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SectionInformation.ProtectSection Method

.NET Framework 2.0

Note: This method is new in the .NET Framework version 2.0.

Marks a configuration section for protection.

Namespace: System.Configuration
Assembly: System.Configuration (in system.configuration.dll)

C#
C++
VB
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public void ProtectSection (
	string protectionProvider
)
J#
Copy 
public void ProtectSection (
	String protectionProvider
)
JScript
Copy 
public function ProtectSection (
	protectionProvider : String
)

Parameters

protectionProvider

The name of the protection provider to use.

The ProtectSection method marks the section for encryption so it will be written in encrypted form on disk.

The following protection providers are included by default:

For more information about protected configuration sections, see Encrypting Configuration Information Using Protected Configuration.

The following code example shows how to use the ProtectSection method.

C#
VB
Copy 
static public void ProtectSection()
{

    // Get the current configuration file.
    System.Configuration.Configuration config =
            ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration(
            ConfigurationUserLevel.None);


    // Get the section.
    UrlsSection section =
        (UrlsSection)config.GetSection("MyUrls");


    // Protect (encrypt)the section.
    section.SectionInformation.ProtectSection(
        "RsaProtectedConfigurationProvider");

    // Save the encrypted section.
    section.SectionInformation.ForceSave = true;

    config.Save(ConfigurationSaveMode.Full);

    // Display decrypted configuration 
    // section. Note, the system
    // uses the Rsa provider to decrypt
    // the section transparently.
    string sectionXml =
        section.SectionInformation.GetRawXml();

    Console.WriteLine("Decrypted section:");
    Console.WriteLine(sectionXml);

Windows 98, Windows 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Starter Edition

The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see System Requirements.

.NET Framework

Supported in: 2.0
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Encrypting Data Connection Strings in the web.config File

Here's some code to encrypt and decrypt connection strings in your web.config file

    ' For the video containing this code, see
    ' http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/3/6/836dd5f8-fa92-499f-8219-0d326f13bf18/hilo_tips_final.wmv
    Protected Sub EncryptConfig(ByVal bEncrypt As Boolean)
        Dim path = "~/"
        ' Use the WebConfigurationManager to open
        ' the local web.config file
        Dim config As Configuration = _
          System.Web.Configuration.WebConfigurationManager. _
            OpenWebConfiguration(path)
        ' Get the connectionStrings section
        ' from the web.config file
        Dim appSettings As ConfigurationSection = _
        config.GetSection("connectionStrings")
       
        If bEncrypt Then
            ' Encrypt the string using ProtectSection
            appSettings.SectionInformation.ProtectSection _
            ("DataProtectionConfigurationProvider")
        Else
            'Decrypt the string using UnprotectSection
            appSettings.SectionInformation.UnprotectSection()
        End If
        'Save the changes
        config.Save()
    End Sub

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