Hangfire (Cron Job)

Hangfire: Background Job Processing for .NET Applications

Hangfire is a powerful and easy-to-use library for scheduling and executing background jobs in .NET applications. It allows developers to run tasks asynchronously without blocking the main execution thread. Hangfire supports different types of jobs, including fire-and-forget, delayed, recurring (Cron jobs), and batch jobs.

Why Choose Hangfire?

  • Background Processing: Execute jobs asynchronously without affecting user experience.
  • Reliable Job Execution: Jobs are persisted in a database to ensure execution even after application restarts.
  • Multiple Job Types: Supports one-time, delayed, and recurring jobs using Cron expressions.
  • Dashboard UI: Provides a web-based dashboard for monitoring and managing jobs.
  • Scalability: Can run jobs on multiple servers for improved performance.

How to Use Hangfire in a .NET Project

Follow these steps to integrate Hangfire into your .NET application.

1. Install Hangfire via NuGet

Run the following command in the Package Manager Console:

Install-Package Hangfire
Install-Package Hangfire.AspNetCore

2. Configure Hangfire in Program.cs (for .NET 6/7/8)

using Hangfire;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder;
using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

// Add Hangfire services
builder.Services.AddHangfire(config => config.UseSqlServerStorage("Server=your_server;Database=your_db;User Id=your_user;Password=your_password;"));
builder.Services.AddHangfireServer();

var app = builder.Build();

// Configure Hangfire dashboard
app.UseHangfireDashboard();

// Example: Create a recurring job
RecurringJob.AddOrUpdate("my-job", () => Console.WriteLine("Hello, Hangfire!"), Cron.Daily);

app.Run();

3. Creating Different Types of Jobs

Fire-and-Forget Job (Executes once, immediately)

BackgroundJob.Enqueue(() => Console.WriteLine("Fire-and-Forget Job executed"));

Delayed Job (Executes after a delay)

BackgroundJob.Schedule(() => Console.WriteLine("Delayed Job executed"), TimeSpan.FromMinutes(5));

Recurring Job (Executes repeatedly based on a schedule)

RecurringJob.AddOrUpdate("recurring-job", () => Console.WriteLine("Recurring Job executed"), Cron.Hourly);

Conclusion

Hangfire is a robust and flexible background job processing library for .NET applications. With its built-in persistence, monitoring dashboard, and support for different job types, it simplifies background task execution. Start using Hangfire today to efficiently manage your background jobs!