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No connection string could be found in the App.config file

Visual Studio Solution:
(Project 1) I have a ASP .NET Framework API project that uses Entity Framework to access to Database.
(Project 2) Now I created NUnit project that is calling methods of project 1. Some of project1's methods are calling EF methods, so:
I added nuget package of Entity framework to project 2
I created an App.config file in project 2
But after executing test methods I get:
Test method Test.SchedulerTesting.TestMethod5 threw exception:
System.InvalidOperationException: No connection string named
'MyEntities1' could be found in the application config
file.
My app.config (project 2) content:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
<configSections>
<!-- For more information on Entity Framework configuration, visit http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=237468 -->
<section name="entityFramework" type="System.Data.Entity.Internal.ConfigFile.EntityFrameworkSection, EntityFramework, Version=6.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" requirePermission="false" />
</configSections>
<connectionStrings>
<add name="MyEntities1" connectionString="provider=System.Data.SqlClient;provider connection string="data source=**********;initial catalog=******;user id=sa;password=**********;MultipleActiveResultSets=True;App=EntityFramework"" providerName="System.Data.EntityClient" />
</connectionStrings>
</configuration>
My Model.Context.cs (project 1) first lines:
public partial class MyEntities1: DbContext
{
public MyEntities1()
: base("name=MyEntities1")
{
}
//...
}

An app.config file applies when your production application is running. When running tests under a test runner, you need to set up a config for use with your tests. It will usually contain the same stuff as your production config.
In your case, you need a config file named something like project2.dll.config in order for the configuration to be made available to your tests. Visual Studio will not automatically rename an App.config for you because it doesn't know you want to use NUnit.
Funny thing, the first blog post I ever wrote (2005) talks about this and has many more details: http://charliepoole.org/technical/how-nunit-finds-config-files.html

dynamically change web service url on a windows service using app.config

In my windows service I have 2 web references
My windows service only contains an app.config not a web.config
my app config looks like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
<configSections>
<sectionGroup name="applicationSettings" type="System.Configuration.ApplicationSettingsGroup, System, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" >
<section name="MyFirstWindowsService.Properties.Settings" type="System.Configuration.ClientSettingsSection, System, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" requirePermission="false" />
</sectionGroup>
</configSections>
<startup>
<supportedRuntime version="v4.0" sku=".NETFramework,Version=v4.6.1" />
</startup>
<system.serviceModel>
<bindings />
<client />
</system.serviceModel>
<applicationSettings>
<MyFirstWindowsService.Properties.Settings>
<setting name="MyFirstWindowsService_postDataToMapicsWC_XAXSSTRN"
serializeAs="String">
<value>http://TESTDEV/web/services/XAXSSTRN.XAXSSTRNHttpSoap11Endpoint/</value>
</setting>
<setting name="MyFirstWindowsService_com_goodmanmfg_testdev_GETITMINFO"
serializeAs="String">
<value>http://TESTDEV/web/services/GETITMINFO.GETITMINFOHttpSoap11Endpoint/</value>
</setting>
</MyFirstWindowsService.Properties.Settings>
</applicationSettings>
</configuration>
[![enter image description here][1]][1]
the problem is my web services when i click on them the URL field is still saying
"Web reference URL" http://PROD/web/services/XAXSSTRN.XAXSSTRNHttpSoap11Endpoint
[![enter image description here][2]][2]
what is the end goal? To release this windows service to dev and prod environments without having to rebuild the entire solution.
The ideal behavior is :
Build the latest code in dev mode (test it, if all test good then , step 2)
Provide an app.config file with prod urls to dropped inside the
folder
Release
As you can see what I am trying to avoid is the need of dropping the file manually changing those 2 web services , rebuilding the solution AND THEN releasing...

