controller]")]) to WeatherForecastController with the following routes, which take into account the client request paths:

[Route("FirstApp/[controller]")]
[Route("SecondApp/[controller]")]

If you plan to serve pages from the server app, add an Index Razor page to the Pages folder of the server app:

Pages/Index.cshtml:

@page
@model MultipleBlazorApps.Server.Pages.IndexModel
@{
    ViewData["Title"] = "Home";
}

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <title>Home</title>
</head>
<body>
    <div class="main">
        <div class="content px-4">

            <div>
                <h1>Welcome</h1>
                <p>Hello from Razor Pages!</p>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
</body>
</html>

Pages/Index.cshtml.cs:

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.RazorPages;

namespace MultipleBlazorApps.Server.Pages;

public class IndexModel : PageModel
{
    public void OnGet()
    {
    }
}

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.RazorPages;

namespace MultipleBlazorApps.Server.Pages
{
    public class IndexModel : PageModel
    {
        public void OnGet()
        {
        }
    }
}

Note

The preceding Index page is a minimal example purely for demonstration purposes. If the app requires additional Razor Pages assets, such as a layout, styles, scripts, and imports, obtain them from an app created from the Razor Pages project template. For more information, see Introduction to Razor Pages in ASP.NET Core.

If you plan to serve MVC views from the server app, add an Index view and a Home controller:

Views/Home/Index.cshtml:

@{
    ViewData["Title"] = "Home";
}

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <title>Home</title>
</head>
<body>
    <div class="main">
        <div class="content px-4">

            <div>
                <h1>Welcome</h1>
                <p>Hello from MVC!</p>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
</body>
</html>

Controllers/HomeController.cs:

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;

namespace MultipleBlazorApps.Server.Controllers;

public class HomeController : Controller
{
    public IActionResult Index() => View();
}

Note

The preceding Index view is a minimal example purely for demonstration purposes. If the app requires additional MVC assets, such as a layout, styles, scripts, and imports, obtain them from an app created from the MVC project template. For more information, see Get started with ASP.NET Core MVC.

For more information on using the Razor components from either of the client apps in pages or views of the server app, see Integrate ASP.NET Core Razor components with MVC or Razor Pages in hosted Blazor WebAssembly solutions.

Run the app

Run the MultipleBlazorApps.Server project:

Access the initial client app at https://localhost:5001.
Access the added client app at https://localhost:5002.
If the server app is configured to serve pages or views, access the Index page or view at https://localhost:5000.

Access the initial client app at https://localhost:{DEFAULT PORT}/FirstApp.
Access the added client app at https://localhost:{DEFAULT PORT}/SecondApp.
If the server app is configured to serve pages or views, access the Index page or view at https://localhost:{DEFAULT PORT}.

In the preceding example URLs, the {DEFAULT PORT} placeholder is the default port defined by the MultipleBlazorApps.Server project's Properties/launchSettings.json file in its applicationUrl value.

Important

When running the app with the dotnet watch (or dotnet run) command (.NET CLI), confirm that the command shell is open in the Server folder of the solution.

When using Visual Studio's start button to run the app, confirm that the MultipleBlazorApps.Server project is set as the startup project (highlighted in Solution Explorer).

Static assets

When an asset is in a client app's wwwroot folder, provide the static asset request path in components:

<img alt="..." src="{PATH AND FILE NAME}" />

The {PATH AND FILE NAME} placeholder is the path and file name under wwwroot.

For example, the source for a Jeep image (jeep-yj.png) in the vehicle folder of wwwroot:

<img alt="Jeep Wrangler YJ" src="vehicle/jeep-yj.png" />

Razor class library (RCL) support

Add the Razor class library (RCL) to the solution as a new project:

Right-click the solution in Solution Explorer and select Add > New Project.
Use the Razor Class Library project template to create the project. The examples in this section use the project name ComponentLibrary, which is also the RCL's assembly name. Don't select the Support pages and views checkbox.

For each hosted Blazor WebAssembly client app, create a project reference for the RCL project by right-clicking each client project in Solution Explorer and selecting Add > Project Reference.

Use components from the RCL in the client apps with either of the following approaches:

Place an @using directive at the top of the component for the RCL's namespace and add Razor syntax for the component. The following example is for an RCL with the assembly name ComponentLibrary:
```
@using ComponentLibrary

...

<Component1 />
```
Provide the RCL's namespace along with the Razor syntax for the component. This approach doesn't require an @using directive at the top of the component file. The following example is for an RCL with the assembly name ComponentLibrary:
```
<ComponentLibrary.Component1 />
```

Note

An @using directive can also be placed into each client app's _Import.razor file, which makes the RCL's namespace globally available to components in that project.

When any other static asset is in the wwwroot folder of an RCL, reference the static asset in a client app per the guidance in Reusable Razor UI in class libraries with ASP.NET Core:

<img alt="..." src="_content/{PACKAGE ID}/{PATH AND FILE NAME}" />

The {PACKAGE ID} placeholder is the RCL's package ID. The package ID defaults to the project's assembly name if <PackageId> isn't specified in the project file. The {PATH AND FILE NAME} placeholder is path and file name under wwwroot.

The following example shows the markup for a Jeep image (jeep-yj.png) in the vehicle folder of the RCL's wwwroot folder. The following example is for an RCL with the assembly name ComponentLibrary:

<img alt="Jeep Wrangler YJ" src="_content/ComponentLibrary/vehicle/jeep-yj.png" />

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Multiple hosted ASP.NET Core Blazor WebAssembly apps

Configuration

Run the app

Static assets

Razor class library (RCL) support

Additional resources

Additional resources