Build NET Core console application to output an EXE

Question

For a console application project targeting  NET Core 1 0  I cannot figure out how to get an  exe to output during build  The project runs fine in debug   I ve tried publishing the project  but that does not work either  It makes sense since an EXE file would be platform-specific  but there must be a way  My searches have only turned up reference to older  NET Core versions that used project json   Whenever I build or publish  this is all I get

User · Accepted Answer

For debugging purposes  you can use the DLL file  You can run it using dotnet ConsoleApp2 dll  If you want to generate an EXE file  you have to generate a self-contained application   To generate a self-contained application  EXE in Windows   you must specify the target runtime  which is specific to the operating system you target    Pre- NET Core 2 0 only  First  add the runtime identifier of the target runtimes in the  csproj file  list of supported RIDs     lt PropertyGroup gt       lt RuntimeIdentifiers gt win10-x64 ubuntu 16 10-x64 lt  RuntimeIdentifiers gt   lt  PropertyGroup gt    The above step is no longer required starting with  NET Core 2 0   Then  set the desired runtime when you publish your application   dotnet publish -c Release -r win10-x64 dotnet publish -c Release -r ubuntu 16 10-x64

User · Answer

The following will produce  in the output directory    all the package references the output assembly the bootstrapping exe   But it does not contain all  NET Core runtime assemblies    lt PropertyGroup gt     lt Temp gt   SolutionDir  packaging  lt  Temp gt   lt  PropertyGroup gt    lt ItemGroup gt     lt BootStrapFiles Include    Temp hostpolicy dll   Temp   ProjectName  exe   Temp hostfxr dll    gt   lt  ItemGroup gt    lt Target Name  GenerateNetcoreExe          AfterTargets  Build          Condition     IsNestedBuild       true   gt     lt RemoveDir Directories    Temp     gt     lt Exec     ConsoleToMSBuild  true      Command  dotnet build   ProjectPath  -r win-x64  p CopyLocalLockFileAssemblies false IsNestedBuild true --output   Temp    gt       lt Output TaskParameter  ConsoleOutput  PropertyName  OutputOfExec    gt     lt  Exec gt     lt Copy     SourceFiles    BootStrapFiles       DestinationFolder    OutputPath       gt    lt  Target gt    I wrapped it up in a sample here  https   github com SimonCropp NetCoreConsole

User · Answer

Here s my hacky workaround - generate a console application   NET Framework  that reads its own name and arguments  and then calls dotnet  nameOfExe  dll  args    Of course this assumes that  NET is installed on the target machine   Here s the code  Feel free to copy   using System  using System Diagnostics  using System Text   namespace dotNetLauncher       class Program                              If you make  NET Core applications  they have to be launched like  NET blah dll args here             This is a convenience EXE file that launches  NET Core applications via name exe             Just rename the output exe to the name of the  NET Core DLL file you wish to launch                    static void Main string   args                        var exePath   AppDomain CurrentDomain BaseDirectory              var exeName   AppDomain CurrentDomain FriendlyName              var assemblyName   exeName Substring 0  exeName Length - 4               StringBuilder passInArgs   new StringBuilder                foreach var arg in args                                bool needsSurroundingQuotes   false                  if  arg Contains         arg Contains                                              passInArgs Append                            needsSurroundingQuotes   true                                    passInArgs Append arg Replace                                if  needsSurroundingQuotes                                        passInArgs Append                                           passInArgs Append                                 string callingArgs        exePath  assemblyName  dll    passInArgs ToString   Trim                   var p   new Process                               StartInfo   new ProcessStartInfo  dotnet   callingArgs                                        UseShellExecute   false                                               p Start                p WaitForExit

User · Answer

If a  bat file is acceptable  you can create a bat file with the same name as the DLL file  and place it in the same folder   then paste in the following content   dotnet   n0 dll      Obviously  this assumes that the machine has  NET Core installed and globally available   c   gt   path to batch file  -args blah    This answer is derived from Chet s comment

User · Answer

UPDATE for  NET 5  The below applies on after NOV2020 when  NET 5 is officially out   see quick terminology section below  not just the How-to s  How-To  CLI  Pre-requisites  Download latest version of the  net 5 SDK  Link  Steps  Open a terminal  e g  bash  command prompt  powershell  and in the same directory as your  csproj file enter the below command   dotnet publish --output  quot  any directory  quot  --runtime  runtime  --configuration  Debug Release  -p PublishSingleFile  true false  -p PublishTrimmed  true false  --self-contained  true false   example  dotnet publish --output  quot c  temp myapp quot  --runtime win-x64 --configuration Release -p PublishSingleFile true -p PublishTrimmed true --self-contained true  How-To  GUI  Pre-requisites  If reading pre NOV2020  Latest version of Visual Studio Preview  If reading NOV2020   Latest version of Visual Studio    In above 2 cases  the latest  net5 SDK will be automatically installed on your PC  Steps  Right-Click on Project  and click Publish   Click Start and choose Folder target  click next and choose Folder   Enter any folder location  and click Finish  Click on Edit   Choose a Target Runtime and tick on Produce Single File and save     Click Publish  Open a terminal in the location you published your app  and run the  exe  Example     A little bit of terminology Target Runtime See the list of RID s Deployment Mode  Framework Dependent means a small  exe file produced but app assumed  Net 5 is installed on the host machine Self contained means a bigger  exe file because the  exe includes the framework but then you can run  exe on any machine  no need for  Net 5 to be pre-installed  NOTE  WHEN USING SELF CONTAINED  ADDITIONAL DEPENDENCIES   dll s  WILL BE PRODUCED  NOT JUST THE  EXE  Enable ReadyToRun compilation TLDR  it s  Net5 s equivalent of Ahead of Time Compilation  AOT   Pre-compiled to native code  app would usually boot up faster  App more performant  or not    depending on many factors  More info here Trim unused assemblies When set to true  dotnet will generate a very lean and small  exe and only include what it needs  Be careful here  Example  when using reflection in your app you probably don t want to set this flag to true  Microsoft Doc  Previous Post UPDATE  31-OCT-2019  For anyone that wants to do this via a GUI and   Is using Visual Studio 2019 Has  NET Core 3 0 installed  included in latest version of Visual Studio 2019  Wants to generate a single file           Note Notice the large file size for such a small application  You can add the  quot PublishTrimmed quot  property  The application will only include components that are used by the application  Caution  don t do this if you are using reflection  Publish again

[.net-core] Build .NET Core console application to output an EXE

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