Publish the application

Visual Studio publish produces a folder you copy to IIS. Damsy ERP uses a dedicated profile MVC_PUBLISH tuned for VPS deployment: Release configuration, full view files (no precompile), and a clean output directory each time.

Introduction

Publishing compiles the solution in Release mode, applies Web.Release.config transforms, and copies web content to a target folder. Unlike SDK-style projects, classic ASP.NET MVC requires explicit <Content Include="..."> entries in the .csproj for many static files and views — files missing from the project file are silently omitted from publish output.

Purpose

Generate a complete, IIS-ready folder that includes assemblies, Razor views, CSS/JS, Crystal viewer assets, and transformed configuration — without the broken partial deployments that precompiled publish often causes.

When to use

• Every production or VPS deployment
• Before copying files to C:\inetpub\wwwroot\damsy_erp
• After adding new .cshtml, .css, or .js files to the UI project

For IIS binding and app pool setup, continue to Deploy to IIS.

How it works

The publish profile lives at:

DamsyERP.UI/Properties/PublishProfiles/MVC_PUBLISH.pubxml

Key settings:

Setting	Value	Why
LastUsedBuildConfiguration	Release	Optimized binaries + transforms
WebPublishMethod	FileSystem	Folder copy deploy
DeleteExistingFiles	True	Avoid stale DLLs and orphaned views
PrecompileBeforePublish	False	Precompile breaks views/assets on IIS
publishUrl	Dev machine path	Change or override per operator

Example profile output path:

C:\Users\Thinkpad\Music\Publish\damsy_erp

Production IIS target (typical):

C:\inetpub\wwwroot\damsy_erp

Step-by-step — Publish from Visual Studio

Step 1 — Open the publish profile

1. Set configuration to Release (toolbar dropdown).
2. Right-click DamsyERP.UI → Publish.
3. Select profile MVC_PUBLISH (or import the .pubxml from Properties/PublishProfiles/).

Step 2 — Run publish

1. Confirm Configuration: Release.
2. Click Publish.
3. Wait for Publish succeeded in the Output window.

info

PrecompileBeforePublish=False is intentional. Precompiled publish has caused missing partial views and static asset issues on IIS for this solution.

Step 3 — Verify the publish folder

Before copying to the server, confirm critical paths exist:

publish/damsy_erp/
├── bin/DamsyERP.UI.dll
├── Web.config
├── Views/Dashboard/Index.cshtml
├── Areas/Registration/Views/Shared/_UnitPermissionS.cshtml
├── app-assets/css/shell-modern.css
├── app-assets/css/sidebar-unified.css
├── app-assets/css/administration-dashboard.css
└── crystalreportviewers13/

Use Windows Search or PowerShell:

Test-Path "C:\Users\Thinkpad\Music\Publish\damsy_erp\app-assets\css\shell-modern.css"

Step 4 — Copy to IIS

Copy the entire folder contents to Deploy to IIS target path, then recycle the app pool.

The csproj Content Include gotcha

New files added to disk are not automatically published. They must appear in DamsyERP.UI.csproj:

<Content Include="app-assets\css\shell-modern.css" />
<Content Include="Areas\Registration\Views\Shared\_UnitPermissionS.cshtml" />

Symptoms of missing includes

Missing file type	Symptom
Module CSS	Dashboard looks unstyled; "old" flat UI
Shared partial	The partial view '_UnitPermissionS' was not found
Area view	404 or HandleError after navigation

Fix workflow

1. In Solution Explorer, Show All Files.
2. Right-click the missing file → Include in Project (adds Content entry).
3. Rebuild and Publish again.
4. Re-verify the publish folder before IIS copy.

warning

A successful publish dialog does not guarantee every file on disk was included. Always spot-check new assets in the output folder.

Examples

Example — Publish via MSBuild (CI or script)

msbuild DamsyERP.UI\DamsyERP.UI.csproj `
  /p:DeployOnBuild=true `
  /p:PublishProfile=MVC_PUBLISH `
  /p:Configuration=Release

Example — Quick CSS audit after publish

$root = "C:\Users\Thinkpad\Music\Publish\damsy_erp\app-assets\css"
Get-ChildItem $root -Filter "*dashboard*.css" | Select-Object Name

Example — Adding a new stylesheet

1. Add app-assets/css/payroll-dashboard-v2.css on disk.
2. Include in .csproj as <Content Include="app-assets\css\payroll-dashboard-v2.css" />.
3. Reference in layout with cache-bust query: ?v=20250720.
4. Publish and confirm file under publish root.

Related pages

• Deploy to IIS
• Release configuration
• Troubleshooting — missing CSS
• Folder structure

Important notes

• DeleteExistingFiles=True removes leftover files from prior deploys — good for consistency; ensure you do not store uploads only under the publish tree without backup.
• Connection strings on the server should be edited in the deployed Web.config, not only in source control.
• Crystal Reports .rpt files and viewer JS must publish with the site; verify under Areas/*/...Reports/ and crystalreportviewers13/.
• Layouts use cache-busting query strings on CSS — browsers may still cache aggressively; hard-refresh after deploy.

Common mistakes

Mistake	Consequence
Publishing with Debug configuration	No Release transforms; debug=true
Using a profile with PrecompileBeforePublish=True	Broken or missing views on IIS
Assuming git pull updates IIS	Must publish + copy + recycle
Forgetting .csproj include for new .cshtml	Runtime partial/view not found
Copying only changed DLLs	Stale views/CSS remain or mismatch

Next steps

1. Apply Release configuration expectations on the server.
2. Deploy to IIS and grant IIS APPPOOL\... SQL access.
3. Log in against a configured database — Seed scripts.