akka-net-aspire-configuration

name	akka-net-aspire-configuration
description	Configure Akka.NET with .NET Aspire for local development and production deployments. Covers actor system setup, clustering, persistence, Akka.Management integration, and Aspire orchestration patterns.
invocable	false

Configuring Akka.NET with .NET Aspire

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Setting up a new Akka.NET project with .NET Aspire orchestration
• Configuring Akka.Cluster with cluster bootstrapping and discovery
• Integrating Akka.Persistence with SQL Server
• Setting up Akka.Management for cluster management
• Configuring multi-replica actor systems in local development
• Deploying Akka.NET applications to Kubernetes with Aspire

Related Skills

• akka-net-management - Deep dive into Akka.Management, Cluster Bootstrap, and discovery providers (Kubernetes, Azure, Config)
• microsoft-extensions-configuration - IValidateOptions patterns for configuration validation
• akka-net-best-practices - Cluster/local mode abstractions for testable actor systems
• aspire-integration-testing - Testing Aspire applications with real infrastructure

Core Principles

1. Configuration via Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration - Use strongly-typed settings classes bound from appsettings.json (see microsoft-extensions-configuration skill)
2. Akka.Hosting for DI Integration - Use the Akka.Hosting library for seamless ASP.NET Core integration
3. Aspire for Orchestration - Let Aspire manage service dependencies, networking, and environment configuration
4. Health Checks - Always configure health checks for clustering, persistence, and readiness
5. Separate Concerns - Keep actor definitions, configuration, and Aspire orchestration in separate layers
6. Validate Configuration at Startup - Use IValidateOptions<T> and .ValidateOnStart() to fail fast on misconfiguration

Project Structure

YourSolution/
├── src/
│   ├── YourApp.Actors/              # Actor definitions and business logic
│   │   ├── YourActor.cs
│   │   └── YourApp.Actors.csproj
│   ├── YourApp/                     # ASP.NET Core web application
│   │   ├── Config/
│   │   │   ├── AkkaConfiguration.cs  # Akka setup extension methods
│   │   │   └── AkkaSettings.cs       # Configuration model
│   │   ├── Program.cs
│   │   ├── appsettings.json
│   │   └── YourApp.csproj
│   └── YourApp.AppHost/             # Aspire orchestration
│       ├── Program.cs
│       ├── AkkaManagementExtensions.cs
│       └── YourApp.AppHost.csproj

Required NuGet Packages

For Actor Project (YourApp.Actors.csproj)

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="Akka.Cluster.Hosting" />
  <PackageReference Include="Akka.Streams" />
</ItemGroup>

For Web Application (YourApp.csproj)

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="Akka.Hosting" />
  <PackageReference Include="Akka.Cluster.Hosting" />
  <PackageReference Include="Akka.Persistence.Sql.Hosting" />
  <PackageReference Include="Akka.Management" />
  <PackageReference Include="Akka.Management.Cluster.Bootstrap" />
  <PackageReference Include="Akka.Discovery.KubernetesApi" />
  <PackageReference Include="Akka.Discovery.Azure" />
  <PackageReference Include="Akka.Discovery.Config.Hosting" />
  <PackageReference Include="Petabridge.Cmd.Host" />
  <PackageReference Include="Petabridge.Cmd.Cluster" />
</ItemGroup>

For AppHost (YourApp.AppHost.csproj)

<Sdk Name="Aspire.AppHost.Sdk" Version="$(AspireVersion)" />

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="Aspire.Hosting.AppHost" />
  <PackageReference Include="Aspire.Hosting.Azure.Storage" />
  <PackageReference Include="Aspire.Hosting.SqlServer" />
</ItemGroup>

Configuration Model (AkkaSettings.cs)