Classic ASP.NET apps get their configuration from a hierarchy of web.config values. Other apps (console applications, Windows Forms apps, WPF, Services, ...) get their configuration from a configuration file named [NameOfExe].exe.config (and occasionally from [NameOfAssembly].dll.config. That file is located in the same folder as the exe itself.
For example, if your service is MyWcfService.exe, you will very likely find a MyWcfService.exe.config file in the same folder (for example, in the bin/debug folder). Its contents should be the same as your app.config.
Visual Studio makes this all "just work" by creating an app.config file in your source folder and then, at build time, copying the contents of that file to the appropriately named [NameOfExe].exe.config file in the same folder as the EXE.
In the normal case, you might have one set of URLs (and perhaps other data) for your dev environment, another for QA, another for Integration Test and another for Prod. You can manage this through the use of configuration transforms.
I think this goes some way towards answering your questions. In summary
App.config files have nearly the same capabilities as web.config
files
App.config files get "compiled" to [NameOfExe].exe.config
files at build time and placed in the same folder at the EXE
Configuration transforms may help you out with managing your URLs
Your other choice is managing a set of [NameOfExe].exe.[Environment].config files and manually putting them in the right place.

How to add applicationSettings section in configuration file?

I added a app config file to C# project and wanted to store config for log4Net and some basic app setting. The generated app.config file is empty.
I looked at other projects. They had an applicationSettings section. So I added a applicationSettings section; by copy pasting from some other project. Then I did not understand what some of the attributes were; like the PublicKeyToken b77a5c561934e089. I tried searching to see if the section is automatically generated; could not find how. The online resources point to complicated schemes about writing your own config class. My needs are far simple. Online resources do not document the attributes per se.
So short of copy pasting from some other project, how do you get around to adding this section?
<sectionGroup name="applicationSettings" type="System.Configuration.ApplicationSettingsGroup, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089">
<section name="CrawlReponseHandler.Properties.Settings" type="System.Configuration.ClientSettingsSection, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" requirePermission="false"/>
</sectionGroup>

The section is added automatically by going to project -> properties -> settings tab and adding the properties.

Repeating Configuration across Referenced Assemblies

Let's say we have Assembly1 and Assembly2.
Assembly2 is a C# class library used by Assembly1.
Web and Service References are configured and stored in Asembly2/app.Config.
Moreover, the EF connection string(s) are in Assembly2/app.Config.
When I use Assembly2 in Assembly1, the Assembly2 config file is not used. In fact, in that scenario, only the Assembly1 configuration appears accessible through default means.
As a result, I have to copy the Assembly2 config contents into the Assembly1 config.
This has worked for me for many projects.
Is there another way? A better way?
It seems wrong to have repeating configuration data.
Do you have a recommendation or technique that works?
Thank you.

You need to apply changes to the config file of entry point exe assembly. Class library assembly (dll) config files are never used. They are made by Visual Studio so you could easily copy the settings to exe config files if needed.
Bellow is example of the config file for exe assembly that has both, settings from class library ClassLibrary1 and settings from the exe assembly MainAssembly. You can see that both connection strings are in one connectionStrings settings. However, if you need to set other settings, beside connection string, you need to add extra section.
If you are already using this technique, this is correct way to go. This technique is flexible. For example if you have more than one project having the same connection strings on one box, you could specify the connection strings in machine.config file. You can also override the settings in some projects if needed.
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration>
<configSections>
<sectionGroup name="applicationSettings"
type="System.Configuration.ApplicationSettingsGroup, System, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" >
<!--This section declaratrion pasted here from dll conifg file -->
<section name="ClassLibrary1.Properties.Settings"
type="System.Configuration.ClientSettingsSection, System, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089"
requirePermission="false" />
<!--This section declaratrion was here in the first place -->
<section name="MainAssembly.Properties.Settings"
type="System.Configuration.ClientSettingsSection, System, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089"
requirePermission="false" />
</sectionGroup>
</configSections>
<connectionStrings>
<!--This connection string was here in the first place -->
<add name="MainAssembly.Properties.Settings.MainAssemblyConnectionString"
connectionString="MainConnectionStringValue" />
<!--This connection string pasted here from dll config file -->
<add name="ClassLibrary1.Properties.Settings.LibraryConnectionString"
connectionString="LibraryConnectionStringValue"
providerName="" />
</connectionStrings>
<applicationSettings>
<!--This settings section pasted here from dll config file -->
<ClassLibrary1.Properties.Settings>
<setting name="LibrarySetting"
serializeAs="String">
<value>LibrarySettingValue</value>
</setting>
</ClassLibrary1.Properties.Settings>
<!--This strings section was here in the first place -->
<MainAssembly.Properties.Settings>
<setting name="MainAssemblySetting"
serializeAs="String">
<value>MainSettingValue</value>
</setting>
</MainAssembly.Properties.Settings>
</applicationSettings>
</configuration>

