📙Deploy a .NET Core Application on Clouddley

Learn how to deploy a .NET Core app on Clouddley.

In this article, our focus will be on deploying a .NET Core application on Clouddley. However, before going into that, it's important to understand Clouddley. Clouddley is a backend infrastructure platform for your compute resources that auto-detects your runtime and deploys your application to your server (virtual machines and bare metal). So, let's get started!

Prerequisites

• A GitHub or Bitbucket Account.

• A Clouddley account.

• A .NET Core application.

• A virtual machine on a Cloud platform or a bare metal server.

Deploying your .NET Core Application

Create a Dockerfile

In the application root directory, create a Dockerfile triggr.dockerfile that defines how the app should be containerized.

Best Practice: When creating a Dockerfile, use a lightweight base image to reduce image size. Always specify exact versions for dependencies to ensure consistency.

triggr.dockerfile

# Build stage
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:9.0 AS build
WORKDIR /src

# Copy csproj and restore dependencies
COPY *.csproj ./
RUN dotnet restore

# Copy everything else and build
COPY . ./
RUN dotnet publish -c Release -o /app/publish /p:UseAppHost=false

# Runtime stage
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:9.0 AS final
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=build /app/publish .

# Set the port to match local dev
EXPOSE 5013

ENTRYPOINT ["dotnet", "newApp.dll"]

Building and Running the Container Locally

Before deploying to Apps, verify that the container works locally.

1. Build the Docker image:

   docker build -t new-app -f triggr.dockerfile .

2. Run the container:

   docker run -d -p 5013:5013 --name new-app-container new-app

3. Verify the app is running by visiting http://localhost:5013.

Accessing Apps

• Launch your web browser and log in to your Clouddley account.

• Navigate to Apps and click on Deploy App

Accessing Apps

Step 1: Configure Service

• Choose your Git hosting service; either GitHub or Bitbucket. For this tutorial, we will be using GitHub.

• Click on Continue with GitHub

Choose your Git hosting service

Step 2: Configure Git

• To connect your GitHub user or organization account, click the Select username/organization dropdown and Add GitHub account.

• Select your repository and the branch from the dropdown list or quickly search.

• Click on Next

Setup the .NET Core application repository on Clouddley

Step 3: Configure your Virtual Machine

In the Choose or add server dropdown, select your virtual machine (VM) if it’s already listed. If not, select + Add Virtual Machine.

Enter the following details to configure your VM:

• Hostname or IP address

• Username

• SSH port

After adding the details, use the Clouddley CLI (recommended) or connect via SSH to verify the connection.

Clouddley CLI

The Clouddley CLI is a command-line tool that allows you to interact with the Clouddley Platform from your terminal.

• Open the command line of the remote VM you want to configure to Clouddley and install Clouddley CLI by running the command:

curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/clouddley/cli/main/install.sh | sh

• To add the SSH public key, run the command:

clouddley add key

Using the CLI, you can deploy resources, manage configurations, and automate tasks efficiently.

SSH

• Click on Verify. This verifies the connection.

• Click on Next

Configuration of virtual machine on Clouddley

Step 4: Configure app settings

• Insert the name of the application and its port.

• Click on Next

Configure the App name and port

Ensure the virtual machine's firewall permits access to the application port.

Step 5: Configure Environment Variables

• To add environment variables, click on ➕ Add Variable

• Choose an ENV mode: either a single variable or import variables. Learn more here.

Single Variable

Single variable ENV mode

Import Variables

To deploy your .NET Core application on Clouddley, you need to set the URL for the application as an environment variable, which can either be DOTNET_URLS or ASPNETCORE_URLS. Since this is an ASP.NET Core application, we will set;

key: ASPNETCORE_URLS
value: http://0.0.0.0:5013

• Add the key-value pairs and click on Save

• Click on Next

Adding environment variables

Step 6: Set up Notifications (optional)

• To configure the notification settings of the application, click on ➕ Add Alert

• Select the Alert type. For this tutorial, we will set up Email alerts.

• Toggle on the buttons of the deployment event (failed, timed out, or success) you want to be notified of.

• Enter the Email address where you want to receive alerts. (You can add multiple email addresses)

• Click on Save

• Click on Deploy

Notifications set up and creation of .NET Core application on Clouddley

Step 7: Test and Verify the app

• Click on Go to Dashboard. Your app will be visible on the apps dashboard.

• After the app deployment is complete, the app status changes from Deploying to Online

.NET Core application dashboard overview

• Click on 🌐 Website at the top right corner of the page, which opens the URL of the deployed application in your browser.

• You can test the application functionalities.

.NET Core application running from Clouddley on a cloud virtual machine

You have deployed a .NET Core application successfully on Clouddley. You can manage it directly from the app dashboard by clicking the three dots (...) at the top-right corner to access Edit, Instant Rollback, Scale, Pause, and Delete options.

Additionally, you can switch to different tabs on the application dashboard to perform the following actions: view your deployment history, view or download logs, add a custom domain, and view the environment variables.

Conclusion

Congratulations 🎉 on successfully deploying a .NET Core application on Clouddley!. Feel free to explore the source code for this application here. Furthermore, you can explore our how-to guides to discover how various frameworks can be deployed on Clouddley.