Make EF use local database in App_Data folder

Question

I am using POCO approach on all my projects using Entity Framework. It's all good but I have one problem: It is creating database on my SQL Express, instead I want it to store my database in *.mdf file in App_Data folder.

Answer 1

Set an appropriate connection string in Web.config that makes use of the AttachDBFilename keyword.

<connectionStrings>
  <add name="MyContextClassName"
       connectionString="Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog=MyDatabase;Integrated Security=True;MultipleActiveResultSets=True;AttachDBFilename=|DataDirectory|MyDatabase.mdf;User Instance=True"
       providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />
</connectionStrings>