Create a strongly-typed configuration class:

using System.Net;
using System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates;
using Akka.Cluster.Hosting;
using Akka.Remote.Hosting;
using Petabridge.Cmd.Host;

namespace YourApp.Config;

public class AkkaSettings
{
    public string ActorSystemName { get; set; } = "YourSystem";

    public bool LogConfigOnStart { get; set; } = false;

    public RemoteOptions RemoteOptions { get; set; } = new()
    {
        PublicHostName = Dns.GetHostName(),
        HostName = "0.0.0.0",
        Port = 8081
    };

    public ClusterOptions ClusterOptions { get; set; } = new()
    {
        SeedNodes = [$"akka.tcp://YourSystem@{Dns.GetHostName()}:8081"],
        Roles = ["your-role"]
    };

    public ShardOptions ShardOptions { get; set; } = new();

    public AkkaManagementOptions? AkkaManagementOptions { get; set; }

    public PetabridgeCmdOptions PbmOptions { get; set; } = new()
    {
        Host = "0.0.0.0",
        Port = 9110
    };

    public TlsSettings? TlsSettings { get; set; }
}

public class TlsSettings
{
    public bool Enabled { get; set; } = false;
    public string? CertificatePath { get; set; }
    public string? CertificatePassword { get; set; }
    public bool ValidateCertificates { get; set; } = true;

    public X509Certificate2? LoadCertificate()
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(CertificatePath))
            return null;

        if (!File.Exists(CertificatePath))
            throw new FileNotFoundException($"Certificate file not found at: {CertificatePath}");

        return !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(CertificatePassword)
            ? X509CertificateLoader.LoadPkcs12FromFile(CertificatePath, CertificatePassword)
            : X509CertificateLoader.LoadCertificateFromFile(CertificatePath);
    }
}

public class AkkaManagementOptions
{
    public bool Enabled { get; set; }
    public string? Hostname { get; set; }
    public int Port { get; set; } = 8558;
    public string ServiceName { get; set; } = "your-service";
    public string PortName { get; set; } = "management";
    public int RequiredContactPointsNr { get; set; } = 1;
    public bool FilterOnFallbackPort { get; set; } = true;
    public DiscoveryMethod DiscoveryMethod { get; set; } = DiscoveryMethod.Config;
}

public enum DiscoveryMethod
{
    Config,
    Kubernetes,
    AzureTableStorage,
    AwsEcsTagBased,
    AwsEc2TagBased
}

Akka Configuration Extension Methods (AkkaConfiguration.cs)

using Akka.Cluster.Hosting;
using Akka.Discovery.Azure;
using Akka.Discovery.Config.Hosting;
using Akka.Discovery.KubernetesApi;
using Akka.Hosting;
using Akka.Management;
using Akka.Management.Cluster.Bootstrap;
using Akka.Persistence.Sql.Config;
using Akka.Persistence.Sql.Hosting;
using Akka.Remote.Hosting;
using LinqToDB;

namespace YourApp.Config;

public static class AkkaConfiguration
{
    public static IServiceCollection ConfigureAkka(
        this IServiceCollection services,
        IConfiguration configuration,
        Action<AkkaConfigurationBuilder, IServiceProvider> additionalConfig)
    {
        var akkaSettings = BindAkkaSettings(services, configuration);

        var connectionString = configuration.GetConnectionString("DefaultConnection");
        if (connectionString is null)
            throw new Exception("DefaultConnection ConnectionString is missing");

        const string roleName = "your-role";

        services.AddAkka(akkaSettings.ActorSystemName, (builder, provider) =>
        {
            builder.ConfigureNetwork(provider)
                .WithAkkaClusterReadinessCheck()
                .WithActorSystemLivenessCheck()
                .WithSqlPersistence(
                    connectionString: connectionString,
                    providerName: ProviderName.SqlServer2022,
                    databaseMapping: DatabaseMapping.SqlServer,
                    tagStorageMode: TagMode.TagTable,
                    deleteCompatibilityMode: true,
                    useWriterUuidColumn: true,
                    autoInitialize: true,
                    journalBuilder: journalBuilder =>
                    {
                        journalBuilder.WithHealthCheck(name: "Akka.Persistence.Sql.Journal[default]");
                    },
                    snapshotBuilder: snapshotBuilder =>
                    {
                        snapshotBuilder.WithHealthCheck(name: "Akka.Persistence.Sql.SnapshotStore[default]");
                    });

