ASP NET Core project, memory growing. Is GC configured correctly?

[bragma]

Hi,
I've deployed an ASP NET Core project (.net 4.6.1 as framework) on Azure Web App and I see a continuously growing memory footprint. It seems that every request slowly grows the working set of the app and I really don't know what to do. My first idea is that GC is not working as expected. Here is what happens over time. Any suggestion is welcome, thanks!

Here is my project configuration. Notice GC is enabled as a runtimeObject:

{
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "buildOptions": {
    "emitEntryPoint": true,
    "preserveCompilationContext": true,
    "define": [ "USE_SWASHBUCKLE" ],
    "xmlDoc": true,
    "nowarn": [ "1591" ]
  },
  "runtimeOptions": {
    "configProperties": {
      "System.GC.Server": true
    }
  },
  "tools": {
    "Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.IISIntegration.Tools": {
      "version": "1.0.0-preview1-final",
      "imports": "portable-net45+win8+dnxcore50"
    },
    "Microsoft.Extensions.SecretManager.Tools": {
      "version": "1.0.0-preview1-final",
      "imports": "portable-net45+win8+dnxcore50"
    },
    "Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools": {
      "version": "1.0.0-preview1-final",
      "imports": [
        "portable-net45+win8+dnxcore50",
        "portable-net45+win8"
      ]
    }
  },
  "frameworks": {
    "net461": { }
  },

  "dependencies": {
    "Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.IISIntegration": "1.0.0-rc2-final",
    "Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel": "1.0.0-rc2-final",
    "Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http.Abstractions": "1.0.0-rc2-final",
    "Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc": "1.0.0-rc2-final",
    "Microsoft.AspNetCore.StaticFiles": "1.0.0-rc2-final",
    "Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authentication.JwtBearer": "1.0.0-rc2-final",
    "Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity": "1.0.0-rc2-final",
    "Microsoft.AspNetCore.Diagnostics": "1.0.0-rc2-final",
    "Microsoft.AspNetCore.Diagnostics.EntityFrameworkCore": "1.0.0-rc2-final",
    "Microsoft.Extensions.Options": "1.0.0-rc2-final",
    "Microsoft.Extensions.Options.ConfigurationExtensions": "1.0.0-rc2-final",
    "Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Debug": "1.0.0-rc2-final",
    "Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.EnvironmentVariables": "1.0.0-rc2-final",
    "Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.FileExtensions": "1.0.0-rc2-final",
    "Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Json": "1.0.0-rc2-final",
    "Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.UserSecrets": "1.0.0-rc2-final",
    "Microsoft.Extensions.PlatformAbstractions": "1.0.0-rc2-final",
    "Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore": "1.0.0-rc2-final",
    "Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools": {
      "version": "1.0.0-preview1-final",
      "type": "build"
    },
    "Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer": "1.0.0-rc2-final",
    "Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.AspNetCore": "1.0.0-rc2-final",
    "WindowsAzure.Storage": "7.0.0",
    "Swashbuckle": "6.0.0-beta9",
    "TimeZoneNames": "2.0.1",
    "NodaTime": "1.3.2",
    "SharedEmailDTOs": "1.0.0-*",
    "Auth0.ManagementApi": "3.1.0",
    "Auth0.AuthenticationApi": "3.1.1",
    "Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Filter": "1.0.0-rc2-final"
  },
  "publishOptions": {
    "include": [
      "wwwroot",
      "appsettings.json",
      "app.config",
      "web.config"
    ]
  },
  "scripts": {
    "postpublish": [ "dotnet publish-iis --publish-folder %publish:OutputPath% --framework %publish:FullTargetFramework%" ]
  }
}

I also have an app.config setup and deployed in the approot folder:

<configuration>
   <runtime>
      <gcServer enabled="true"/>
   </runtime>
</configuration>

[davidfowl]

The first course of action would be to get a memory dump and analyze it using either visual studio, windbg, perfview or other familiar tools.

[Kimberleyrene]

Stop sending me emails

On July 2, 2016, at 23:59, David Fowler notifications@github.com wrote:

The first course of action would be to get a memory dump and analyze it using either visual studio, windbg, perfview or other familiar tools.

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#1627 (comment)

[bragma]

Thanks, I'll keep it in mind. After a few days of observation, I've noticed that under normal condition the application memory working set can vary a lot, slowly growing and shrinking even by 400MB. There were some abnormal situations when trying to POST some large JSON documents (5MB doc) caused huge increases in memory usage even if they were not specifically parsed or required as part of the controller method parameters (I'll submit another question regarding this). I suspect they are caused by some part of the system buffering data.
I still have one question left: how do I know that GC is properly configured and working?

[jonbrichoux]

In code, you can inspect GCSettings.IsServerGC