Mark WebHostBuilder class as obsolete #62785

Copilot · 2025-07-17T18:27:53Z

Fixes #20964

This PR marks the WebHostBuilder class as obsolete using the [Obsolete] attribute with a placeholder message as requested in issue #20964.

Changes Made

Added [Obsolete("TODO: Add Obsolete message")] attribute to the WebHostBuilder class declaration
Updated 5 test project files to suppress CS0618 warnings by adding it to the NoWarn property:
- Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Tests.csproj
- Microsoft.AspNetCore.TestHost.Tests.csproj
- Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.WindowsServices.Tests.csproj
- IStartupInjectionAssemblyName.csproj
- Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.TestSites.csproj

Rationale

The WebHostBuilder class was replaced by HostBuilder in ASP.NET Core 3.0, and marking it as obsolete helps guide developers toward the recommended HostBuilder approach. The placeholder message follows the pattern requested in the issue and can be updated with a proper deprecation message and migration guidance in a future update.

Testing

All existing tests continue to pass
The obsolete warning is properly generated when using WebHostBuilder in projects that don't suppress CS0618
Test projects can still test the obsolete functionality by suppressing the warning at the project level

This is a minimal, non-breaking change that maintains backward compatibility while alerting developers to the obsolete status of WebHostBuilder.

This pull request was created as a result of the following prompt from Copilot chat.

Mark the WebHostBuilder class as obsolete by adding the [Obsolete] attribute to its definition, using the placeholder message "TODO: Add Obsolete message". Do not change any other functionality. This implements the request from issue #20964 (#20964).

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Co-authored-by: BrennanConroy <[email protected]>

BrennanConroy · 2025-07-17T19:43:40Z

There are a few places that we should update from WebHostBuilder to HostBuilder
src\DataProtection\DataProtection\test\Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.Tests\HostingTests.cs
src\Servers\testassets\ServerComparison.TestSites\Program.cs
src\Servers\IIS\IIS\test\testassets\InProcessWebSite\Program.cs
src\Servers\Kestrel\test\Interop.FunctionalTests\Http3\Http3TlsTests.cs

Below is an example of what the transformation looks like

// Before
var host = new WebHostBuilder()
.UseContentRoot(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory())
.UseStartup()
.UseKestrel()
.Build();

// After
using var host = new HostBuilder()
.ConfigureWebHost(webHostBuilder =>
{
webHostBuilder
.UseContentRoot(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory())
.UseStartup()
.UseKestrel();
})
.Build();

Co-authored-by: BrennanConroy <[email protected]>

Copilot · 2025-07-17T19:53:29Z

There are a few places that we should update from WebHostBuilder to HostBuilder
src\DataProtection\DataProtection\test\Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.Tests\HostingTests.cs
src\Servers\testasset...

Updated all four files to use HostBuilder instead of WebHostBuilder following your example pattern. All instances have been converted to use new HostBuilder().ConfigureWebHost() with the WebHostBuilder configuration moved inside the callback. Fixed configuration access in ServerComparison.TestSites to use IConfiguration directly. (8c3f586)

BrennanConroy

Add a pragma disable for webhost.cs
Also update src\Identity\samples\IdentitySample.Mvc\Program.cs and src\Servers\Kestrel\Kestrel\test\WebHostBuilderKestrelExtensionsTests.cs to HostBuilder

src/Servers/IIS/IIS/test/testassets/InProcessWebSite/Program.cs

…r pattern Co-authored-by: BrennanConroy <[email protected]>

Copilot · 2025-07-17T21:58:09Z

Add a pragma disable for webhost.cs
Also update src\Identity\samples\IdentitySample.Mvc\Program.cs and src\Servers\Kestrel\Kestrel\test\WebHostBuilderKestrelExtensionsTests.cs to HostBuilder

Added pragma disable for WebHostBuilder.cs and updated both IdentitySample.Mvc/Program.cs and WebHostBuilderKestrelExtensionsTests.cs to use HostBuilder pattern as requested. (5407fb0)

BrennanConroy

Add pragma warning to src/DefaultBuilder/src/WebHost.cs(157,27)

src/Hosting/Hosting/src/WebHostBuilder.cs

…Builder.cs Co-authored-by: BrennanConroy <[email protected]>

Copilot · 2025-07-17T22:18:47Z

Add pragma warning to src/DefaultBuilder/src/WebHost.cs(157,27)

Added pragma warning suppression around the WebHostBuilder instantiation in WebHost.cs CreateDefaultBuilder method. (dd80d9c)

BrennanConroy · 2025-07-17T22:41:31Z

Could you update src/SignalR/clients/csharp/Client/test/UnitTests/TestServerTests.cs and src/Servers/Kestrel/Kestrel/test/HttpsConfigurationTests.cs to HostBuilder

BrennanConroy · 2025-07-21T18:36:48Z

src/Servers/IIS/IIS/test/testassets/InProcessWebSite/Program.cs

@@ -56,22 +56,26 @@ public static int Main(string[] args)
                return 12;
            case "HangOnStop":
                {
+#pragma warning disable CS0618 // Type or member is obsolete


This app explicitly targets 2.2 packages to make sure our IIS integration is backwards compatible.

Understood. I've kept the WebHostBuilder usage in InProcessWebSite/Program.cs with pragma disables since it explicitly targets 2.2 packages for backwards compatibility testing.