            // Add your actors here
            // Example: builder.WithActors((system, registry) => { ... });

            additionalConfig(builder, provider);
        });

        return services;
    }

    public static AkkaSettings BindAkkaSettings(IServiceCollection services, IConfiguration configuration)
    {
        var akkaSettings = new AkkaSettings();
        configuration.GetSection(nameof(AkkaSettings)).Bind(akkaSettings);
        services.AddSingleton(akkaSettings);
        return akkaSettings;
    }

    public static AkkaConfigurationBuilder ConfigureNetwork(
        this AkkaConfigurationBuilder builder,
        IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
    {
        var settings = serviceProvider.GetRequiredService<AkkaSettings>();
        var configuration = serviceProvider.GetRequiredService<IConfiguration>();

        // Apply TLS configuration if enabled
        if (settings.TlsSettings is { Enabled: true })
        {
            ConfigureRemoteOptionsWithTls(settings);
        }

        builder.WithRemoting(settings.RemoteOptions);

        if (settings.AkkaManagementOptions is { Enabled: true })
        {
            // Clear seed nodes when using Akka.Management
            var clusterOptions = settings.ClusterOptions;
            clusterOptions.SeedNodes = [];

            builder
                .WithClustering(clusterOptions)
                .WithAkkaManagement(setup =>
                {
                    setup.Http.HostName = settings.AkkaManagementOptions.Hostname?.ToLower();
                    setup.Http.Port = settings.AkkaManagementOptions.Port;
                    setup.Http.BindHostName = "0.0.0.0";
                    setup.Http.BindPort = settings.AkkaManagementOptions.Port;
                })
                .WithClusterBootstrap(options =>
                {
                    options.ContactPointDiscovery.ServiceName = settings.AkkaManagementOptions.ServiceName;
                    options.ContactPointDiscovery.PortName = settings.AkkaManagementOptions.PortName;
                    options.ContactPointDiscovery.RequiredContactPointsNr =
                        settings.AkkaManagementOptions.RequiredContactPointsNr;
                    options.ContactPointDiscovery.ContactWithAllContactPoints = true;
                    options.ContactPointDiscovery.StableMargin = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5);
                    options.ContactPoint.FilterOnFallbackPort =
                        settings.AkkaManagementOptions.FilterOnFallbackPort;
                }, autoStart: true);

            ConfigureDiscovery(builder, settings, configuration);
        }
        else
        {
            builder.WithClustering(settings.ClusterOptions);
        }

        return builder;
    }

    private static void ConfigureDiscovery(
        AkkaConfigurationBuilder builder,
        AkkaSettings settings,
        IConfiguration configuration)
    {
        switch (settings.AkkaManagementOptions!.DiscoveryMethod)
        {
            case DiscoveryMethod.Kubernetes:
                builder.WithKubernetesDiscovery();
                break;

            case DiscoveryMethod.AzureTableStorage:
                var connectionString = configuration.GetConnectionString("AkkaManagementAzure");
                if (connectionString is null)
                    throw new Exception("AkkaManagement table storage connection string [AkkaManagementAzure] is missing");

                builder
                    .WithAzureDiscovery(options =>
                    {
                        options.ServiceName = settings.AkkaManagementOptions.ServiceName;
                        options.ConnectionString = connectionString;
                        options.HostName = settings.RemoteOptions.PublicHostName?.ToLower() ?? "localhost";
                        options.Port = settings.AkkaManagementOptions.Port;
                    })
                    .AddHocon(AzureDiscovery.DefaultConfiguration(), HoconAddMode.Append);
                break;

