Connection Settings

Using connection pooling

The SQL Server transport is built on top of ADO.NET and will use connection pooling. This may result in the connection pool being shared by the transport, as well as other parts of the endpoint process and the business logic.

In scenarios where the concurrent message processing limit is changed, or the database connection is used for other purposes mentioned above, change the connection pool size to ensure it will not be exhausted. See SQL Server Connection Pooling and Configuration for more details.

Connection configuration

The connection string can be configured in several ways:

Via the configuration API

By using the ConnectionString extension method:

var transport = new SqlServerTransport("Data Source=instance;Initial Catalog=db;Integrated Security=True;Max Pool Size=80");

Via the App.Config

By adding a connection named NServiceBus/Transport in the connectionStrings node.

<configuration>
  <connectionStrings>
     <add name="NServiceBus/Transport"
          connectionString="Data Source=instance; Initial Catalog=db; Integrated Security=True;Max Pool Size=80"/>
  </connectionStrings>
</configuration>

Token-credentials

Microsoft Entra ID authentication is supported via the standard connection string options.

Custom database schemas

The SQL Server transport uses dbo as a default schema. It is used for every queue if no other schema is explicitly provided in a transport address. This includes all local queues, error, audit and remote queues of other endpoints.

The default schema can be overridden using the DefaultSchema method:

var transport = new SqlServerTransport("connectionString")
{
    DefaultSchema = "myschema"
};

Custom database catalogs

By default, the SQL Server transport uses the catalog defined in the Initial Catalog or Database section of the provided connection string.

The catalog can be overwritten using the DefaultCatalog method:

var transport = new SqlServerTransport("connectionString")
{
    DefaultCatalog = "mycatalog"
};

Custom SQL Server transport connection factory

In some environments it might be necessary to adapt to the database server settings, or to perform additional operations. For example, if the NOCOUNT setting is enabled on the server, then it is necessary to send the SET NOCOUNT OFF command immediately after opening the connection.

This can be done by passing a custom factory method to the transport which will provide connection strings at runtime, and which can perform custom actions:

var transport = new SqlServerTransport(
    async cancellationToken =>
    {
        var connection = new SqlConnection("SomeConnectionString");
        try
        {
            await connection.OpenAsync();

            // perform custom operations

            return connection;
        }
        catch
        {
            connection.Dispose();
            throw;
        }
    });

Circuit breaker

A built-in circuit breaker is used to handle intermittent SQL Server connectivity problems. When a failure occurs while trying to connect, a circuit breaker enters an armed state. If the failure is not resolved before the configured wait time elapses, the circuit breaker triggers the critical errors handling procedure.

Wait time

The circuit breaker's default time to wait before triggering is two minutes. Use the TimeToWaitBeforeTriggeringCircuitBreaker method to change it.

var transport = new SqlServerTransport("connectionString")
{
    TimeToWaitBeforeTriggeringCircuitBreaker = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(3)
};