Get random free opened port for tests

As an alternative to TempoClick's answer, we can use the IPGlobalProperties.GetActiveTcpListeners() method to test if a port is available - without trying to open it in advance. GetActiveTcpListeners() returns all active TCP listeners on the system, and so we can use it to determine if a port is free or not.

public bool IsFree(int port)
{
    IPGlobalProperties properties = IPGlobalProperties.GetIPGlobalProperties();
    IPEndPoint[] listeners = properties.GetActiveTcpListeners();
    int[] openPorts = listeners.Select(item => item.Port).ToArray<int>();
    return openPorts.All(openPort => openPort != port);
}

Note that GetActiveTcpListeners() doesn't return listening UDP endpoints, but we can get them with GetActiveUdpListeners().

So, you can start with the default port (or select a random value) and keep incrementing until you find a free port with the IsFree method.

int NextFreePort(int port = 0) 
{
    port = (port > 0) ? port : new Random().Next(1, 65535);
    while (!IsFree(port)) 
    {
        port += 1;
    }
    return port;
}

A simple test:

using System;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Sockets;
using System.Net.NetworkInformation;
using System.Linq;

class Test
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        int port = 1000;
        Console.WriteLine(IsFree(port));
        TcpListener server = new TcpListener(IPAddress.Parse("127.0.0.1"), port);
        server.Start();   
        Console.WriteLine(IsFree(port));
        Console.WriteLine(NextFreePort(port));
    }

    static bool IsFree(int port)
    {
        IPGlobalProperties properties = IPGlobalProperties.GetIPGlobalProperties();
        IPEndPoint[] listeners = properties.GetActiveTcpListeners();
        int[] openPorts = listeners.Select(item => item.Port).ToArray<int>();
        return openPorts.All(openPort => openPort != port);
    }

    static int NextFreePort(int port = 0) {
        port = (port > 0) ? port : new Random().Next(1, 65535);
        while (!IsFree(port)) {
            port += 1;
        }
        return port;
    }
}

---

A different approach is to use port zero. In this case, the system will select a random free port from the dynamic port range. We can get the number ot this port from the LocalEndpoint property.

TcpListener server = new TcpListener(IPAddress.Loopback, 0);
server.Start();
int port = ((IPEndPoint)server.LocalEndpoint).Port;
Console.WriteLine(port);

To get a free port

static int FreePort()
{
  TcpListener l = new TcpListener(IPAddress.Loopback, 0);
  l.Start();
  int port = ((IPEndPoint)l.LocalEndpoint).Port;
  l.Stop();
  return port;
}