Hosting a .NET 8 web application on a CentOS 7 VPS

Hosting a .NET 8 web application on a CentOS 7 VPS requires setting up the necessary environment, installing dependencies, and configuring a web server. Below are the detailed steps to achieve this:

 

using System;

namespace HelloWorld
{
  class Program
  {
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
      Console.WriteLine("Hello World!");    
    }
  }
}

Step 1: Update the System

Ensure your CentOS 7 system is up to date to avoid compatibility issues.

bash

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sudo yum update -y

Step 2: Install Development Tools

Install essential tools and libraries required for building and running .NET applications.

bash

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sudo yum groupinstall "Development Tools" -y sudo yum install gcc-c++ glibc-devel zlib-devel -y

Step 3: Install the .NET SDK

.NET 8 is not natively available in the default CentOS 7 repositories, so you need to add the Microsoft package repository.

1. Add the Microsoft Repository:

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   sudo rpm -Uvh https://packages.microsoft.com/config/centos/7/packages-microsoft-prod.rpm

2. Install .NET 8 SDK:

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   sudo yum install dotnet-sdk-8.0 -y

3. Verify Installation: Check that the .NET SDK is installed correctly by running:

   bash

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   dotnet --version

   This should display the installed .NET SDK version (e.g., 8.x.x).

Step 4: Prepare Your .NET 8 Web Application

1. Publish Your Application: If your application is not already published, publish it on your development machine or directly on the VPS. Use the following command to create a self-contained deployment (recommended for VPS to avoid dependency issues):

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   dotnet publish -c Release -r linux-x64 --self-contained true

   • -c Release: Builds the application in release mode.
   • -r linux-x64: Specifies the runtime for Linux 64-bit.
   • --self-contained true: Includes the .NET runtime in the output.

   The published files will be in the bin/Release/net8.0/linux-x64/publish/ directory of your project.

2. Transfer Files to VPS: If you published the application on a different machine, use scp or an FTP client to transfer the contents of the publish folder to your VPS. For example:

   bash

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   scp -r /path/to/publish user@your-vps-ip:/path/to/destination

Step 5: Install and Configure a Web Server

To serve your .NET 8 web application, you need a web server. The most common choices are Nginx (as a reverse proxy) or running the app directly with Kestrel (not recommended for production). Here, we'll use Nginx.

1. Install Nginx:

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   sudo yum install nginx -y

2. Start and Enable Nginx:

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   sudo systemctl start nginx sudo systemctl enable nginx

3. Configure Nginx as a Reverse Proxy: Create a new Nginx configuration file for your application:

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   sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/yourapp.conf

   Add the following configuration (replace yourapp and your-vps-ip as needed):

   nginx

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   server { listen 80; server_name your-vps-ip; location / { proxy_pass http://localhost:5000; # Default Kestrel port proxy_http_version 1.1; proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade; proxy_set_header Connection keep-alive; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade; } }

   Save and exit the file (Ctrl+O, Enter, Ctrl+X).

4. Test Nginx Configuration: Ensure the configuration is valid:

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   sudo nginx -t

5. Restart Nginx: Apply the changes:

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   sudo systemctl restart nginx