How to Deploy an ASP.NET Application in Plesk

Deploying an ASP.NET application on Domain India Windows hosting means three things: build it on your own computer, copy the output into your site's httpdocs folder, and make sure IIS runs it with the right settings in web.config. This guide covers both modern .NET (ASP.NET Core) and the older .NET Framework, using the two upload routes that work on every Windows plan: FTP and the Plesk File Manager.

1. What you need before you start

• A Domain India Windows (ASP.NET) hosting plan. Plesk is the control panel on every Windows plan.
• Your application building cleanly on your own computer.
• Your FTP details or one-click Plesk access from the client area. Open your hosting services, pick the Windows service and use the Plesk button. See how to log in to Plesk if that doesn't sign you in.
• A database, if your app needs one. Create it in Plesk first; see creating an MSSQL database in Plesk.

2. ASP.NET Core or .NET Framework: know which one you have

The deploy steps differ, so check your project file first.

3. Build (publish) the app on your computer

Never upload your source folder. Upload the published output: the compiled DLLs, views, static files and web.config.

ASP.NET Core, from the project folder:

dotnet publish -c Release -o ./publish

This makes a framework-dependent build, which uses the .NET runtime already on the server and is small to upload. If the server doesn't have the runtime your app targets, either retarget to an installed version or publish self-contained for Windows:

dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true -o ./publish

A self-contained build is much larger, but it carries its own runtime.

.NET Framework in Visual Studio: right-click the project, choose Publish, pick Folder as the target, and publish in the Release configuration. Upload the contents of that folder.

4. Upload the files

Your website's root folder in Plesk is httpdocs. Whatever is directly inside it is served at https://yourdomain.com/.

There is no SSH, SFTP or Git over SSH on Windows hosting, and implicit FTPS on port 990 is not available. The full port list is in Domain India port numbers.

5. web.config basics

web.config is the file IIS reads to decide how to run your site. It is XML, so one missing > or an unclosed tag breaks the whole site with a 500 error.

ASP.NET Core. dotnet publish writes a web.config like this. Keep it, and check the DLL name:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
  <location path="." inheritInChildApplications="false">
    <system.webServer>
      <handlers>
        <add name="aspNetCore" path="*" verb="*" modules="AspNetCoreModuleV2" resourceType="Unspecified" />
      </handlers>
      <aspNetCore processPath="dotnet" arguments=".\MyApp.dll"
                  stdoutLogEnabled="false" stdoutLogFile=".\logs\stdout"
                  hostingModel="inprocess" />
    </system.webServer>
  </location>
</configuration>

For a self-contained build, processPath is .\MyApp.exe and arguments is empty.

Setting the environment. ASP.NET Core defaults to Production when nothing is set. To set it, or any other variable, add this inside the aspNetCore element:

<environmentVariables>
  <environmentVariable name="ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT" value="Production" />
</environmentVariables>

.NET Framework. Settings live under system.web, and IIS settings under system.webServer. The most common edit is the connection string (next section).

6. Connect to your database

Create the database and its user in Plesk first. Then put the connection string in appsettings.json (ASP.NET Core) or web.config (.NET Framework):

<connectionStrings>
  <add name="DefaultConnection"
       connectionString="Server=DB_HOST;Database=DB_NAME;User Id=DB_USER;Password=DB_PASSWORD;"
       providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />
</connectionStrings>

Use the database server name exactly as Plesk shows it in the database's connection details; it isn't always localhost. Your app should connect from the hosting server itself. More detail is in what to use for an MSSQL connection string.

7. Updating a live application safely

While your app runs, IIS keeps its DLLs open, so FTP may refuse to overwrite them. The clean fix is app_offline.htm:

Changing web.config also restarts the application. If your plan gives you application pool controls, you can recycle the pool instead; see the IIS application pools guide.

8. When the site doesn't start

To read the ASP.NET Core startup error, set stdoutLogEnabled="true" in web.config, create an empty logs folder inside httpdocs, reload the site and download the newest file from logs. Turn it back to false afterwards, because the log grows with every start. For 503 errors see resolving 503 errors on IIS, and for finding logs in general see checking Plesk logs.

9. Where Domain India Windows hosting fits

Windows hosting is for ASP.NET, .NET Framework, classic ASP and MSSQL projects managed through Plesk. If your app is Node.js, Python or PHP, Linux hosting or the App Platform is usually a better fit.

Compare plan limits (websites, MSSQL databases, storage) on Windows hosting. New shared hosting purchases, Windows included, have a full refund within 30 days under our refund policy. For an overview of Plesk on Windows, read the Plesk Windows hosting guide.

Ready to host your .NET application? Compare the Windows hosting plans, or open a support ticket if a deployment gets stuck. Support is on 24/7 live chat, and tickets get a first response within 15 minutes.