'No storage connection string found.' when trying to list durable function instances from azure functions core tools - azure

Question

I am currently trying to list all instances of an activity function and the orchestrator function using azure function core tools. The application synchronizes data from different sources into a centralized location.
The setup is as follows:
TimerTrigger -> Durable Orchestrator -> Multiple Activity Functions
In my concrete example, it is like this:
Start Synchronization -> Orchestrate Synchronizations -> Synchronize Source
So we start the synchronization process which starts the orchestrator. The orchestrator then starts multiple different synchronizations, one for each source. The problem though is that I cannot seem to get the azure function core tools to list me all instances of the functions I am interested in.
Unfortunately, I would really prefer not to have to use the REST api to query for this information. The setup really complicates things with IP restrictions and managed identity authentication. I think I can correct the setup to get things to work from my network + user, if really needed, but I think that will take way longer than required.
I have tried running the following command:
func durable get-instances
in a directory with a file called host.json with the following contents:
{
"version": "2.0",
"AzureWebJobsStorage":"DefaultEndpointsProtocol=https;AccountName=Name;AccountKey=Key;EndpointSuffix=core.windows.net",
}
I have also tried where the contents of the file are as follows:
{
"version": "2.0",
"extensions": {
"durableTask": {
"storageProvider": {
"connectionStringName": "DefaultEndpointsProtocol=https;AccountName=Name;AccountKey=Key;EndpointSuffix=core.windows.net"
}
}
}
}
I have tried calling the func durable get-instances with and without the --connection-string-setting parameter, with the values 'AzureWebJobsStorage' and 'extensions:durableTask:storageProvider:connectionStringName', but nothing seems to work. I keep getting the error No storage connection string found.
I know that the connection string is correct. I have pulled it directly from the storage account 'Access keys' blade.
Is there anything I am missing? What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

Thanks to #juunas, I got it to work. I edited the host.json file to have the following content:
{
"version": "2.0"
}
and created another file called local.settings.json with the following contents:
{
"IsEncrypted": false,
"Values": {
"AzureWebJobsStorage": "DefaultEndpointsProtocol=https;AccountName=Name;AccountKey=Key;EndpointSuffix=core.windows.net",
}
}
Running func durable get-instances now works and returns a continuation token, but an empty list. I was not expecting that, but I can now start exploring and understanding here what is going on.