WCF service endpoint not accessible in self-hosting

Question

I have created a IDummyService contract implemented by DummyService . I am trying to self-host this service using the following configuration:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
    <startup> 
        <supportedRuntime version="v4.0" sku=".NETFramework,Version=v4.6.1" />
    </startup>
<system.serviceModel>
    <services>
      <service name="DummyService.DummyService" behaviorConfiguration="MEX">
        <host>
          <baseAddresses>
            <add baseAddress="http://localhost:8733/" />
          </baseAddresses>
        </host>
        <endpoint address="DummyService" 
                  binding="basicHttpBinding" 
                  contract="DummyService.IDummyService"/>
        <endpoint address="net.tcp://localhost:8734/DummyService/" 
                  binding="netTcpBinding" 
                  bindingConfiguration = "TransactionalTCP" 
                  contract="DummyService.IDummyService"/>
        <endpoint address="mex" binding="mexHttpBinding"    contract="IMetadataExchange" />
      </service>
    </services>
    <bindings>
      <netTcpBinding>
        <binding name = "TransactionalTCP" transactionFlow = "true"/>
      </netTcpBinding>
    </bindings>
    <behaviors>
      <serviceBehaviors>
        <behavior name = "MEX">
          <serviceMetadata/>
        </behavior>
      </serviceBehaviors>
    </behaviors>
  </system.serviceModel>
</configuration>

The Service Host code that runs fine and starts these endpoints. However, when I try to access the following endpoints I get error as Page isn't working in Chrome browser.

http://localhost:8733/DummyService/
http://localhost:8733/mex/

However, I can access the page http://localhost:8733/

I don't understand why is that.

I thought the endpoint address is address entry for that endpoint appended to host's baseaddress

Any ideas what I am doing wrong ?

Thanks.

Answer 1

You have applied the attribute behaviorConfiguration="MEX" but didnt make use of it,you need to enable the metadata discovery which is false by default in WCF for security reasons.

<serviceBehaviors>
        <behavior name = "MEX">
          <serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="true"/>
        </behavior>
      </serviceBehaviors>

Now when you browse the http://localhost:8733/DummyService/ and http://localhost:8733/mex/ ,a blank page will be displayed in the browser,instead of default error page.

And also if you want to test the net.tcp endpoint you can use WCFtestclient.exe.