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How-to-Deploy-an-IoT-App.md

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How to Deploy an IoT App

This provides information how to prepare a Publish Profile and deploy an application to a development board.

Using Visual Studio

  1. Once you have an application setup in Visual Studio, right-click the project in the Solution Explorer and select Publish...

  2. In the Pick a publish target dialog, select Folder, choose a folder to publish your application files and click Create Profile. The example below shows a path of C:\PublishedApps.

  3. A default profile, FolderProfile.pubxml, will now be created and added to your project. You can view it in the Solution Explorer under your project > Properties > PublishProfiles folder.

  4. It is a good practice to rename your profile to something you can relate with your project. In the Publish Window, click the Actions dropdown and select Rename Profile. A Rename Profile dialog prompts you to rename your profile. Click Save after renaming.

  5. You can configure the profile's settings by clicking Configure... in the Publish Window. A Profile Settings dialog prompt includes a few options. Notes:

    • Prior to Visual Studio 2019, the Target Runtime doesn't offer a selection for Linux ARM or Windows ARM. When using an older version of Visual Studio, you will need to manually open the profile's XML and change the RuntimeIdentifier element to linux-arm or win-arm shown below:

      <RuntimeIdentifier>linux-arm</RuntimeIdentifier>
or..
<RuntimeIdentifier>win-arm</RuntimeIdentifier>
or both..
<RuntimeIdentifiers>linux-arm;win-arm</RuntimeIdentifiers>

    • Deployment Mode Options:

      • Framework Dependent - App relies on the presence of a shared system-wide version of .NET Core on the target system. This will create a smaller size package.
      • Self-contained - .NET Core and required libraries will be bundled with your application creating a larger size package. IoT devices are usually constrained by memory resources. There is a useful NuGet package available that helps trim unused files. Reference Microsoft.Packaging.Tools.Trimming for more information.

    • While there are more options available that can be modified, this only shows the basics. It is recommended to read more in the provided References section below.

  6. You can view the contents by double-clicking the profile. The content should look similar to the XML below after your modifications.

    • Example:

      <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <PublishProtocol>FileSystem</PublishProtocol>
    <Configuration>Release</Configuration>
    <Platform>Any CPU</Platform>
    <TargetFramework>netcoreapp3.1</TargetFramework>
    <PublishDir>C:\PublishedApps</PublishDir>
    <RuntimeIdentifier>linux-arm</RuntimeIdentifier>
    <SelfContained>true</SelfContained>
    <_IsPortable>false</_IsPortable>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

  7. You can now publish your application by clicking Publish in the Publish Window. All folders/files should now be packaged in the specified publish folder.

  8. Your application is now ready for deployment to the target device.

Using .NET Core CLI

  1. Once you have an application setup, navigate to the directory where the project is located and run the dotnet publish command. Below shows a few common options and example.

    • -c defines the build configuration (Debug or Release).

    • -o specifies the output path where application will be packaged.

    • -r publishes the application for given runtime (e.g. linux-arm, win-arm, etc.) being targeted.

      dotnet publish -c Release -o C:\DeviceApiTester -r linux-arm

  2. Your application is now ready for deployment to the target device.

How to Copy an IoT App to Target Device

The application can be deployed to a target device once the Publish Profile and related files have been packaged. There are various tools for transferring files depending on the platform being used. Below are a few popular tools available.

References