ASP.NET Application Deployment

Once an application has been developed and tested ,application is ready for deployment to client machines. The goal of deployment is the simple and easy installation of application files and any other required files to a client machine.

Types of deployment

1. XCOPY

– Used for simple applications
– Application copied directly to the target machine.

2. Windows Installer

– Used for complex applications
– Creates fully configurable setup projects.

XCOPY Deployment

1. MS-DOS XCOPY command is used to copy the contents of a directory and subdirectories to a target directory.

2. Accomplished from the command prompt. Eg: XCOPY E:MyApplication D:MyApplication /s

Limitations

1. Works only for applications that have no external dependencies

2. Works only if the .NET framework is installed on every target machine.

Window Installer Deployment

Windows Installer projects are fully configurable for a variety of deployment plans. You can create a setup project for your application by adding a setup project to an existing solution.

Setup projects are used for deploying executable applications. A merge module, on the other hand, deploys controls or components that do not exist as stand-alone applications and cannot be deployed directly.

 Kinds of setup projects:

1. Setup

2. Merge Module

Can be created using Setup Project Wizard.

Steps to create Windows Installer

Step 1 : Use the Setup Project Wizard

Step 2: Build

Step 3: Distribute

Step 4: Deploy