Deploy an ASP.NET Core container to Azure App Service using Visual Studio

This tutorial walks you through using Visual Studio to publish your containerized ASP.NET Core web application to an Azure App Service. Azure App Service is an appropriate service for a single-container web app hosted in Azure.

If you don't have an Azure subscription, create a free account before you begin.

Prerequisites

To complete this tutorial:

  • Install the latest version of Visual Studio 2017 with the "ASP.NET and web development" workload

Create an ASP.NET Core web app

The following steps guide you through creating a basic ASP.NET Core app that will be used in this tutorial.

  1. From the Visual Studio menu, select File > New > Project.
  2. Under the Templates section of the New Project dialog box, select Visual C# > Web.
  3. Select ASP.NET Core Web Application.
  4. Give your new application a name (or take the default) and select OK.
  5. Select Web Application.
  6. Check the Enable Docker Support checkbox.
  7. Select the Linux container type and click OK. Windows containers are not supported to deploy to Azure App Service as a container.
  1. From the Visual Studio start window, choose Create a new project.
  2. Choose ASP.NET Core Web App, and choose Next.
  3. Give your new application a name (or take the default) and choose Next.
  4. Choose the .NET version you want to target. If you're not sure, choose the long-term support (LTS) version.
  5. Choose whether or not you want SSL support by using the Configure for HTTPS checkbox.
  6. Check the Enable Docker Support checkbox.
  7. Select the container type, and click Create.

Deploy the container to Azure

  1. Right-click your project in Solution Explorer and choose Publish.

  2. On the publish target dialog, choose App Service Linux or App Service. This is the operating system that will host the web server.

  3. You can publish only to App Service, or you can publish to both App Service and Azure Container Registry (ACR). To publish the container in an Azure Container Registry (ACR), choose Create new App Service for containers, and click Publish.

    Screenshot of publish dialog

    To publish only to an Azure App Service without using Azure Container Registry, choose Create new, and click Publish.

  4. Check that you're signed in with the account that's associated with your Azure subscription, and choose a unique name, subscription, resource group, hosting plan, and container registry (if applicable), or accept the defaults.

    Screenshot of publish settings

  5. Choose Create. Your container is deployed to Azure in the resource group and container registry you selected. This process takes a bit of time. When it's completed, the Publish tab shows information about what was published, including the site URL.

    Screenshot of publish tab

  6. Click on the site link to verify your app works as expected in Azure.

    Screenshot of web application

  7. The publishing profile is saved with all the details you selected, such as the resource group and container registry.

  8. To deploy again with the same publishing profile, use the Publish button, the Publish button on the Web Publish Activity window, or right-click on the project in Solution Explorer and choose the Publish item on the context-menu.

  1. Right-click your project in Solution Explorer and choose Publish.

  2. On the Publish dialog, choose the Azure target.

    Screenshot of Publish wizard

  3. On the Specific target tab, choose the appropriate deployment target, such as App Service (Windows) or App Service (Linux), depending on your container type.

    Screenshot of Specific target tab of Publish wizard

  4. If you are not signed in to the right Azure account with the subscription you want to use, sign in by using the button at the top left of the Publish window.

  5. You can use an existing app service or create a new one by clicking on the Create new Azure App Service link. Find your existing app service in the treeview by expanding its resource group, or change the View setting to Resource type to sort by type.

    Screenshot showing choosing an App Service

  6. If you create a new one, a resource group and app service will be generated in Azure. You can change the names if desired, as long as they are unique.

    Screenshot showing creating an App Service

  7. You can accept the default hosting plan or change the hosting plan now, or later in the Azure portal. The default is S1 (small) in one of the supported regions. To create a hosting plan, choose New next to the Hosting Plan dropdown. The Hosting Plan window appears.

    Screenshot showing hosting plan options

    You can view the details about these options at Azure App Service plan overview.

  8. Once you're done selecting or creating these resources, choose Finish. Your container is deployed to Azure in the resource group and app service you selected. This process takes a bit of time. When it's completed, the Publish tab shows information about what was published, including the site URL.

    Screenshot of publish tab

  9. Click on the site link to verify your app works as expected in Azure.

    Screenshot of web application

  10. The publishing profile is saved with all the details you selected, such as the resource group and app service.

  11. To deploy again with the same publishing profile, use the Publish button, the Publish button on the Web Publish Activity window, or right-click on the project in Solution Explorer and choose the Publish item on the context-menu.

View container settings

In the Azure portal, you can open your deployed App Service.

You can view settings for your deployed App Service by opening the Container settings menu (when you are using Visual Studio 2019 version 16.4 or later).

Screenshot of Container Settings menu in the Azure portal

From there, you can view the container information, view or download logs, or set up continuous deployment. See Azure App Service Continuous Deployment CI/CD.

Clean up resources

To remove all Azure resources associated with this tutorial, delete the resource group using the Azure portal. To find the resource group associated with a published web application, choose View > Other Windows > Web Publish Activity, and then choose the gear icon. The Publish tab opens, which contains the resource group.

In the Azure portal, choose Resource groups, select the resource group to open its details page. Verify that this is the correct resource group, then choose Remove resource group, type the name, and choose Delete.

Next steps

Learn more about Azure App Service.

See also

Deploy to Azure Container Registry