I wanted to know if it's possible to automate the deployment of an ASP.Net MVC application. This application is meant to run locally on the host PC and I what I want to do is create an installer to make it easy for end-users to setup quickly. I've never tried this approach for web applications and I wanted to see what my options are.
I was thinking of using something like Cassini or aspNETserve and somehow automating the installer to set everything up on the fly. Any insight is appreciated, if there are any questions or if more details are required, please let me know. Thanks.
I would use the WebPlatform installer to set all your dependencies setup. You can script that tool and have it run all the pre-reqs for you. (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/gg433092.aspx)
Also, I would use IIS Express to host. It is also setup via script to setup your app root, paths, permissions, etc. (http://learn.iis.net/page.aspx/870/running-iis-express-from-the-command-line/)
So in theory a simple script or installer could deploy all of this for you and run the above two as well as deploying your application.
Related
I have web form aplication in asp.net and i have to create (has to be easy to install)complex instalator, witch will install IIS server, deploy the app to it create a local database and sets everything up. So the user will just complete installation and then will just run the aplication with out and other setting(or as little as posible).
I have no idea what to use or if it is even posible. Coudl you help me with what to use and how to create such instalation?
Thanks.
In my opinion, you could try to use some extenstion tool to achieve your requirement.
Like Professional edition of Advanced Installer.
It support:
IIS web sites, app pools, web apps and virtual directories
Install windows features without writing any scripting
I've a dedicated machine with at least 6 diferent asp.net 4.5 applications where the developer deployed compiled versions. This apps are all working fine now, but I haven't access to source code.
Now I want to deploy this apps to Azure, but not to a VM, to an Azure Web App Service. Is it posible?
Thanks in advance!!!
Quite possibly. We can't say for sure without more information.
You'll need to FTP all files from your existing root directory/directories to your new Web App. If it's a vanilla ASP.NET web app and there aren't any dependent issues (such as databases on other servers that you cannot move or poke holes through firewalls), it should work.
There are many considerations. For instance, if the applications have dependencies on specific drive letters, you won't be able to mount those drives.
This is just one example, you can take a look at the restrictions that are imposed on Web Apps: https://github.com/projectkudu/kudu/wiki/Azure-Web-App-sandbox
The best way to know, is to create a new site, deploy the files, and see what breaks.
i am looking for a way to autodeploy a Dot Net Nuke website by TFS after checking in. I also need to some how transform web config to the right connection for the deploy server.
Since this is a website but not a web application, thing becomes tricky. If you have done it before, please give me some idea.
Thanks
I have not done auto deployment with TFS but did automate the process with SVN. What we did is simply have the script deploy everything that had changed since last login to the web server - EXCEPT - the web.config.
Database scripts were handled by a process like this but those were not as reliable as the SVN code deployment was.
HTH
You could use a deployment tool such as kwatee (self promotion). Kwatee is configured via a web GUI and can then deploy any application or site via python scripts and transform files along the way.
You can use Visual Studio web deploy feature. ALM Rangers shipped a ready to use BRDLite Reference template for this purpose which you can download here. Also, check this link for documentation for the template usage.
If you're using VS2010, you can use a Web Deploy Project in your solution. TFS will talk to the WDP as it would with a web application's project file.
For config transforms, you can use a tool called SlowCheetah.
I'm basically wondering what the best way to deploy an Asp.Net Web Site is, mostly from the point of view of security. Right now, I'm trying to publish the website using Visual Studio 2010. Could someone direct me to a good tutorial on how to do this securely? For example, can it be done over an encrypted connection via Visual Studio? Is it necessary to install any software on the server to do this? Should I use a different program to open up an SSL (TLS) connection first, and if so, which program (does it come standard with windows)?
The server is running Windows Server 2008. Development is on Vista.
Many thanks in advance for any direction in this matter!
Andrew
I would publish the site to your local machine and file copy the files across to your test/production environment. As a rule we don't publish sites straight from VS to test or production.
For example you don't want to accidentally push things straight from dev into a live environment do you?
As far as the file transfer security goes you could use SFTP.
Note: First thing is to check with the owner of the server, as they often will provide you an FTP connection and will take care of configuring IIS.
If you want to add security, make a keyfile and sign your assemblies and consider running Dotfuscator on your dlls, the community edition is included in Visual Studio. Here is an earlier question where I've put more info on Dotfuscator.
If you have to do the deployment yourself, here's a few things to consider.
XCopy (easy)
MSI (have to create a setup program, you can do this easily in Visual Studio)
There is no security advantage in deploying using Visual Studio, but you can use Visual Studio to create a small setup program. One thing you want to make sure for security is DO NOT deploy any .cs files. Prepare your files, you should compile in Release mode, make sure debug is not enabled in your config file, keep your bin and it's dll, also the aspx, asmx, ascx, svc, css, js, and config files.
XCopy: Install a small FTP server, or use one your company alreayd has, this will allow you to get your files once you are logged into the target machine. You should be able to get an administrator account for the target machine, just ask the sysadmin of the domain, then log on using remote desktop, got to your ftp site, and download your files. Open IIS on the target machine, create a virtual directory and a pool. Copy your files to the location, configure your connection string to your DB if you use one, then test your website.
MSI: same process as above, except the setup will create the virtual directory and pool for you.
Here is extra info on best practices from the official ASP.Net website.
If you have some control on the server (e.g. to configure IIS7), you might want to look into Microsoft Web Deploy (new product just been released):
http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2010/09/13/automating-deployment-with-microsoft-web-deploy.aspx
Haven't tried it myself, but looks quite slick and it apparently encrypts the data being copied up, so might suit you.
Which is the best method to deploy a web application. Currently i am publishing the application and placing that folder in the server and creating virtual directory and providing windows authentication.
I just want to know this is a better metod to deploy or i need to use any other deployment technique?
Plese suggest
It really depends on the situation. For some situations, using Visual Studio's publish feature (right click project) works great. However in some situations, particular larger organizations or environments where the infrastructure group and development team are a little more isolated, you need to use a Web Application Installer or an MSI package. I've also had instances where the easiest thing to do was create a simple .bat file and create an external command in Visual Studio.
Use a web application installer, easy to create with Visual Studio.
If you need a third person to deploy your application in production servers, I would suggest you to deploy using a MSI, it would also help you to version your release.
MSI can be created using various ways including but not limited to
Deployment projects in VS studio
WixGen
Click once