            case DiscoveryMethod.Config:
                builder.WithConfigDiscovery(options =>
                {
                    options.Services.Add(new Service
                    {
                        Name = settings.AkkaManagementOptions.ServiceName,
                        Endpoints =
                        [
                            $"{settings.AkkaManagementOptions.Hostname}:{settings.AkkaManagementOptions.Port}"
                        ]
                    });
                });
                break;

            default:
                throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException();
        }
    }

    private static void ConfigureRemoteOptionsWithTls(AkkaSettings settings)
    {
        var tlsSettings = settings.TlsSettings!;
        var remoteOptions = settings.RemoteOptions;

        var certificate = tlsSettings.LoadCertificate();
        if (certificate is null)
            throw new InvalidOperationException("TLS is enabled but no certificate could be loaded");

        remoteOptions.EnableSsl = true;
        remoteOptions.Ssl = new SslOptions
        {
            X509Certificate = certificate,
            SuppressValidation = !tlsSettings.ValidateCertificates
        };

        // Update seed nodes to use akka.ssl.tcp:// protocol
        if (settings.ClusterOptions.SeedNodes?.Length > 0)
        {
            settings.ClusterOptions.SeedNodes = settings.ClusterOptions.SeedNodes
                .Select(node => node.Replace("akka.tcp://", "akka.ssl.tcp://"))
                .ToArray();
        }
    }
}

Program.cs Integration

using YourApp.Config;
using Petabridge.Cmd.Host;
using Petabridge.Cmd.Cluster;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

// Add services
builder.Services.AddRazorPages(); // or whatever your app needs

// Configure Akka.NET
builder.Services.ConfigureAkka(builder.Configuration,
    (configurationBuilder, provider) =>
    {
        var options = provider.GetRequiredService<AkkaSettings>();

        // Add Petabridge.Cmd for cluster management
        configurationBuilder.AddPetabridgeCmd(
            options: options.PbmOptions,
            hostConfiguration: cmd =>
            {
                cmd.RegisterCommandPalette(ClusterCommands.Instance);
            });
    });

var app = builder.Build();

// Configure middleware
app.MapRazorPages();
app.Run();

Aspire AppHost Configuration (Program.cs)

using System.Net.Sockets;

var builder = DistributedApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

var config = builder.Configuration.GetSection("YourApp")
    .Get<YourAppConfiguration>() ?? new YourAppConfiguration();

var saPassword = builder.AddParameter(
    "sql-sa-password",
    () => "YourStrong!Passw0rd",
    secret: true);

var sqlServer = builder.AddSqlServer("sql", saPassword);

if (config.UseVolumes)
{
    sqlServer.WithDataVolume();
}

var db = sqlServer.AddDatabase("YourDb");

var app = builder.AddProject<Projects.YourApp>("yourapp")
    .WithReplicas(config.Replicas)
    .WithReference(db, "DefaultConnection")
    .ConfigureAkkaManagementForApp(config);

builder.Build().Run();

public class YourAppConfiguration
{
    public int Replicas { get; set; } = 1;
    public bool UseVolumes { get; set; } = false;
    public bool UseAkkaManagement { get; set; } = false;
}

Aspire Akka.Management Extensions (AkkaManagementExtensions.cs)

using System.Net.Sockets;
using Aspire.Hosting.Azure;

namespace YourApp.AppHost;

public static class AkkaManagementExtensions
{
    public static IResourceBuilder<ProjectResource> ConfigureAkkaManagementForApp(
        this IResourceBuilder<ProjectResource> appBuilder,
        YourAppConfiguration config)
    {
        if (!config.UseAkkaManagement) return appBuilder;

        var builder = appBuilder.ApplicationBuilder;

        // Setup Azure Table Storage for discovery
        var azureStorage = builder.AddAzureStorage("storage")
            .RunAsEmulator();

        var tableStorage = azureStorage.AddTables("akka-discovery");

        appBuilder.WaitFor(tableStorage)
            .WithReference(tableStorage, "AkkaManagementAzure");

