Deploying an ASP.NET Web Application to an Intranet

Hello:

I have an ASP.NET web application that I just completed. I am now preparing to deploy the application to my company's intranet. I wanted to prepare the files so that I can simply give them to my company's IT group for uploading. I reviewed some of the previous Q&As posted on this website; however, there doesn't appear to be a simple way to deploy an ASP.NET web application from Visual Studio. From what I am finding, it looks like I have to go through the VS features to copy the files to a server. Unfortunately, I built the web app on my personal computer so I do not have access to any of my company's internal servers.

Therefore, I was hoping there was a way to just gather the files from VS and then place them conveniently in a folder to be copied into a server, such as IIS. Sort of like deploying a C# application by simply copying the install files to a computer. Does anyone know if this is possible?

For additional information, I am using VS 2008 and the web app reads off of an Access Db through ADO.NET (I understand I will have to change the path before deployment).

Thank you,

Damion

Thanks Richard - As mentioned to the other repondents, I will most likely use the Publish feature. However, I noticed that you mentioned I can publish to another local folder. After I do that, will I be able to upload that folder to any web server that is able to read the application?Thank you again,

2009-07-14 14:45:08

Yes you will be able to do that. You could even test the locally deployed copy if you wanted to.

RichardOD 2009-07-14 15:27:29

Thanks Mike - That's a great question. Currently, I have been using a test Db on the same drive as my web app (on my PC); however, I did not know if the real Db (tables) had to sit in the same folder as the web app or if the Db could sit on another drive. I was going to just change the ADO.NET drive path. In your opinion, where would you recommend that I place the Db?Thanks again,

2009-07-14 14:35:31

@DFM- the correct place to put a file based DB is App_Data.

RichardOD 2009-07-14 15:24:51

@DFM - I would seriously consider using SQL Server instead of Access. SQL Server Express Edition is free and is more scalable than Access. I am an Access-hater though, so I am biased.

Mike C. 2009-07-14 17:52:15

Thanks Cody - I will use the Publish feature; it seems that this is the consensus. Currently, I don't have access to the server. Will the Publish feature let me save the files in an arbitrary folder that my IT group can copy the files from? This way I can just transfer the files to them through a thumb drive. If not, I can probably VPN to a server, but that may be a logistic nightmare.Thanks again,

2009-07-14 14:40:29

@DFM - You can publish the files wherever you want. Publish it to a local dummy folder on your machine and you can do what you want with it (copy and paste elsewhere, zip and email, etc.).

Mike C. 2009-07-14 17:53:21

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Deploying an ASP.NET Web Application to an Intranet

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