Web API 2 POST-Request not working on mono

Question

I want to write a REST-Server with WEB API 2 on Linux-machine with mono without IIS or something.

What i have done:

1. Created a Empty C# Console Application

2. Added the Nuget-Package: Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.OwinSelfHost, WebApi.Cors for handling CORS-Request

3. Then i created a Startup.cs for defining my Config;

   public class Startup
   {
       public void Configuration(IAppBuilder app)
       {
           app.UseWebApi(ConfigureWebApi());
       }
   
       private HttpConfiguration ConfigureWebApi()
       {
   
           var config = new HttpConfiguration();
           var cors = new EnableCorsAttribute("*", "*", "*");
           config.EnableCors(cors);
           //Attribute Routing aktivieren
           config.MapHttpAttributeRoutes();
           config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
   
               "DefaultApi",
   
               "api/{controller}/{id}",
   
               new { id = RouteParameter.Optional });
   
           return config;
       }
   }
   

4. Edit my Program.cs to act like a server

       class Program
       {
       static void Main(string[] args)
       {
           string baseUrl = "http://*:5000";
           using (WebApp.Start<Startup>(baseUrl))
           {
               Console.WriteLine("Press Enter to quit.");
               Console.ReadKey();
   
           }
       }
   }
   

5. In this step i add a Model Class Book

   public class Book
   {
       public String Name { get; set; }
       public String Author { get; set; }
   
       public int Id { get; set; }
   }
   

6. And finaly the BooksController which should handle the requests:

   public class BooksController : ApiController
   {
       public BooksController()
       {}
   
       public async Task<IHttpActionResult> Get()
       {
           List<Book> list = new List<Book>();
           list.Add(new Book() { Name = "myBook",Author = "John" ,Id=1});
           list.Add(new Book() { Name = "myBook2",Author = "Peter",Id=2 });
           return Ok(list);
       }
   
       public async Task<IHttpActionResult> Post(Book requestData)
       {
           return Created<Book>("api/books/" + requestData.Id, requestData);
       }
   }
   

I started this whole application on a Linux-machine with mono-4.0.2 And test the app with the "postman"-Application to create the different HTTP-Requests.

I've testet the server with a GET-Request to /api/books and it worked!

My problem is when i do a POST-Request i get a "500 Internal Server Error" Response.

My POST-Request look like this

The strange thing is that when i run my app on a windows machine on the .NET Framework the POST-Request is working without problem!

I don't understand why its not working on mono! And hope someone knows the answer.

Answer 1

As you said in your own answer, the problem lies with the CORS implementation in Mono.

If you need CORS, you can use a workaround. This is what I did, adapted from this gist: https://github.com/SEEK-Jobs/whatsupwithmono/issues/6

/// <summary>
/// Work around a bug in mono's implementation of System.Net.Http where calls to HttpRequestMessage.Headers.Host will fail unless we set it explicitly.
/// This should be transparent and cause no side effects.
/// </summary>
private class MonoPatchingDelegatingHandler : DelegatingHandler {
    protected async override Task<HttpResponseMessage> SendAsync(HttpRequestMessage request, CancellationToken cancellationToken) {
        request.Headers.Host = request.Headers.GetValues("Host").FirstOrDefault();
        return await base.SendAsync(request, cancellationToken);
    }
}

Then in ConfigureWebApi right before you do the call to config.EnableCors, do this:

if(Type.GetType("Mono.Runtime") != null) {
    config.MessageHandlers.Add(new MonoPatchingDelegatingHandler());
}
config.EnableCors();

Answer 2

Now i find the answer myself :-)

The Problem lies in the CORS Package that i included in the Startup File!

On Windows it has no issues but on Linux and mono the POST-Request is not working anymore!

When i removed the two Cors Lines it worked on mono too.