A DLL (or another referenced assembly) is not meant to carry it's own app.config, but rather have everything configured by the caller. So everything should go into the app.config of the exe.
Consider for example a shared data access library that needs connection strings to the database. The library should be possible to use from a variety of applications with different connection requirements. Having the connection string tied strictly to the shared library wouldn't work, it has to be done at the client using the library.
It is possible to put systemwide settings that affect all applications running on a machine in the machine.config file, but use that approach with caution as it will affect all applications on the machine.

How do I reference configuration information from within multiple class libraries?

I've got a bunch of DLL projects that I'm pulling into my application, each contains their own Settings.settings/app.config. When I compile the app and run for debugging, everything works just fine, but come deployment time I can't get my DLLs to read their own settings files.
I've been doing some reading and it has become apparent that there's a couple of methods to getting each dll to read its own configuration - one is to dedicate a .dll.config to the library and the other is to embed the dll's configuration in the process.exe.config.
I'm having significant issues trying to implement either and I wondered if anyone has any good docs on this - there appears to be a shortage on the Net.
I'd like a separate .dll.config for each of the libraries if possible, but in a pinch, getting each of my libraries to read their own section of the process.exe.config will do.
Can anyone point me in the right direction because I'm so close to rolling this application out but this stumbling block is causing me a significant headache.
Edit: When I merge the configuration files, I start getting TypeInitializer exceptions when I initialize objects withing my libraries. This is likely just me being retarded, but does someone have a working example of a merged config file and some basic demonstrative code for reading it from multiple assemblies?

What are the "significant issues" you encountered? I started with embedding the dll's config in the exe's config, which worked, but was cumbersome. I now have all the config stuff in one dll project. The only thing I needed to do to make that work (besides copying the settings over) was to change the Settings class to be public.
Here's an example of a merged app.config that works:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
<configSections>
<sectionGroup name="applicationSettings" type="System.Configuration.ApplicationSettingsGroup, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" >
<section name="SharedConfig.Client.Properties.Settings" type="System.Configuration.ClientSettingsSection, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" requirePermission="false" />
<!-- Begin copy from library app.config -->
<section name="SharedConfig.Library.Properties.Settings" type="System.Configuration.ClientSettingsSection, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" requirePermission="false" />
<!-- End copy from library app.config -->
</sectionGroup>
</configSections>
<applicationSettings>
<SharedConfig.Client.Properties.Settings>
<setting name="Bar" serializeAs="String">
<value>BarFromClient</value>
</setting>
</SharedConfig.Client.Properties.Settings>
<!-- Begin copy from library app.config -->
<SharedConfig.Library.Properties.Settings>
<setting name="Bar" serializeAs="String">
<value>BarFromLibrary</value>
</setting>
</SharedConfig.Library.Properties.Settings>
<!-- End copy from library app.config -->
</applicationSettings>
</configuration>

Have each class library define configuration settings in a custom ConfigurationSection.
Then add custom section handlers to your process.exe.config file.
This MSDN article is pretty comprehensive in its explanation, with examples in both VB and C#.

See If app.config for a DLL should be in the "main config"… what do we do with WCF References in DLLs?. The real answer is "copy and paste". That's unfortunately the general solution Microsoft had in mind. In some cases, the .NET 2.0 Settings mechanism can be used, as it bakes the default values into the DLL itself. At runtime, the DLL can then save updated settings - into the .exe.config.