I'm hosting the ASP.NET runtime via the ApplicationHost.CreateApplicationHost method. When I modify the web.config while the application is running, i see lots of first chance ThreadAbortExceptions thrown. This is right before my application comes crashing down. I'm assuming this is because the runtime has detected changes to the configuration and wants to restart.
This isn't really a supported scenario for us, so i'd prefer if I could just switch off the automatic reloading.
Does anyone know how to do this?
As far as I am aware there is no way to disable this behavior, changes to the webconfig force the application to be restarted.
Update: it is actually possible, there are a number of methods, well documented, as explained in this answer*
Original answer:
There is a similar question here just for other reference. I found additional info that may be helpful.
Configuration Changes Cause a Restart of the Application Domain
Changes to configuration settings in Web.config files indirectly cause the application domain to restart. This behavior occurs by design. You can optionally use the configSource attribute to reference external configuration files that do not cause a restart when a change is made. For more information, see configSource in General Attributes Inherited by Section Elements.
From This MSDN Article
* Disclaimer: I wrote the other answer and normally wouldn't make a self-reference, but find it relevant enough to link here since 8 years after this post it is really quite different: a solution is very easy by clicking through the IIS front-end, and workarounds exist since ASP.NET 1.0.