Publish .net core app from VS 2017

Question

I am creating a new solution under Visual Studio 2017 Community Edition, it's mainly a .net core web application.

It works perfectly, no problem at all, but we want to deploy it to a Debian machine and to be self contained, so we added the runtime identifiers to the project. So far so good, the problem comes when we want to publish the application (to a directory) for any of the platforms we have, there is no option to specify the target platform and the publish files created are just the .net assemblies, no native modules.

Of course if we use dotnet publish -r (platform) it works as expected, it creates the correct platform files and everything seems to be ok, but is very annoying to have to go to command line to compile it.

So the question is, how can be published a self-contained application for a concrete platform using Visual Studio 2017? Is it even possible or this is still missing?

Answer 1

Currently VS2017 won't do this so you have to drop to the command line and run this.

dotnet publish -c release -r ubuntu.14.04-x64

Obviously replacing ubuntu for your debian flavour.

Also this is in my csproj file and you might need it too.

<OutputType>Exe</OutputType>

Answer 2

You can update your project file csproj to add runtimeIdentifier:

<RuntimeIdentifier>win7-x86</RuntimeIdentifier>

replace win7-x86 with your desired runtime.

Even though in the publish screen it says Runtime: Portable, it does seem to generate a stand alone version.

Result in explorer:

Executed command by vs2017

 C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\MSBuild\15.0\Bin\Roslyn\csc.exe /noconfig /unsafe- /checked- /nowarn:1701,1702,1705,2008 /nostdlib+ /platform:x86 /errorreport:prompt /warn:4 /define:TRACE;RELEASE;NETCOREAPP1_1 /errorendlocation /preferreduilang:en-US /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\microsoft.csharp\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.0\Microsoft.CSharp.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\microsoft.visualbasic\10.1.0\ref\netstandard1.1\Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\microsoft.win32.primitives\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\Microsoft.Win32.Primitives.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.appcontext\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.6\System.AppContext.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.buffers\4.3.0\lib\netstandard1.1\System.Buffers.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.collections.concurrent\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Collections.Concurrent.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.collections\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Collections.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.collections.immutable\1.3.0\lib\netstandard1.0\System.Collections.Immutable.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.componentmodel.annotations\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.4\System.ComponentModel.Annotations.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.componentmodel\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.0\System.ComponentModel.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.console\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Console.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.diagnostics.debug\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Diagnostics.Debug.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.diagnostics.diagnosticsource\4.3.0\lib\netstandard1.3\System.Diagnostics.DiagnosticSource.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.diagnostics.process\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.4\System.Diagnostics.Process.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.diagnostics.tools\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.0\System.Diagnostics.Tools.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.diagnostics.tracing\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.5\System.Diagnostics.Tracing.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.dynamic.runtime\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Dynamic.Runtime.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.globalization.calendars\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Globalization.Calendars.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.globalization\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Globalization.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.globalization.extensions\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Globalization.Extensions.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.io.compression\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.IO.Compression.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.io.compression.zipfile\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.IO.Compression.ZipFile.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.io\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.5\System.IO.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.io.filesystem\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.IO.FileSystem.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.io.filesystem.primitives\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.IO.FileSystem.Primitives.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.io.filesystem.watcher\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.IO.FileSystem.Watcher.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.io.memorymappedfiles\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.IO.MemoryMappedFiles.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.io.unmanagedmemorystream\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.IO.UnmanagedMemoryStream.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.linq\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.6\System.Linq.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.linq.expressions\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.6\System.Linq.Expressions.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.linq.parallel\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.1\System.Linq.Parallel.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.linq.queryable\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.0\System.Linq.Queryable.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.net.http\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Net.Http.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.net.nameresolution\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Net.NameResolution.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.net.primitives\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Net.Primitives.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.net.requests\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Net.Requests.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.net.security\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Net.Security.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.net.sockets\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Net.Sockets.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.net.webheadercollection\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Net.WebHeaderCollection.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.numerics.vectors\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.0\System.Numerics.Vectors.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.objectmodel\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.ObjectModel.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.reflection.dispatchproxy\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Reflection.DispatchProxy.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.reflection\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.5\System.Reflection.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.reflection.extensions\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.0\System.Reflection.Extensions.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.reflection.metadata\1.4.1\lib\netstandard1.1\System.Reflection.Metadata.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.reflection.primitives\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.0\System.Reflection.Primitives.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.reflection.typeextensions\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.5\System.Reflection.TypeExtensions.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.resources.reader\4.3.0\lib\netstandard1.0\System.Resources.Reader.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.resources.resourcemanager\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.0\System.Resources.ResourceManager.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.runtime\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.5\System.Runtime.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.runtime.extensions\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.5\System.Runtime.Extensions.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.runtime.handles\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Runtime.Handles.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.runtime.interopservices\4.3.0\ref\netcoreapp1.1\System.Runtime.InteropServices.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.runtime.interopservices.runtimeinformation\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.1\System.Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeInformation.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.runtime.numerics\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.1\System.Runtime.Numerics.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.security.cryptography.algorithms\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.6\System.Security.Cryptography.Algorithms.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.security.cryptography.encoding\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Security.Cryptography.Encoding.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.security.cryptography.primitives\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Security.Cryptography.Primitives.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.security.cryptography.x509certificates\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.4\System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.security.principal\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.0\System.Security.Principal.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.text.encoding\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Text.Encoding.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.text.encoding.extensions\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Text.Encoding.Extensions.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.text.regularexpressions\4.3.0\ref\netcoreapp1.1\System.Text.RegularExpressions.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.threading\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Threading.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.threading.tasks.dataflow\4.7.0\lib\netstandard1.1\System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.threading.tasks\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Threading.Tasks.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.threading.tasks.extensions\4.3.0\lib\netstandard1.0\System.Threading.Tasks.Extensions.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.threading.tasks.parallel\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.1\System.Threading.Tasks.Parallel.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.threading.thread\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Threading.Thread.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.threading.threadpool\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Threading.ThreadPool.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.threading.timer\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.2\System.Threading.Timer.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.xml.readerwriter\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Xml.ReaderWriter.dll /reference:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\system.xml.xdocument\4.3.0\ref\netstandard1.3\System.Xml.XDocument.dll /debug- /debug:portable /filealign:512 /nologo /optimize+ /out:obj\Release\netcoreapp1.1\win7-x86\ConsoleApp1.dll /ruleset:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\Team Tools\Static Analysis Tools\\Rule Sets\MinimumRecommendedRules.ruleset" /target:exe /warnaserror- /utf8output /deterministic+ /analyzer:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\microsoft.codeanalysis.analyzers\1.1.0\analyzers\dotnet\cs\Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Analyzers.dll /analyzer:C:\Users\Joel\.nuget\packages\microsoft.codeanalysis.analyzers\1.1.0\analyzers\dotnet\cs\Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.Analyzers.dll Program.cs "C:\Users\Joel\AppData\Local\Temp\.NETCoreApp,Version=v1.1.AssemblyAttributes.cs" obj\Release\netcoreapp1.1\win7-x86\\TemporaryGeneratedFile_E7A71F73-0F8D-4B9B-B56E-8E70B10BC5D3.cs obj\Release\netcoreapp1.1\win7-x86\\TemporaryGeneratedFile_036C0B5B-1481-4323-8D20-8F5ADCB23D92.cs obj\Release\netcoreapp1.1\win7-x86\\TemporaryGeneratedFile_5937a670-0e60-4077-877b-f7221da3dda1.cs obj\Release\netcoreapp1.1\win7-x86\ConsoleApp1.AssemblyInfo.cs