How to use Ninject with ASP.NET Web API?

Question

In MVC I simply make the class NinjectControllerFactory that implements DefaultControllerFactory interface then do some bindings in it. at last in Global I run it:

ControllerBuilder.Current.SetControllerFactory(new NinjectControllerFactory());

But what about using Ninject in ASP.NET Web API? there are some information on the web but are out dated and for pre-released versions.

Is there a straightforward way for this problem?

Halloo

Answer 1

The reason a lot of the articles are old is because the approach hasn't changed since June 2012 (RC released May 31st). You need to add the Ninject MVC3 Nuget package, then implement 'IDepenencyResolver' and then register your implementation.

The best two walk-thoughs are:

1. http://www.strathweb.com/2012/05/using-ninject-with-the-latest-asp-net-web-api-source/
2. http://www.peterprovost.org/blog/2012/06/19/adding-ninject-to-web-api/

Afrit

It looks like there's an update on two different Nuget packages: Ninject.Web.WebApi and Ninject.Web.WebApi.Updated. It seems that the first one is still in a pre-release version. – Gaughan

Solution from peterprovost article seems to break InSingletonScope bindings, essentially making everything per-http-request. 'Official' webapi support in ninject seem to be nowhere near production, so will be switching to Auotfac that seem to support WebApi (and more) out of the box: code.google.com/p/autofac/wiki/WebApiIntegration – Cayuse

Answer 2

For Web Api 2 you need these nuget packages -

Ninject
Ninject.Web.Common
Ninject.Web.WebApi 
Ninject.Web.Common.WebHost
WebActivatorEx 

And you need to edit NinjectWebCommon.CreateKernel(..)to include

RegisterServices(kernel);
GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.DependencyResolver = new NinjectDependencyResolver(kernel);
return kernel;

I've written a detailed blog post here - http://NoDogmaBlog.bryanhogan.net/2016/04/web-api-2-and-ninject-how-to-make-them-work-together/ including a full solution to download.

Impatiens

This seems to be outdated, because you now get an error that NinjectDependencyResolver cannot be found. – Acklin

EDIT: It does work after adding using Ninject.Web.WebApi;. Strangely, I have another ASP.NET WebApi2 application which works without adding this line. – Acklin

Answer 3

The current version of Ninject.Web.WebApi, since at least 3.2.1.0, no longer requires anything additional to be added manually. Just add the package and register everything in NinjectWebCommon.cs, as usual.

Busby

You will also need to follow instructions on #22769221 – Perfumery

Answer 4

The following steps work like a sharm to get Ninject working on an WebAPI project:

1. Install the Ninject.Web.WebApi NuGet package.
2. Install the Ninject.Web.WebApi.WebHost NuGet package.
3. Register your dependencies in the method "RegisterServices" in the file NinjectWebCommon added to the App_Start folder. Like this:

Private static void RegisterServices(IKernel kernel)
{

  kernel.Bind <IFoo>().To <Foo>();

} 

Flatfoot