Teams shipping ASP.NET Core applications need pipelines that catch issues early and deploy consistently. The current .NET 10 release emphasizes smaller binaries and improved CLI tooling that integrate cleanly into automated flows.

Focus on three repeatable stages: build and test, artifact packaging, and targeted deployment to IIS. Each stage produces verifiable outputs that support quick rollbacks when needed.

#Build and Test Automation

Start every run with the .NET CLI to restore, build, and run tests. Use the --configuration Release flag and capture test results in a standard format that your CI system can parse.

bash 
dotnet restore
dotnet build --configuration Release --no-restore
dotnet test --configuration Release --no-build --logger trx

#IIS Deployment Steps

  • Publish the application with dotnet publish -c Release -o ./publish
  • Copy the publish folder to the target server using a secure file transfer step
  • Stop the application pool, replace files, then start the pool again
  • Run EF Core migrations via a dedicated script executed under a service account

#Monitoring and Rollback

Instrument applications with built-in logging and health check endpoints. Configure alerts on error rates and response times so issues surface within minutes of deployment.

Maintain the previous publish folder on disk. A rollback consists of stopping the pool, swapping folders, and restarting. This approach avoids complex container orchestration while still providing fast recovery.

#Practical Takeaway

Keep pipelines linear and deterministic. Store connection strings and app settings outside the repository, inject them at deploy time, and verify each stage produces an artifact that can be redeployed independently.