.. _directory-structure:

Directory Structure
===================

By `Luke Latham`_


In ASP.NET Core, the application directory, *publish*, is comprised of application files, config files, static assets, packages, and the runtime (for self-contained apps). This is the same directory structure as previous versions of ASP.NET, where the entire application lives inside the web root directory.

+----------------+------------------------------------------------+
| App Type       | Directory Structure                            |
+================+================================================+
| Portable       | - publish*                                     |
|                |                                                |
|                |   - logs* (if included in publishOptions)      |
|                |   - refs*                                      |
|                |   - runtimes*                                  |
|                |   - Views* (if included in publishOptions)     |
|                |   - wwwroot* (if included in publishOptions)   |
|                |   - .dll files                                 |
|                |   - myapp.deps.json                            |
|                |   - myapp.dll                                  |
|                |   - myapp.pdb                                  |
|                |   - myapp.runtimeconfig.json                   |
|                |   - web.config (if included in publishOptions) |
+----------------+------------------------------------------------+
| Self-contained | - publish*                                     |
|                |                                                |
|                |   - logs* (if included in publishOptions)      |
|                |   - refs*                                      |
|                |   - Views* (if included in publishOptions)     |
|                |   - wwwroot* (if included in publishOptions)   |
|                |   - .dll files                                 |
|                |   - myapp.deps.json                            |
|                |   - myapp.exe                                  |
|                |   - myapp.pdb                                  |
|                |   - myapp.runtimeconfig.json                   |
|                |   - web.config (if included in publishOptions) |
+----------------+------------------------------------------------+

\* Indicates a directory

The contents of the *publish* directory represent the *content root path*, also called the *application base path*, of the deployment. Whatever name is given to the *publish* directory in the deployment, its location serves as the server's physical path to the hosted application. The *wwwroot* directory, if present, only contains static assets. The *logs* directory may be included in the deployment by creating it in the project and adding it to **publishOptions** of *project.json* or by physically creating the directory on the server.

The deployment directory requires Read/Execute permissions, while the *logs* directory requires Read/Write permissions. Additional directories where assets will be written require Read/Write permissions.