Quick Start-up for .NET Core on Windows and Linux

Introduction

This article will cover the following topics:

• Brief Concepts
• Implementation - Two ways to develop an application in Windows.
• Implementation - Developing application in Windows.
• Implementation - Installing .NET Core on Linux Server (Ubuntu 16.04).
• Implementation - Deploying Application (Created on Windows) on Linux Server (Ubuntu 16.04).
• Implementation - Developing application on Linux.
• Implementation - Developing an MVC application on Windows, using Visual Studio.

Brief Concepts:

What is .NET Core?

• Development platform/framework provided and maintained by Microsoft.

• It supports the following Operating Systems:
• Windows
• MAC
• Linux
• Cloud
• Embedded/IOT scenarios

Features:

• Flexible deployment:

• Can be deployed on all the supported machines.

• Cross-platform:

• Runs on Windows, MAC and Linux; - - will be covered in today’s session.

• Can be ported to other OS. - - will be covered in today’s session.

• Can be installed by any command line tool.

• Compatibility:

• .NET Core is compatible with .NET Framework, Xamarin and Mono, via the .NET Standard Library.

• Open source:

• The .NET Core platform is open source: https://github.com/dotnet/core

.Net Core – Block Diagram:

 

 

 

Implementation (Using Code):

 

Two ways to develop an application in Windows:

• Using Command line.

• Using Visual Studio IDE.

2. Developing applications in Windows:

2.1. Using Command Line - STEPS:

• Download .NET Core SDK for Windows from the prior path.
  
  

• Open cmd.exe / relevant command line tool.

• Follow the below commands to create a sample project and install the .NET Core framework. 

• cd C:\Gourav_Personal\Study Material\.NET CORE\Demo

• mkdir demo1

• cd demo1

• dotnet new

• Restore the packages and run the project.
• dotnet restore
• dotnet run
  
  

Download demo1 attachment for the reference.

2.2. Using Visual Studio - STEPS:

• Install and open VS 2015 with update 3 or above.

• Install .NET Core RC2 Package.

• Create a project.

• Choose .NET Core tab and select Console Application(.NET Core).
  
  

• Write these few lines of codes in program.cs.

• Run the application.

 

Download demo2 attachment for the reference. 

3. Installing .NET Core on Linux Server (Ubuntu 16.04):

• I am using Oracle Virtual Box with Ubuntu 16.04 image on my windows machine to execute this use case.

• Run the following commands to get this working:
• sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://apt-mo.trafficmanager.net/repos/dotnet/ trusty main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/dotnetdev.list'
• sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-keys 417A0893
• sudo apt-get update

• Install the following package on your Linux machine:

• http://packages.ubuntu.com/pl/trusty/amd64/libicu52/download
  
  

• Now, go to the downloaded location and run the following commands:

• sudo dpkg -i libicu52_52.1-3ubuntu0.4_amd64.deb
  
  
  
  
• sudo apt-get install dotnet-sharedframework-microsoft.netcore.app-1.0.0-rc2-3002702
  
  

• sudo apt-get install dotnet-dev-1.0.0-preview2-003121
  
  

4. Deploy Application (Created on Windows) on Linux Server (Ubuntu 16.04):

• Move the demo1 application, attached in the article, into the Linux machine and un-pack it.
• Go to the application location in terminal.
  
  

• Restore the packages and run the project.

• dotnet restore
  
  

• dotnet run
  
  

5. Develop application on Linux:

• Open Terminal.

• Follow the below commands to create a sample project and install the .NET Core.

• cd Downloads

• mkdir demo2

• cd demo2

• dotnet new
  
  

• Restore the packages and run the project.

• dotnet restore

• dotnet run
  
  

6. Develop a MVC application on Windows, using Visual Studio:

• General:

• Open VS 2015 and create Project.
  
  

• Choose Web - > ASP .NET Core Web Application (.NET Core), and Choose template – Empty (To understand the concept clearly).
  
  

• Run the application.
  
  

• Static Files:
• Comment the default code in the StartUp.cs file.
  
  

• Add HTML files in wwwroot folder.
  
  

• Add “Microsoft.AspNetCore.StaticFiles” into the project.json file under the dependencies section.
  
  

• Restore the packages once we save the file in VS 2015.
• Add app.UseStaticFiles() in the startup file into the configure method.
  
  

• Run the application with the static URL. For e.g. http://localhost:50938/Sample.html
  
  

• MVC
• Add “Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc” into the project.json file.
  
  

• Add MVC structure (Add Controllers and Views Folder and default files into that).
  
  

• Add services.AddMvc() in the "ConfigureServices" method into the startup file.
• Add the following code into the "Configure" method related to MVC route.

app.UseMvc(routes =>

{

routes.MapRoute(

name: "default",

template: "{controller}/{action}/{id?}",

defaults: new { controller = "Home", action = "Index" }

 

• Run the application with the MVC URL, e.g., http://localhost:50938/Home/Index
  
  

• Class Library Concept:

• Add Class library for extracting any common code (type .NET Core).
  
  

• Create interface and class, and implement some logic.
  
  

• Mention the entry into the main project's project.json “for the class library” to use it in the main project. For e.g., "ClassLibrary1": "1.0.0-*"
  
  

• Use it as a service in Startup.cs file, using dependency injection concept. For e.g. services.AddSingleton<IInterface, Class1>
  
  

• Implement the same into the controller as "Controller Injection"
  
  

• Run the application with the MVC URL. For e.g. http://localhost:50938/Home/Index
  
  

• Middleware Concept:
• Comment all the code in the "Configure" method into the StartUp.cs file.

• Add Middleware class into the main project.
  
  

• Few changes into the "Invoke" method into the Middleware class, like: 

                  public Task Invoke(HttpContext httpContext)

{

httpContext.Response.WriteAsync("Middleware Output");

return _next(httpContext);

 

• Use the same Middleware class into the startup file. For e.g. app.UseMiddleware();
  
  

• Run the application for e.g. http://localhost:50938
  
  

      Download demo3 attachment for the reference.

 

Point of Interest:

I loved using .NET Core as it allows us to develop applications on any platform. Apart from this, if the application is developed on Windows or Linux, it can be deployed on both of them.

That's an amazing thing offered by Microsoft .

Reference Demos:

I have attached three demo files for the demonstration of the explanation shown in the above article.