Read appsettings.json in Main Program.cs

.UseConfiguration (Tseng's alternative answer) is the simplest way, but note that when configured this way changes made to the configuration files at runtime are not applied to your IConfiguration objects. To keep the configuration dynamic you have to use .ConfigureAppConfiguration - but then you have to build the configuration an extra time for use in Main(). You can re-use the code that configures it, however.

ASP.NET Core 2.2:

    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        IConfigurationBuilder configBuilderForMain = new ConfigurationBuilder();
        ConfigureConfiguration(configBuilderForMain);
        IConfiguration configForMain = configBuilderForMain.Build();

        // ... use configForMain to read config here ...

        var host = new WebHostBuilder()
            .ConfigureAppConfiguration(ConfigureConfiguration)
            // ... the rest of it ...
            .Build();
    }

    public static void ConfigureConfiguration(IConfigurationBuilder config)
    {
        config.SetBasePath(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory())
            .AddJsonFile("appsettings.json", optional: true, reloadOnChange: true);
    }

Update .Net 6

It's now easy to get any settings from the ConfigurationManager by calling the GetValue<type>(string key) extension method. You can also use Index(string key) to return a string. See this answer.

---

You must build a configuration in your main method, get the section and bind it to your model. No way around it.

public static void Main(string[] args)
{
    var config = new ConfigurationBuilder()
        .AddJsonFile("appsettings.json", optional: false)
        .Build();

    WebProtocolSettings settings_Web = new WebProtocolSettings();
    config.GetSection("WebProtocolSettings").Bind(settings_Web);

    var host = new WebHostBuilder()
            .UseIISIntegration()
            .UseKestrel()
            .UseContentRoot(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory())
            .UseStartup<Startup>()
            .UseUrls(settings_Web.Url + ":" + settings_Web.Port)
            .Build()

    host.Run();
}

##Update

An alternative way of doing it is by passing the configuration to UseConfiguration as described in the

public static void Main(string[] args)
{
    var config = new ConfigurationBuilder()
        .SetBasePath(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory())
        .AddJsonFile("hosting.json", optional: true)
        .AddCommandLine(args)
        .Build();

    var host = new WebHostBuilder()
        .UseUrls("http://*:5000")
        .UseConfiguration(config)
        .UseKestrel()
        .Configure(app =>
        {
            app.Run(context => 
                context.Response.WriteAsync("Hello, World!"));
        })
        .Build();

    host.Run();
}

or in ASP.NET Core > 2.0

public static void Main(string[] args)
{
    BuildWebHost(args).Run();
}

public static IWebHost BuildWebHost(string[] args)
{
    var config = new ConfigurationBuilder()
        .SetBasePath(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory())
        .AddJsonFile("hosting.json", optional: true)
        .AddCommandLine(args)
        .Build();

    return WebHost.CreateDefaultBuilder(args)
        .UseUrls("http://*:5000")
        .UseConfiguration(config)
        .Configure(app =>
        {
            app.Run(context => 
                context.Response.WriteAsync("Hello, World!"));
        })
        .Build();
}

In .NET 6

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

// Using the GetValue<type>(string key) method
var configValue = builder.Configuration.GetValue<string>("Authentication:CookieAuthentication:LoginPath");

// or using the index property (which always returns a string)
var configValue = builder.Configuration["Authentication:CookieAuthentication:LoginPath"];