How to: Deploy a Two-tier LightSwitch Application

Article
03/27/2017

For the latest documentation on Visual Studio 2017, see Visual Studio 2017 Documentation.

If you deploy a two-tier LightSwitch application, it runs on the end-user’s Windows desktop computer, and the database and server components run on the same computer. The LightSwitch Publish Application Wizard guides you through the deployment process.

To publish a two-tier desktop application

In Solution Explorer, open the shortcut menu for the ProjectName node, where ProjectName is the name of your project, and then choose Publish.

The LightSwitch Publish Application Wizard opens.
On the Application Type page, choose the Complete application option button, and then choose the Next button.
On the Application Server Configuration page, verify that the Local Desktop option button is chosen, and then choose the Next button.
On the Publish Output page, under Where do you want the application files to be placed?, enter the path where you want the publish output to be located.

The default location is the Publish subdirectory under your project directory.
Under How do you want to publish the default database?, choose Publish directly to the database now, and then choose the Next button.

If you prefer to create a database script, choose Create a script to install and configure the database, and then choose the Next button.
If you've enabled authentication for your application, the Application Administrator tab of the Security Settings page appears.

On the Authentication page, choose the Yes, create an Application Administrator option button.
In the User Name box, enter a user name.

If you're using Windows authentication, you should specify a valid Windows logion name in the form Domain\User.
In the Full Name box, enter the full name of the user who'll be the default administrator.

Note

The Full Name box doesn't appear if you're using Windows authentication.
In the Password box, enter a password.

Note

The Password and Confirm Password boxess don't appear if you're using Windows authentication.
In the Confirm Password box, enter the password again.

Make sure that you remember the user name and password because you'll need it later.
If you haven’t enabled authentication, the Digital Signature tab of the Security Settings page appears. This application will run on the desktop, you don't need to specify a certificate.
Choose the Next button to continue.
On the Data Connections page, choose the Database Connections tab, and then, in the Specify the user connection text box, enter a connection string for the computer where you'll deploy the database.

To host the database in the default LocalDB, enter Data Source=(LocalDB)\v11.0;Initial Catalog=ApplicationData;Integrated Security=True. To host the database on a different database server, complete the following procedure:

To change the connection strings
1. Choose the browse (…) button.
  
  The Connection Properties dialog box opens.
2. In the Server name box, enter the name of the database server where you want to publish the application database.
  
  The database server must be pre-configured to have SQL Server 2005 or a later version, or SQL Server 2005 Express or a later version. It does not have to be located on the same server where you are publishing the application.
3. In the Log on to the server section, choose the Use SQL Authentication option button, and then enter a valid User name and Password for the server.
  
  If SQL Server is configured to use Windows Authentication, you can choose the Use Windows Authentication option button instead.
4. In the Select or enter a database name, enter the name of your application, and then choose the OK button.
  
  You must enter the same name that you entered for the Application Name property in the Application Designer.
If you chose to publish directly to the database, in the Publish database schema text box, enter the same connection string.
If you chose to create a script, complete the following procedure.

To create a new database
1. Under Generate the SQL database script, choose the Generate a new database called option button, and then, in the text box, enter the name for your database.
  
  You must specify the same name that you entered for the Application name property in the Client Designer.
To update an existing database
1. Under Generate the SQL database script, choose the Update an existing database option button.
2. Near the Connection String text box, choose the browse (…) button.
  
  The Connection Properties dialog box opens.
3. In the Connection Properties dialog box, enter the connection information for the database, and then choose the OK button.
  
  Note
  
  The connection string can point to a different database as long as the database schema is exactly the same as the database that you want to update.
Choose the Next button to continue.
On the Prerequisites page, in the Does the application have additional prerequisites that need to be installed? section, review the list of prerequisites to determine whether you want to install them.

The prerequisites that are checked are the default prerequisites.
If you want to install additional prerequisites, choose the Yes, I need to specify additional prerequisites option button, and then select the check boxes of the prerequisites to install.
In the Specify the install location for the prerequisites section, if you want to install from a network share, click Download from the following location and enter the path of the location where the installers for the prerequisites are located.

The default choice, Download from the Internet, will download the prerequisites from the Microsoft download site as needed.

You can also choose Copy from the same location as my application. If you choose this option, you will need to make sure that the installers for the prerequisites are located in the application folder. For more information, see How to: Include Prerequisites with a ClickOnce Application.
Choose the Next button to continue.
On the Summary page, choose the Publish button.

When the application is published, the setup files are placed in the directory that you specified for the publish output.
Copy the contents of the publish output directory to each computer where you want to install the application. The following step must be completed before running Setup on the target computer.
1. If you chose the Publish directly to the database now option in Step 5, in the directory that contains the publish output, open the Install.htm file and follow the instructions to configure the target computer.
  
  Note
  
  If you are installing on a computer that has another LightSwitch application installed, the computer is already configured.
2. If you chose the Create a script to install and configure the database option, in the directory that contains the publish output, run the two script (.sql) files to create the database and the default SQL user account for the application.
Users can install the application by running the Setup.exe file.

Note

If you have enabled authentication for your application, the application administrator will have to authorize users before they can run the application. For more information, see How to: Enable Authentication in a Silverlight Client App.

How to: Deploy a Two-tier LightSwitch Application

To publish a two-tier desktop application

To change the connection strings

To create a new database

To update an existing database

See Also

Additional resources