How to Setup and Deploy a .net web app Build Using TFS 2015.Update3.RC1 CI on Prim

Question

Using Visual Studio 2015 update 3 and Team Foundation server Update 3 (on-site)

I'm attempting to setup up and auto deploy for a .net core boilerplate app targeting full framework 4.61. Currently my app is mostly the stock app you get when selecting new->Project->Templates->Visual C#->Web->ASP.NET Core Web Application(.Net Framework). My Goal is to Push via Git and then have the website show up correctly on the test server.

I was able to use the instructions I found at the MVA However, they did not go into any detail on how to deploy to an on-prem server. But they clearly stated that it was possible.

I have Setup this web project in TFS2015 using Git as source control. For my Build Definition I'M using the Visual Studio default build ScreenShot of TFS build Definition , I also have the site building whenever I push new code.

The problem I have is I don't understand what to do next. my thought is that I would need to:

1. turn off IIS (iisreset -stop) via PowerShell.
2. Move the built files to my iss location. In this example, it is C:\\inetpub\\apps\\My
3. run scripts to update database schema(note currently there is no database setup but that is my next step. planning to use "code first" with "Entity Framework"
4. I would have to turn IIS back on.

I did get a big clue to add the following in my Visual Studio Build Step. MSBuild Arguments.

/p:DeployOnBuild=True /p:DeployDefaultTarget=WebPublish
/p:WebPublishMethod=FileSystem /p:DeleteExistingFiles=True
/p:publishUrl=$(build.artifactstagingdirectory)\for-deploy\website

From Benjamin Day Blog www.benday.com/2016/09/08/an-asp-net-mvc-site-thats-easy-to-deploy-from-a-tfs-build/ (sorry can't link due to lack of rep points)

using those build MS build arguments I can find my built website and it appears to be working correctly except for the Web.config file is showing

<aspNetCore processPath="%LAUNCHER_PATH%" arguments="%LAUNCHER_ARGS%" stdoutLogEnabled="false" stdoutLogFile=".\logs\stdout" forwardWindowsAuthToken="false"/>

When is should be

<aspNetCore processPath=".\My.Multnomah.exe" arguments="" stdoutLogEnabled="false" stdoutLogFile=".\logs\stdout" forwardWindowsAuthToken="false" />

My Release Definition is in three steps

1. PowerShell on Target Machines

   Machines = the server I'm going to deploy to Admin Login = My AD username.(will switch to service account after working) Protocol = Https PowerShell Script = file location on the Script I have on the agent PC/which is also the test web server

here is the PowerShell script to turn of IIS. iisreset -stop

2. Windows Machine File Copy this step is working correctly

3. PowerShell on Target Machines same as step 1. but

Currently, the Release is working if I manually turn off IIS then manually update the web.config file.

So, in short here are the questions?

1. How can I automatically Correct the web.config?

2. How can I arrange to have IIS Stopped before the file transfer and Started after the Transfer or is there a better way?(Current the release is failing if I don't have IIS off)

3. Is my understanding how I explained this correct/ What are the Build steps you would use to deploy on-prem?

Answer 1

1.How can I automatically Correct the web.config?

You can replace corresponding values with variable values (Open your build definition=>Variable) by using Replace Token task .

For example: Add variables to your build/release definition (eg name:LAUNCHER_PATH value:.\\My.Multnomah.exe), change your web.config (replace %LAUNCHER_PATH% to #{LAUNCHER_PATH}# and others)

2.How can I arrange to have IIS Stopped before the file transfer and Started after the Transfer or is there a better way?

You don't need to stop IIS before update web.config file, you can update it directly. After updating web.config, the website will be recycled automatically.

3.Is my understanding how I explained this correct/ What are the Build steps you would use to deploy on-prem?

These steps are ok, there are IIS Web App Deployment Using WinRM and IIS Utilities task that can help you to deal with IIS.