ASP.net web site Release build include pdb files. How do i get rid of them?

Question

Hi all,

I use WebDepolymentAdd for VS 2008 to do the final build of my web site. This is web site and not web application project.

I set the build to Release and not debug and after i did the build. In the bin folder it contain .pdb and .xml for third party .dll for example the AJAXcontrol and also .compiled file. Do i need to include those files for final release? How do i get rid of them?

I also notice it created PrecompiledApp.config too. Is that file require?

Thank

Jack

Answer 1

You don't need to include the .pdb files for the final release, but there are some benefits in doing so, such as being able to debug the live site with symbols.

This article shows how to turn this on/off.

Answer 2

The .pdb file is just the symbol file. On a Release build it's not all the useful because you will most likely have debug set to false. The xml file is most likely the xml comments from the code in the assembly, again not needed normally.

Answer 3

If you publish your web site (even to a spare directory in your filesystem) you can tell VS to only copy the files that you actually need to run your app.