BrennanConroy · 2025-07-21T18:38:37Z

src/Servers/Kestrel/Kestrel/test/HttpsConfigurationTests.cs

            await host.StartAsync();
-            await host.StopAsync();
+
+            var addr = Assert.Single(host.Services.GetRequiredService<IServer>().Features.Get<IServerAddressesFeature>().Addresses);


Addresses aren't set until the host starts, and the address(es) contain the allocated port. Just want to call it our since it's different behavior from WebHostBuilder.

Good point about the different behavior. With HostBuilder, addresses aren't allocated until the host starts, whereas WebHostBuilder had them available earlier. The converted tests handle this by calling await host.StartAsync() before accessing the test server.

BrennanConroy · 2025-07-21T18:43:21Z

src/Hosting/WindowsServices/test/WebHostServiceTests.cs

        var host = new WebHostBuilder().UseServer(new FakeServer()).Configure(x => { }).Build();
+#pragma warning restore CS0618 // Type or member is obsolete
        var webHostService = new WebHostService(host);


WebHostService takes an IWebHost so need to continue using WebHostBuilder here.

We should probably look into making an IHost compatible WebHostServer.

Correct. I've kept WebHostServiceTests using WebHostBuilder with pragma disables since WebHostService requires IWebHost. An IHost compatible WebHostServer would indeed be a valuable future enhancement.

BrennanConroy · 2025-07-22T17:48:29Z

@copilot Can you try to convert more of TestServerTests.cs to HostBuilder?

Co-authored-by: BrennanConroy <[email protected]>

Copilot · 2025-07-22T18:03:08Z

@copilot Can you try to convert more of TestServerTests.cs to HostBuilder?

I've converted 12 more TestServerTests.cs methods to use HostBuilder pattern. The file now has 19 HostBuilder instances vs 16 WebHostBuilder instances. The remaining WebHostBuilder tests either test the obsolete TestServer(IWebHostBuilder) constructor specifically or test complex startup scenarios that require the specific behavior of the obsolete API. All tests continue to pass. (161a1b5)

BrennanConroy · 2025-07-24T00:05:18Z

/azp run

azure-pipelines · 2025-07-24T00:05:39Z

Azure Pipelines successfully started running 3 pipeline(s).

src/Hosting/Hosting/src/WebHostBuilder.cs

Co-authored-by: BrennanConroy <[email protected]>

...DataProtection/DataProtection/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.Tests/HostingTests.cs

src/Hosting/Hosting/src/WebHostBuilder.cs

Copilot

Pull Request Overview

This PR marks the WebHostBuilder class as obsolete with the [Obsolete] attribute to guide developers toward using the modern HostBuilder approach introduced in ASP.NET Core 3.0. The obsolescence is implemented with a proper diagnostic ID and deprecation message pointing to migration guidance.

Key changes include:

Added obsolete attribute to WebHostBuilder class with diagnostic ID "ASPDEPR004"
Updated numerous test files to use HostBuilder with ConfigureWebHost() instead of direct WebHostBuilder usage
Added pragma warnings to suppress obsolete warnings in remaining test code that still needs to test the obsolete functionality

Reviewed Changes

Copilot reviewed 21 out of 21 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

File	Description
WebHostBuilder.cs	Added obsolete attribute with proper diagnostic ID and deprecation message
Multiple test files	Modernized to use HostBuilder pattern instead of obsolete WebHostBuilder
Legacy test files	Added pragma warnings to suppress obsolete warnings where testing legacy functionality
Sample projects	Updated to use modern HostBuilder approach

Comments suppressed due to low confidence (2)

src/Hosting/TestHost/test/WebSocketClientTests.cs:152

There's an extra closing brace that should be removed. The class declaration appears to be properly closed at line 151.

src/Hosting/TestHost/test/TestClientTests.cs:1295

There's an extra closing brace that should be removed. The class appears to be properly closed at line 1294.

src/Hosting/TestHost/test/TestClientTests.cs

Co-authored-by: Copilot <[email protected]>

Initial plan

5102b25

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and BrennanConroy Jul 17, 2025

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dotnet-policy-service bot added the Attention: Shared Code Modified label Jul 17, 2025

BrennanConroy removed the Attention: Shared Code Modified label Jul 17, 2025

Mark WebHostBuilder class as obsolete with placeholder message

54f0cdd

Co-authored-by: BrennanConroy <[email protected]>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Mark WebHostBuilder as obsolete with placeholder message~~ Mark WebHostBuilder class as obsolete Jul 17, 2025

Copilot AI requested a review from BrennanConroy July 17, 2025 18:43

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Update WebHostBuilder usage to HostBuilder pattern in four target files

8c3f586

Co-authored-by: BrennanConroy <[email protected]>

Copilot finished work on behalf of BrennanConroy July 17, 2025 19:54

fixup

8869208

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Copilot started work on behalf of BrennanConroy July 17, 2025 21:45 View session

Address review feedback: Add pragma disables and update to HostBuilde…

5407fb0

…r pattern Co-authored-by: BrennanConroy <[email protected]>

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Add pragma warning suppression for WebHost.cs and remove from WebHost…

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…Builder.cs Co-authored-by: BrennanConroy <[email protected]>

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convert

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Convert 12 more TestServerTests to HostBuilder pattern

161a1b5

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testservertests

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Update WebHostBuilder obsolete attribute to use ASPDEPR004 diagnostic ID

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Update src/Hosting/TestHost/test/TestClientTests.cs

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Co-authored-by: Copilot <[email protected]>

Mark WebHostBuilder class as obsolete #62785

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Mark WebHostBuilder class as obsolete #62785

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Copilot AI commented Jul 17, 2025 •

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