Visual Studio Secret Manager is a development tool that stores application secrets outside the project source tree and loads them through user-secrets configuration.
Use Visual Studio Secret Manager to keep a development connection string and its credentials in a separate, protected place rather than in project source files. section 4.3.4
Set it up for a project:
In Solution Explorer, right-click the project root and choose Manage User Secrets. section 4.3.4
Visual Studio adds a UserSecretsId element to the project’s .csproj file. section 4.3.4
How Building Web APIs with ASP.NET Core covers it
How deep it goes
Shows how to open Secret Manager and add its project identifier, without detailing further configuration steps.
Examples
Uses a SQL Server connection string for the board-game API’s database.
What you can do after
Configure development credentials with Visual Studio Secret Manager and use the DefaultConnection key in database configuration.
How it connects
Connects secret storage with connection strings, project configuration, and source control.
Effective Platform EngineeringA secrets manager is a system that securely stores, controls access to, and rotates sensitive credentials and configuration values.
.NET in Action, Second EditionSecret Manager is a .NET development tool for storing and retrieving user secrets outside an application's project files.
cryptographic keyused by · A cryptographic key is a value supplied to a cryptographic algorithm to control operations such as encryption, decryption, signing, authentication, or verification.
moduleused by · A module is a distinct, bounded software unit that groups related code or functionality and provides an organizational or interaction boundary within a larger system.
encryption at restused by · Encryption at rest is the protection of stored data by encrypting it so it cannot be read without the appropriate cryptographic key.
deployment pipelineused by · A sequence of automated or manual stages that builds, tests or validates, packages, and delivers software or models toward deployment.
User Secretsused by · User Secrets is a development-time configuration feature that stores sensitive application settings outside project files and source-control repositories.
This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Building Web APIs with ASP.NET Core. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.