        // Setup network endpoint ports
        appBuilder
            .WithEndpoint(name: "remote", protocol: ProtocolType.Tcp,
                env: "AkkaSettings__RemoteOptions__Port")
            .WithEndpoint(name: "management", protocol: ProtocolType.Tcp,
                env: "AkkaSettings__AkkaManagementOptions__Port")
            .WithEndpoint(name: "pbm", protocol: ProtocolType.Tcp,
                env: "AkkaSettings__PbmOptions__Port");

        // Configure Akka.Management settings via environment variables
        appBuilder
            .WithEnvironment("AkkaSettings__RemoteOptions__PublicHostName", "localhost")
            .WithEnvironment("AkkaSettings__AkkaManagementOptions__Enabled", "true")
            .WithEnvironment("AkkaSettings__AkkaManagementOptions__Hostname", "localhost")
            .WithEnvironment("AkkaSettings__AkkaManagementOptions__DiscoveryMethod", "AzureTableStorage")
            .WithEnvironment("AkkaSettings__AkkaManagementOptions__RequiredContactPointsNr",
                config.Replicas.ToString())
            .WithEnvironment("AkkaSettings__AkkaManagementOptions__FilterOnFallbackPort", "false");

        return appBuilder;
    }
}

appsettings.json Configuration

{
  "ConnectionStrings": {
    "DefaultConnection": "Server=localhost;Database=YourDb;User Id=sa;Password=YourStrong!Passw0rd;"
  },
  "AkkaSettings": {
    "ActorSystemName": "YourSystem",
    "LogConfigOnStart": false,
    "RemoteOptions": {
      "PublicHostName": null,
      "HostName": "0.0.0.0",
      "Port": 8081
    },
    "ClusterOptions": {
      "Roles": ["your-role"],
      "SeedNodes": []
    },
    "PbmOptions": {
      "Host": "0.0.0.0",
      "Port": 9110
    }
  }
}

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: Actor Registration with Dependency Injection

// In your actor project
public static class ActorRegistration
{
    public static AkkaConfigurationBuilder AddYourActor(
        this AkkaConfigurationBuilder builder,
        string roleName)
    {
        builder.WithActors((system, registry, resolver) =>
        {
            var props = resolver.Props<YourActor>();
            var actor = system.ActorOf(props, "your-actor");
            registry.Register<YourActor>(actor);
        });

        return builder;
    }
}

// In AkkaConfiguration.cs
builder
    .ConfigureNetwork(provider)
    .WithSqlPersistence(...)
    .AddYourActor(roleName);  // Register your actor

Pattern 2: Cluster Sharding Setup

builder.WithShardRegion<YourEntityActor>(
    typeName: "your-entity",
    entityPropsFactory: (_, _, resolver) => resolver.Props<YourEntityActor>(),
    extractEntityId: ExtractEntityId,
    extractShardId: ExtractShardId,
    shardOptions: new ShardOptions
    {
        Role = "your-role",
        StateStoreMode = StateStoreMode.Persistence
    });

private static string ExtractEntityId(object message)
{
    return message switch
    {
        IEntityMessage msg => msg.EntityId,
        _ => null
    };
}

private static string ExtractShardId(object message)
{
    return message switch
    {
        IEntityMessage msg => (msg.EntityId.GetHashCode() % 10).ToString(),
        _ => null
    };
}

Pattern 3: Health Checks

Always configure health checks in Program.cs:

builder.Services.AddHealthChecks()
    .AddCheck("self", () => HealthCheckResult.Healthy("Application is running"),
        tags: new[] { "liveness" });

// Akka health checks are added automatically by:
// - .WithAkkaClusterReadinessCheck()
// - .WithActorSystemLivenessCheck()
// - journalBuilder.WithHealthCheck()
// - snapshotBuilder.WithHealthCheck()

