Web Deployment tools for Visual Studio 2013 - asp.net

I am responsible for supporting a relatively complex Website project written with .NET 3.5.
Previously I was using Web Deployment Project with Visual Studio 2010 to deploy this website but at the moment I have only access to Visual Studio 2013.
As far as I know, there is no longer such a tool to be used for deployment in Visual Studio 2013 and I do want to compile the code before deploying to the production server. As mentioned earlier, the project is a bit complex and this would not be easy to be converted to a Web Application.
Any idea?

Unless I missed it, unsure what the issue is - in VS2013, Publish is what you are looking for (either WebSite or Application).
What exactly do you mean by "none of the (vs 2013 publish) options worked"? What is/was the issue?
In one of your comments, you state you want to "pre-compile" (aka "don't want to upload .cs source files) and that's a setting in Publish.
You can Publish to your local file system: "Custom" -> File System:

This extension still exists for Visual Studio 2013: http://www.iis.net/downloads/microsoft/web-deploy

Little bit confused with the question because you are keep referring about website rather web application.
If you are looking to convert web site to web app then you need to follow this: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/aa983476(v=vs.100).aspx
Otherwise, if you are referring about the deployment project. Yes, it is no longer available.
I'd a very similar situation like you and Since 2013 I have stopped using any deployment project, instead I have started using Publish that creates a deployment package for you on a Network , FTP, Local Drive or even on Azure.
Here is a nice guide from Microsoft
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd465323(v=vs.110).aspx
If you still want to go for Deployment Project, then you would need to go for "Installshield" limited edition,which is free (http://samirvaidya.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/how-to-enable-installshield-le-for.html).
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/2kt85ked(v=vs.110).aspx

Related

Which IDE for VB.NET code built on .NET framework 2.5?

I used to use MS Visual Web Development (VWD) Express 2008 as IDE for a website which was developed on .NET framework 2.5 with VB.NET and runs on IIS 7 originally. About a year ago, MS stopped downloading the VWD Express 2008 and now I am in need of an IDE for my old VB.NET website. Which IDE will allow me to maintain this old VB.NET website?
Here is the detail info of VS 2019 community installed:
Here is screen shot of the existing project I am maintaining.
You can go with Visual Studio Express.
(edit: It is now called Visual Studio Community Edition).
It should work fine. To be honest, I never used Visual Web Developer.
Just keep in mind, that you want to open the project as a web site, and NOT a project. Quite sure that's how VW developer worked and was setup.
I'm not even sure they have VW developer anymore, but Visual Studio Express 2019 should be able to open + work on that web site.
So, to open a web application project, then you use this option:
(this means you have a .sln file).
So this:
However, this might ONLY be a web site project. So, you can use this option:
So, I would certinly try to open the project (folder) where the site exists, and see if you can find a .sln file.
If there is no .sln file, then you can try to open the .vbproj file.
But if you open a "web site", then you ONLY select the folder where the web site exists. (you don't open .sln, or .vbproj file - but open the FOLDER.
VS 2017 is the last one that explicitly mention supports for .NET 3.5, and the Community version is still available with the free Dev Essentials account. If you're ineligible for Community, then the Visual Studio Express 2015 for Web is the one you want.
That said, even in the latest VS 2022, I still see the option to switch a project to target .NET 3.5, and the template still offers Web Form development.

Application not appearing on IIS after running setup

I have created a web setup in visual studio 2013. When I install it, only the bin folder is created in IIS, hence I cannot browse my website. Help please.
I have added the Primary Output in the Web Application folder in my setup.
Your question is too confusing. Are you uploading your files on to the web server? Or are you trying to setup your visual studio for debugging, test, editing and coding purposes?
If you are trying to run Visual Studio locally, IIS is setup for you automatically.
If you are trying to setup files to a webserver, try to talk to the live support. Sometimes, we, users, dont have full control or lack of knowledge debugging it on the dedicated server.
Other thing to consider is reinstalling your visual studio carefully.

Build and publish web site project with VS 2012 and TFS 2010

I am using VS 2012 and TFS 2010. I am trying to build a website project (NOT a web application project) and deploy it to a test web server.
When files get checked in, I want TFS to build the website and push it over to a test server (uncompiled).
I have found many posts indicating that I should use a web deployment project, but that doesn't seem to be an option for VS 2012. I also found that VS 2012 is supposed to have better support for website project deployment (.pubxml) which I can get to work great from inside Visual Studio, but the TFS 2010 build wants a project or solution file.
I am new to TFS so I may be missing something obvious here.
Solution from the OP:
I figured out my issue. There was a file create called website.publishproj that I needed to put into source control before turning on gated check-ins. I could then use that file for "Items to build". TFS is at least now attempting to build the website. It looks like I have some more configuration issues to get through.

Can't find the Publish Website Option in Visual Studio 2012 Express Web

I created an Empty Website (not a project) using File > New Website > Aps.net Empty Web Site. Usually when I click on Build, there is an option to "Publish Web Site". However, I don't see it here. All I can see is build and rebuild solution. What am I doing wrong? Even when I right click on the website, it just gives me an option to Build, but not Publish. I previously was using VS 2010, and it has the Publish option.
Publishing is only support for web application projects, not web site projects.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd547590.aspx
I don't know if this is true in all cases, but I just uninstalled VS 2012 Web Express, deleted the contents in the Microsoft Visual Studio 11 folder, and then installed the Professional version instead. Maybe the Express version doesn't have this, but after installing the Professional version, I do have the "Publish Web Site" option.
I believe this problem can be solved by downloading and installing the relevant Web Publish Update from this web page:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/jj161045
I had the same problem in Visual Web Developer 2010 Express. When I installed the update, the option to "Publish Web Site" became available to me.
EDIT: You may find that when you click "Publish Web Site", you get an error like this:
the imported project "C:\ProgramFiles\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v11.0\WebSites\microsoft.website.publishing.
targets" was not found. Confirm that the path in the declaration is correct, and that the file exists on disk.
I solved this problem by going into "website.publishproj" (found in the Solution Explorer with my website open), and "hardwiring" the WebPublishTargetsVersion element like this:
<WebPublishTargetsVersion>10.5</WebPublishTargetsVersion>
For some reason, the existing code was returning 11.0, instead of 10.5.
Hardwiring it like this might cause problems later if you update your version. So do it with caution.

Visual Studio Toolbar

In Visual Studio:
New->Project->ASP.NET Web application
New->Website->ASP.NET Website
What is the actual difference between these two, though we are opening webapplication?
Web Application Projects are projects, like any other Visual Studio project. They have a project file (.csproj or .vbproj) which is an MSBUILD description of how to build the project. This is how Web Applications were built on .NET since Day 1.
With Visual Studio 2005, Microsoft decided that this was too complicated. They got rid of Web Application Projects and replaced them with Web Site "projects". These are not actually projects, but are rather a collection of files in a folder tree, on disk, on an FTP site, on IIS, etc.
They were loudly informed of their error, and quickly came out with Visual Studio 2005 SP1, which put Web Application Projects back in the system, where they are to this day, and always will be.
The code in a Web Application Project all gets compiled into a single DLL. The code in a Web Site is only compiled when it is referenced. This can be a benefit during development - I'm working on one now, and actually find it sort of cool to be able to change some C# code, save it, then press F5 in the browser to see the affect.
On the other hand, what I'm working on now actually is a web site - it's not a web-based product that needs to be packaged up and shipped to customers. I may be old-fashioned, but I don't like the idea that my code doesn't compile before I ship it to customers. I was taught (the hard way) to test what I ship.

Resources