By [Sourabh Shirhatti](https://twitter.com/sshirhatti)
>[!IMPORTANT]
> This tutorial uses a pre-release version of the Nano Server installation option of Windows Server Technical Preview 5. You may use the software in the virtual hard disk image only to internally demonstrate and evaluate it. You may not use the software in a live operating environment. Please see [https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=624232](https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=624232) for specific information about the end date for the preview.
In this tutorial, you'll take an existing ASP.NET Core app and deploy it to a Nano Server instance running IIS.
## Introduction
Nano Server is an installation option in Windows Server 2016, offering a tiny footprint, better security and better servicing than Server Core or full Server. Please consult the official [Nano Server documentation](https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt126167.aspx) for more details. There are 3 ways for you try out Nano Server for yourself:
1. You can download the Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 5 ISO file, and build a Nano Server image
2. Download the Nano Server developer VHD
3. Create a VM in Azure using the Nano Server image in the Azure Gallery. If you don’t have an Azure account, you can get a free 30-day trial
In this tutorial, we will be using the pre-built [Nano Server Developer VHD](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/windowscontainers/nano_eula) from Windows Server Technical Preview 5.
Before proceeding with this tutorial, you will need the [published](../publishing/index.md) output of an existing ASP.NET Core application. Ensure your application is built to run in a **64-bit** process.
## Setting up the Nano Server Instance
[Create a new Virtual Machine using Hyper-V](https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh846766.aspx) on your development machine using the previously downloaded VHD. The machine will require you to set an administrator password before logging on. At the VM console, press F11 to set the password before the first log in.
After setting the local password, you will manage Nano Server using PowerShell remoting.
### Connecting to your Nano Server Instance using PowerShell Remoting
Open an elevated PowerShell window to add your remote Nano Server instance to your `TrustedHosts` list.
netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group="File and Printer Sharing" new enable=yes
net share AspNetCoreSampleForNano=c:\PublishedApps\AspNetCoreSampleForNano /GRANT:EVERYONE`,FULL
````
After running the above commands you should be able to access this share by visiting `\\<nanoserver-ip-address>\AspNetCoreSampleForNano` in the host machine's Windows Explorer.
## Open port in the Firewall
Run the following commands in the remote session to open up a port in the firewall to listen for TCP traffic.
> Installing *Microsoft-NanoServer-Storage-Package* requires a reboot. This is a temporary work around and won't be required in the future.
To quickly verify if IIS is setup correctly, you can visit the url `http://<nanoserver-ip-address>/` and should see a welcome page. When IIS is installed, by default a web site called `Default Web Site` listening on port 80 is created.
## Installing the ASP.NET Core Module (ANCM)
The ASP.NET Core Module is an IIS 7.5+ module which is responsible for process management of ASP.NET Core HTTP listeners and to proxy requests to processes that it manages. At the moment, the process to install the ASP.NET Core Module for IIS is manual. You will need to install the version of the [.NET Core Windows Server Hosting bundle](https://dot.net/) on a regular (not Nano) machine. After installing the bundle on a regular machine, you will need to copy the following files to the file share that we created earlier.
On a regular (not Nano) machine run the following copy commands:
On a Nano machine, you will need to copy the following files from the file share that we created earlier to the valid locations. So, run the following copy commands:
> Delete the files `aspnetcore.dll` and `aspnetcore_schema.xml` from the share after the above step.
## Installing .NET Core Framework
If you published a portable app, .NET Core must be installed on the target machine. Execute the following Powershell script in a remote Powershell session to install the .NET Framework on your Nano Server.
Run the following commands in the remote session to create a new site in IIS for the published app. This script uses the `DefaultAppPool` for simplicity. For more considerations on running under an application pool, see [Application Pools](../hosting/apppool.md#apppool).
## Known issue running .NET Core CLI on Nano Server and Workaround
If you’re using Nano Server Technical Preview 5 with .NET Core CLI, you will need to copy all DLL files from `c:\windows\system32\forwarders` to `c:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App\1.0.0\` and your .NET Core binaries directory `c:\dotnet` (in this example), due to a bug that has since been fixed in later releases.
If you use `dotnet publish`, make sure to copy all DLL files from `c:\windows\system32\forwarders` to your publish directory as well.
If your Nano Server Technical Preview 5 build is updated or serviced, please make sure to repeat this process, in case any of the DLLs have been updated as well.
## Running the Application
The published web app should be accessible in browser at `http://<nanoserver-ip-address>:8000`. If you have set up logging as described in [Log creation and redirection](../hosting/aspnet-core-module.md#log-redirection), you should be able to view your logs at *C:\PublishedApps\AspNetCoreSampleForNano\logs*.
