What is Kestrel Web Server in ASP.NET Core?

Kestrel is the cross-platform web server included with ASP.NET Core. It is designed for high performance and lightweight hosting of web applications. Kestrel can be used as a standalone server or behind a reverse proxy like IIS, Nginx, or Apache.

Key Features:

• High-performance, asynchronous web server
• Cross-platform: Windows, Linux, macOS
• Can run standalone or behind a reverse proxy
• Supports HTTPS and HTTP/2
• Lightweight and highly configurable

Example:
Configure Kestrel in Program.cs:

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

builder.WebHost.ConfigureKestrel(options =>
{
    options.ListenAnyIP(5000); // HTTP
    options.ListenAnyIP(5001, listenOptions => listenOptions.UseHttps("cert.pfx", "password")); // HTTPS
});

var app = builder.Build();
app.MapGet("/", () => "Hello Kestrel!");
app.Run();

Kestrel in ASP.NET Core provides fast, reliable, and flexible web hosting, making it ideal for modern cloud-based and on-premises applications.

Citations:

• Learn more on Savanka
• Official ASP.NET Core Documentation