How To Publish A Web App with An API Site and Small SQL DB

Question

How To Publish A Web App with An API Site and Small SQL DB

helpdesk 1

Using VS 2019 (all we can run on this server) Connected once a week back during a trial and got a few errors. Now we can only connect the API portion as the rest doesnt offer publishing. Also, confused as to the SQL portion.

Golla Venkata Pavani 2,160 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-05T17:49:36.1+00:00
Hi @helpdesk,

Thank you for reaching us regarding you are trying to publish your ASP.NET web app (front-end), Web API (separate project or integrated), and connect to a small Azure SQL Database using Visual Studio 2019.

Prerequisites:Visual Studio 2019 with Azure development and ASP.NET and web development workloads installed.

An active Azure subscription (trial or paid).

Please follow the below steps to publish your web app.

Publish Web App + API

Right-click your main web project (or each if separate) > Publish

Choose Folder > select output folder > Publish

Copy the published files to your server (e.g., IIS wwwroot folder)

In IIS: Add website > point to folder > set correct .NET app pool

Deploy SQL Database separately

From local/dev DB: Use SSMS > right-click DB > Tasks > Generate Scripts (include schema + data)

Or create a Database Project in VS > build > generate .dacpac

On server: Run the SQL script in SSMS, or use sqlpackage.exe to deploy DACPAC > create tables/data

Update connection string

On server: Edit web.config (or appsettings.json)

Replace connection string with your server’s DB details (server name, DB name, login/password)

Restart IIS app pool or site

Please check

If Publish option missing for web project > ensure it’s an ASP.NET Web Application (has web.config, not class library)

Use EF migrations? Run Update-Database manually on server after connection string update (or enable in code)

Reference:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/app-service/app-service-web-tutorial-dotnet-sqldatabase
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/app-service/quickstart-dotnetcore?tabs=net10&pivots=development-environment-vs
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/deployment/quickstart-deploy-aspnet-web-app?view=visualstudio

Kindly let us know if the above helps or you need further assistance on this issue.

Please "upvote" if the information helped you. This will help us and others in the community as well.
Golla Venkata Pavani 2,160 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-06T20:07:43.85+00:00

Hi @HelpDesk ,

I'm just reaching out to see if your issue has been resolved or if you've had a chance to review my previous comment?

1 answer

Your answer

Golla Venkata Pavani 2,160 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-06T20:07:43.85+00:00

Hi @HelpDesk ,

I'm just reaching out to see if your issue has been resolved or if you've had a chance to review my previous comment?

Answer 1

Hi ,

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A.

Publish it in three parts, because VS'19 deploys the web layer and db differently.

From VS'19, publish the web app and API as one solution using publish profiles (right-click project -> publish -> folder, IIS, or Web Deploy depending on your server). If only the API shows publish options, check that the web project is set as an ASP.NET web project (not a class library) and has a valid web.config. For the database, VS does not deploy SQL automatically unless you use a database project. Export the schema as a SQL script or DACPAC, copy it to the server, and run it in SQL Server Management Studio to create tables and data. Then update the connection string in web.config on the server to point to that database.

In short: publish the site/API from VS, deploy the SQL separately via script or DACPAC, then fix the connection string on the server. If you want, tell me your server type (IIS? shared hosting? local VM?) and I will give the exact steps.

Please 'Upvote'(Thumbs-up) and 'Accept' as answer if the reply was helpful. This will be benefitting other community members who face the same issue.

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How To Publish A Web App with An API Site and Small SQL DB

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