Remove ASP.NET dependency when develop custom OPC UA server

[2mik]

Type of issue

• Bug
• Enhancement
• Compliance
• Question
• Help wanted

Current Behavior

Let's consider the NetCoreConsoleServer project. If we build it by default, the file NetCoreConsoleServer.runtimeconfig.json contains AspNetCore dependency:

    "frameworks": [
      {
        "name": "Microsoft.NETCore.App",
        "version": "6.0.0"
      },
      {
        "name": "Microsoft.AspNetCore.App",
        "version": "6.0.0"
      }
    ]

If I remove Microsoft.AspNetCore.App from NetCoreConsoleServer.runtimeconfig.json and run NetCoreConsoleServer.exe, I got the error:

Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting...'

Then if I delete Opc.Ua.Bindings.Https.dll, the server starts successfully, but internally the application tries to load the dll. To check this, I added to Program.cs the following code

AppDomain.CurrentDomain.AssemblyResolve += (object sender, ResolveEventArgs args) =>
{
    Console.WriteLine("!!! Could not find assembly '{0}'{1}   requested by '{2}'",
        args.Name, Environment.NewLine, args.RequestingAssembly.FullName);
    return null;
};

and I got the error:

Could not find assembly 'Opc.Ua.Bindings.Https, Version=1.4.370.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=bfa7a73c5cf4b6e8' requested by 'Opc.Ua.Core...'

In our project, a custom OPC UA server works as a service and should not require AspNetCore, only NETCore.
Is there a way to avoid dependency on ASP.NET and Opc.Ua.Bindings.Https?

Expected Behavior

A service that implements OPC UA server can be built and can work without dependency on ASP.NET and probably Opc.Ua.Bindings.Https.

Steps To Reproduce

Described above.

Environment

- OS: any
- Environment: any
- Runtime: .NET6
- Nuget Version: 1.4.370.0
- Component:
- Server:
- Client:

Anything else?

HTTPS connection to OPC UA server is not needed, TCP is enough.

[mregen]

Hi @2mik, the https dependency is by default not included if you only reference the OPCFoundation.NetStandard.Opc.Ua.Server package. For backward compatibility the OPCFoundation.NetStandard.Opc.Ua packages includes all client and server packages including GDS and https.

[2mik]

Hi,
In NetCoreConsoleServer.csproj I've changed references to

    <When Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Release'">
      <ItemGroup>
        <PackageReference Include="OPCFoundation.NetStandard.Opc.Ua.Server" Version="1.4.370.12" />
      </ItemGroup>
    </When>

After build NetCoreConsoleServer.runtimeconfig.json does not contain AspNetCore. And there is no Opc.Ua.Bindings.Https.dll in the Release folder. That's good.
NetCoreConsoleServer.exe works, but writes to the console (because of the AppDomain.CurrentDomain.AssemblyResolve handler)

Could not find assembly 'Opc.Ua.Bindings.Https, Version=1.4.370.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=bfa7a73c5cf4b6e8' requested by 'Opc.Ua.Core, Version=1.4.370.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=bfa7a73c5cf4b6e8'

So the application tries to load Opc.Ua.Bindings.Https anyway. Is it possible to avoid it?

[mregen]

Should not be loaded if you don't specify a https endpoint...

 <ServerConfiguration>
    <BaseAddresses>
remove -->      <ua:String>https://localhost:62540/Quickstarts/ReferenceServer</ua:String>
      <ua:String>opc.tcp://localhost:62541/Quickstarts/ReferenceServer</ua:String>

[2mik]

I removed the specified string from Opc.Ua.SampleServer.Config.xml, but Opc.Ua.Bindings.Https.dll still requested.
May be some additional configuration changes are needed?

Note: the file Opc.Ua.SampleServer.Config.xml is definitely in use, because I can change server TCP port, and changes are applied, for example.

[mregen]

@2mik thats a bug, I have a fix.

[2mik]

@2mik thats a bug, I have a fix.

Cool! I will test the new version with the fix when it is available.

[2mik]

Could you tell when the next release is going to be available?

[2mik]

Works in OPC UA 1.4.371.41
Thank you