Common Issues and Solutions

Issue 1: Cluster Nodes Can't Discover Each Other

Symptoms: Nodes stay as "Unreachable" in cluster status

Solution:

1. Verify RequiredContactPointsNr matches the number of replicas
2. Check that all nodes use the same ServiceName in AkkaManagementOptions
3. Ensure Azure Table Storage connection string is correct
4. Verify firewall/network allows TCP on remote and management ports

Issue 2: Persistence Initialization Fails

Symptoms: Application fails to start with SQL connection errors

Solution:

1. Ensure SQL Server is running (check Aspire dashboard)
2. Verify connection string is correctly configured
3. Set autoInitialize: true in WithSqlPersistence
4. Check that database exists and is accessible

Issue 3: Split Brain in Development

Symptoms: Multiple separate clusters form instead of one unified cluster

Solution:

1. Use FilterOnFallbackPort = false in local development
2. Ensure all replicas use the same discovery configuration
3. Set ContactWithAllContactPoints = true
4. Increase StableMargin for slower dev machines

Testing Akka.NET Actors

For comprehensive Akka.NET testing patterns using Akka.Hosting.TestKit, see the akka-net-testing-patterns skill.

That skill covers:

• Modern testing with Akka.Hosting.TestKit and dependency injection
• TestProbe patterns for verifying actor interactions
• Testing persistent actors and event sourcing
• Local cluster sharding tests with AkkaExecutionMode.LocalTest
• Scenario-based integration tests
• Best practices and anti-patterns

Quick Example: Testing Akka + Aspire Integration

When testing Aspire applications with Akka.NET actors, combine aspire-integration-testing patterns with akka-net-testing-patterns:

// Use Aspire's DistributedApplicationTestingBuilder for infrastructure
// Use Akka.Hosting.TestKit for actor testing
public class AkkaAspireIntegrationTests : IAsyncLifetime
{
    private DistributedApplication? _app;

    public async Task InitializeAsync()
    {
        var appHost = await DistributedApplicationTestingBuilder
            .CreateAsync<Projects.YourApp_AppHost>();

        _app = await appHost.BuildAsync();
        await _app.StartAsync();
    }

    [Fact]
    public async Task ActorSystem_WithRealDatabase_ShouldPersistEvents()
    {
        // Get SQL connection string from Aspire
        var dbResource = _app!.GetResource("yourdb");
        var connectionString = await dbResource.GetConnectionStringAsync();

        // Create HttpClient to test actor endpoints
        var httpClient = _app.CreateHttpClient("yourapp");

        // Test actor behavior through HTTP API
        var response = await httpClient.PostAsJsonAsync("/orders", new
        {
            OrderId = "ORDER-001",
            Amount = 100.00m
        });

        response.Should().BeSuccessStatusCode();

        // Verify data was persisted to real database
        await using var connection = new SqlConnection(connectionString);
        await connection.OpenAsync();

        var events = await connection.QueryAsync<string>(
            "SELECT EventType FROM EventJournal WHERE PersistenceId = 'order-ORDER-001'");

        events.Should().Contain("OrderCreated");
    }

    public async Task DisposeAsync()
    {
        if (_app is not null)
            await _app.DisposeAsync();
    }
}

For unit testing individual actors, use akka-net-testing-patterns with in-memory persistence (no Aspire needed).

Best Practices Summary

1. Always use health checks - Configure readiness and liveness checks for all components
2. Bind settings from configuration - Never hard-code hostnames, ports, or connection strings
3. Use Akka.Management for multi-node - Don't use static seed nodes for clusters with >1 replica
4. Configure TLS for production - Always use TLS in production environments
5. Separate actor logic from configuration - Keep actors pure and configuration in extension methods
6. Use Petabridge.Cmd - Essential for debugging and managing clusters
7. Test with multiple replicas - Always test with Replicas > 1 to catch clustering issues
8. Monitor persistence health - Configure health checks for journal and snapshot stores