Change Global.asax via NuGet package?

Question

I am creating a NuGet package and was wondering if there's a way to modify the Global.asax of the target website? I would like to add one line in the Application_Start (and create the Global.asax if it is not there). Is this possible? How would updates work?

Answer 1

The recommended approach is not to modify the Global.asax file of the host application. Instead you could use WebActivator and add a separate file to the project. Take a look for example at the Ninject.MVC3 NuGet which does exactly that.

For example when yo install your NuGet you could simply add the following file to the project ~/App_Start/MyNuGetAppStart.cs:

[assembly: WebActivator.PreApplicationStartMethod(typeof(SomeNamespace.AppStart), "Start")]

namespace SomeNamespace
{

    public static class AppStart
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Will run when the application is starting (same as Application_Start)
        /// </summary>
        public static void Start() 
        {
            ... put your initialization code here
        }
    }
}

This is a far more unobtrusive way to add custom code at application startup rather than messing with the Global.asax file which the user might have already tweaked.