--- title: Publish an ASP.NET Core app to Azure using Visual Studio author: rick-anderson description: keywords: ASP.NET Core ms.author: riande manager: wpickett ms.date: 10/05/2017 ms.topic: get-started-article ms.assetid: 78571e4a-a143-452d-9cf2-0860f85972e6 ms.technology: aspnet ms.prod: asp.net-core uid: tutorials/publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs --- # Publish an ASP.NET Core web app to Azure App Service using Visual Studio By [Rick Anderson](https://twitter.com/RickAndMSFT), [Cesar Blum Silveira](https://github.com/cesarbs), and [Rachel Appel](https://twitter.com/rachelappel) ## Set up * Open a [free Azure account](https://aka.ms/K5y5yh) if you do not have one. ## Create a web app In the Visual Studio Start Page, select **File > New > Project...** ![File menu](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/file_new_project.png) Complete the **New Project** dialog: * In the left pane, select **.NET Core**. * In the center pane, select **ASP.NET Core Web Application**. * Select **OK**. ![New Project dialog](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/new_prj.png) In the **New ASP.NET Core Web Application** dialog: * Select **Web Application**. * Select **Change Authentication**. ![New Project dialog](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/new_prj_2.png) The **Change Authentication** dialog appears. * Select **Individual User Accounts**. * Select **OK** to return to the **New ASP.NET Core Web Application**, then select **OK** again. ![New ASP.NET Core Web authentication dialog](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/new_prj_auth.png) Visual Studio creates the solution. ## Run the app locally * Choose **Debug** then **Start Without Debugging** to run the app locally. * Click the **About** and **Contact** links to verify the web application works. ![Web application open in Microsoft Edge on localhost](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/show.png) * Select **Register** and register a new user. You can use a fictitious email address. When you submit, the page displays the following error: *"Internal Server Error: A database operation failed while processing the request. SQL exception: Cannot open the database. Applying existing migrations for Application DB context may resolve this issue."* * Select **Apply Migrations** and, once the page updates, refresh the page. ![Internal Server Error: A database operation failed while processing the request. SQL exception: Cannot open the database. Applying existing migrations for Application DB context may resolve this issue.](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/mig.png) The app displays the email used to register the new user and a **Log out** link. ![Web application open in Microsoft Edge. The Register link is replaced by the text Hello email@domain.com!](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/hello.png) ## Deploy the app to Azure Close the web page, return to Visual Studio, and select **Stop Debugging** from the **Debug** menu. Right-click on the project in Solution Explorer and select **Publish...**. ![Contextual menu open with Publish link highlighted](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/pub.png) In the **Publish** dialog, select **Microsoft Azure App Service** and click **Publish**. ![Publish dialog](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/maas1.png) * Name the app a unique name. * Select a subscription. * Select **New...** for the resource group and enter a name for the new resource group. * Select **New...** for the app service plan and select a location near you. You can keep the name that is generated by default. ![App Service dialog](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/newrg1.png) * Select the **Services** tab to create a new database. * Select the green **+** icon to create a new SQL Database ![New SQL Database](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/sql.png) * Select **New...** on the **Configure SQL Database** dialog to create a new database. ![New SQL Database and server](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/conf.png) The **Configure SQL Server** dialog appears. * Enter an administrator user name and password, and then select **OK**. Don't forget the user name and password you create in this step. You can keep the default **Server Name**. * Enter names for the database and connection string. > [!NOTE] > "admin" is not allowed as the administrator user name. ![Configure SQL Server dialog](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/conf_servername.png) * Select **OK**. Visual Studio returns to the **Create App Service** dialog. * Select **Create** on the **Create App Service** dialog. ![Configure SQL Database dialog](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/conf_final.png) * Click the **Settings** link in the **Publish** dialog. ![Publish dialog: Connection panel](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/pubc.png) On the **Settings** page of the **Publish** dialog: * Expand **Databases** and check **Use this connection string at runtime**. * Expand **Entity Framework Migrations** and check **Apply this migration on publish**. * Select **Save**. Visual Studio returns to the **Publish** dialog. ![Publish dialog: Settings panel](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/pubs.png) Click **Publish**. Visual Studio will publish your app to Azure and launch the cloud app in your browser. ### Test your app in Azure * Test the **About** and **Contact** links * Register a new user ![Web application opened in Microsoft Edge on Azure App Service](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/register.png) ### Update the app * Edit the *Pages/About.cshtml* Razor page and change its contents. For example, you can modify the paragraph to say "Hello ASP.NET Core!": [!code-html[About](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/sample/about.cshtml?highlight=9&range=1-9)] * Right-click on the project and select **Publish...** again. ![Contextual menu open with Publish link highlighted](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/pub.png) * After the app is published, verify the changes you made are available on Azure. ![Verify task is complete](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/final.png) ### Clean up When you have finished testing the app, go to the [Azure portal](https://portal.azure.com/) and delete the app. * Select **Resource groups**, then select the resource group you created. ![Azure Portal: Resource Groups in sidebar menu](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/portalrg.png) * In the **Resource groups** page, select **Delete**. ![Azure Portal: Resource Groups page](publish-to-azure-webapp-using-vs/_static/rgd.png) * Enter the name of the resource group and select **Delete**. Your app and all other resources created in this tutorial are now deleted from Azure. ### Next steps * [Continuous Deployment to Azure with Visual Studio and Git](../publishing/azure-continuous-deployment.md)