How to Install .NET Applications on Windows VPS

Overview

Running .NET applications on a Windows Breeze is straightforward with the right runtime and hosting configuration. This guide covers deploying both .NET Framework (4.x) and modern .NET (6/7/8) applications on IIS.

Step 1: Install the .NET Hosting Bundle

For modern .NET applications, download and install the ASP.NET Core Hosting Bundle, which includes the .NET Runtime and the IIS module:

# Download the Hosting Bundle (example for .NET 8)
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://dot.net/v1/dotnet-install.ps1" -OutFile dotnet-install.ps1
.\dotnet-install.ps1 -Channel 8.0 -Runtime aspnetcore -InstallDir "C:\Program Files\dotnet"

Alternatively, download the installer directly from the official .NET download page and run it on your Breeze.

Step 2: Prepare Your Application

Publish your application for deployment:

dotnet publish -c Release -o C:\inetpub\myapp

Step 3: Configure IIS

Create a new site in IIS Manager pointing to your published directory. For modern .NET apps, ensure the application pool is set to No Managed Code since the ASP.NET Core module handles the runtime.

# Create the site via PowerShell
New-IISSite -Name "MyDotNetApp" -BindingInformation "*:80:app.yourdomain.com" -PhysicalPath "C:\inetpub\myapp"

# Set the app pool to No Managed Code
$pool = Get-IISAppPool -Name "MyDotNetApp"
$pool.ManagedRuntimeVersion = ""

Step 4: Configure the Web.config

The web.config file is generated during publish. Verify it contains the ASP.NET Core module handler:

<aspNetCore processPath="dotnet" arguments=".\MyApp.dll" hostingModel="InProcess" />

Troubleshooting

• Check the Event Viewer and stdout logs in logs/stdout for errors
• Verify the correct .NET runtime version is installed with dotnet --list-runtimes
• Ensure the application pool identity has read access to the publish directory