Deploy an ASP.NET site on Windows hosting with Plesk

HyperDC Windows hosting runs your site on Microsoft IIS with ASP.NET support, Microsoft SQL Server and MySQL databases, managed in Plesk. This guide takes an application from your computer to a live, secured site.

Before you start

• Your Windows hosting service is active; open Plesk from Services › My Services, the hosting service, then the sign-in button; see log in to your control panel.
• Your domain points to the hosting account; see point a domain to your server.
• The application builds and runs on your own computer.
• If it needs a specific .NET or ASP.NET Core version, you have confirmed it with us in a ticket.

Step 1: Publish the application

dotnet publish -c Release -o ..\publish

Verify: the output folder contains web.config.

Step 2: Upload the files

1. In Plesk, open Websites & Domains and the domain's File Manager, or connect with FTP; see upload website files.
2. Open the document root, httpdocs by default.
3. Upload the content of the publish folder (not the folder itself), replacing the default page.

Web Deploy is enabled by default on our Windows hosting. Instead of uploading files, you can publish from Visual Studio: in Plesk, download Web Deploy Publishing Settings for the domain and import that file in Visual Studio's publish dialog. Visual Studio takes over every setting except the password, which you enter yourself.

Your Plesk account also includes further advanced web tools for your sites; you find them with the domain under Websites & Domains.

Step 3: Create the database

1. In Plesk, open Databases and click Add Database.
2. Choose the Microsoft SQL Server database server (or MySQL), enter a database name and create a database user with a strong password.
3. Open Connection Info under the database name. It shows the host name to use; for SQL Server this can include an instance name, such as server\INSTANCE.

Step 4: Connect the application

Put the details from Connection Info into your connection string, in appsettings.json (ASP.NET Core) or web.config (ASP.NET):

{
  "ConnectionStrings": {
    "DefaultConnection": "Server=HOST_FROM_PLESK;Database=example_db;User Id=example_user;Password=YOUR_PASSWORD;"
  }
}

Step 5: Open the site and turn on HTTPS

1. Open http://example.com. The first request can take a few seconds while the application starts.
2. Secure the domain with the free certificate and redirect HTTP to HTTPS; see turn on free SSL and force HTTPS.

Verify: https://example.com loads your application with a padlock.

Step 6: Adjust the ASP.NET settings (ASP.NET)

For .NET Framework sites, Plesk's ASP.NET Settings for the domain let you set custom error pages, the session timeout, and compilation and globalization options without editing web.config by hand.

Troubleshooting

You see the Plesk default page or a directory error. The files are not in httpdocs, or you uploaded the publish folder itself instead of its content.

An HTTP 500.xx error appears. The number after the dot names the cause; see ASP.NET and IIS errors.

Files cannot be overwritten because they are in use (ASP.NET Core). A running app locks its files. Upload an empty file named app_offline.htm to httpdocs first: the ASP.NET Core Module stops the app and shows that page. Upload the new files, then delete app_offline.htm to start the app again.

Next steps

• Errors after deploying: ASP.NET and IIS errors.
• Keep a copy before each release: back up and restore your hosting account.