Detailed Step by Step Guide on How to Deploy .NET Core Application on Ubuntu

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Prerequisites
3. Installing .NET Core on Ubuntu
4. Creating a .NET Core Application
5. Building the Application
6. Publishing the Application
7. Installing Nginx Web Server
8. Configuring Nginx as a Reverse Proxy
9. Setting Up Systemd Service
10. Securing the Application with HTTPS
11. Monitoring and Logging
12. Troubleshooting Common Issues
13. Conclusion
14. FAQs

1. Introduction

Deploying a .NET Core application on Ubuntu can be a seamless process if done correctly. This step-by-step guide will walk you through the process of setting up and deploying a .NET Core application on an Ubuntu server. We will cover the installation of .NET Core, creating and building the application, setting up a reverse proxy using Nginx, and securing the application with HTTPS.

2. Prerequisites

Before we begin, ensure that you have the following prerequisites in place:

• A VPS or dedicated server running Ubuntu 18.04 or later.
• A non-root user with sudo privileges.
• Basic knowledge of working with the Linux command line.

3. Installing .NET Core on Ubuntu

In this section, we will install .NET Core on our Ubuntu server. Follow these steps:

1. Update the package index: sudo apt update
2. Install the necessary dependencies: sudo apt install curl libunwind8 gettext
3. Download the .NET Core SDK: curl -O https://download.visualstudio.microsoft.com/download/pr/12345678/abcdefghij/dotnet-sdk-3.1.100-linux-x64.tar.gz (Replace the URL with the latest version available)
4. Extract the downloaded archive: sudo tar -xvf dotnet-sdk-3.1.100-linux-x64.tar.gz (Replace the filename with the one you downloaded)
5. Move the .NET Core files to the appropriate location: sudo mv dotnet /usr/local/

4. Creating a .NET Core Application

Now that we have .NET Core installed, let's create a new .NET Core application:

1. Create a new directory for your application: mkdir myapp
2. Navigate to the newly created directory: cd myapp
3. Create a new .NET Core application: dotnet new web

5. Building the Application

In this section, we will build the .NET Core application:

1. Restore the project dependencies: dotnet restore
2. Build the project: dotnet build

6. Publishing the Application

To deploy the application, we need to publish it:

1. Publish the application for the desired runtime: dotnet publish -c Release -o /var/myapp

7. Installing Nginx Web Server

Nginx will act as a reverse proxy for our .NET Core application. Let's install Nginx:

1. Install Nginx: sudo apt install nginx
2. Start Nginx: sudo systemctl start nginx
3. Enable Nginx to start on boot: sudo systemctl enable nginx

8. Configuring Nginx as a Reverse Proxy

Configure Nginx to reverse proxy requests to our .NET Core application:

1. Create a new Nginx configuration file: sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/myapp
2. Add the following configuration:

nginx
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name your_domain.com www.your_domain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:5000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection keep-alive;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}

1. Create a symbolic link to enable the configuration: sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/myapp /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
2. Test Nginx configuration for syntax errors: sudo nginx -t
3. Reload Nginx: sudo systemctl reload nginx

9. Setting Up Systemd Service

To manage our .NET Core application as a service, create a systemd unit file:

1. Create the unit file: sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/myapp.service
2. Add the following content:

[Unit]
Description=My .NET Core App
[Service]
WorkingDirectory=/var/myapp
ExecStart=/usr/local/dotnet /var/myapp/myapp.dll
Restart=always
# Restart service after 10 seconds if the dotnet service crashes:
RestartSec=10
SyslogIdentifier=myapp
User=www-data
Environment=ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Production
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

1. Start and enable the service: sudo systemctl start myapp
2. Enable the service to start on boot: sudo systemctl enable myapp

10. Securing the Application with HTTPS

To secure our application with HTTPS, we will use Let's Encrypt SSL certificates:

1. Install Certbot: sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
2. Obtain SSL certificate: sudo certbot --nginx -d your_domain.com -d www.your_domain.com
3. Certbot will automatically configure Nginx to use the SSL certificate.

11. Monitoring and Logging

Monitoring and logging are essential for maintaining a healthy application:

1. Install necessary tools for monitoring: sudo apt install htop
2. View application logs: sudo journalctl -u myapp

12. Troubleshooting Common Issues

Encountering issues? Here are some common troubleshooting tips:

• Check application logs for errors.
• Verify Nginx configuration for any syntax errors.
• Ensure firewall settings allow incoming connections on ports 80 and 443.
• Restart the application and services after making changes.

13. Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully deployed your .NET Core application on Ubuntu. Following this step-by-step guide, you learned how to install .NET Core, create and build a .NET Core application, configure Nginx as a reverse proxy, and secure the application with HTTPS. You are now ready to serve your .NET Core application to the world.

14. FAQs

1. How do I update my .NET Core application on Ubuntu?
To update your .NET Core application, follow these steps:

• Pull the latest changes from your version control system.
• Rebuild and republish the application using dotnet build and dotnet publish commands.
• Restart the .NET Core service using sudo systemctl restart myapp.