How to: Deploy a LightSwitch OData Service

Article
03/27/2017

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

By publishing a LightSwitch application as a service, you can use it as the middle tier to provide data to other applications. You can host services on Microsoft Azure or Internet Information Services (IIS). For more information about how to deploy a service to Azure, see How to: Host an Application on Microsoft Azure.

You can use the LightSwitch Publish Application Wizard to deploy a service by either publishing or packaging it.

If you publish a service, client computers can access it immediately after you complete the wizard. The installation automatically deploys the database schema to SQL Server. To publish a service, you must have administrative access to both the web server and the database server, and you must provision the web server for LightSwitch. See How to: Configure a Server to Host LightSwitch Applications.
If you package an application, you must compress (zip) everything that’s required to run the service in a folder. A server administrator must also install the service and make it available. See How to: Install a LightSwitch Application on a Server.

To publish a service

In Solution Explorer, choose the ProjectName node, where ProjectName is the name of your project.
On the menu bar, choose Build, PublishApplicationName.

The LightSwitch Publish Application Wizard appears.
On the Application Type page, choose the Web service only option button, and then choose the Next button.
On the Application Server Configuration page, choose the IIS Server option button.

Note

If you have a publish settings file (.publishsettings or .pubxml) that was created for another service, you can use that file to provide the rest of the information that you need for deployment. Choose the Import Settings button to specify a publish settings file.
Choose the Next button, and then, on the Publish Output page, choose the Remotely publish to a server now option button.

The Details section appears.
In the Service URL text box, enter the Uniform Resource Locater (URL) for the server that’s running IIS.
In the Site/Application text box, enter a path for the webpage that’s used to host the application manifest.

This path is typically Default Web Site/ServiceName, where ServiceName is the name of your application.
In the User Name and Password text boxes, enter your IIS credentials, and then choose the Next button.
If the Application Administrator tab of the Security Settings page appears, enter a valid User Name, Full Name, and Password for the user who'll be the initial application administrator, and then choose the HTTPS tab.

Note

When you publish updates, the application administrator already exists. Select the No, an Application Administrator already exists check box to skip this step.
On the HTTPS tab of the Security Settings page, choose Yes to require a secure HTTPS connection, or choose No if your application doesn’t need a secure connection.

See Security Considerations for LightSwitch.
Choose the Next button to open the Data Connections page of the wizard.
On the Database Connections tab, enter the administrator and user connection strings for the database server where you want to publish the application database, and then choose the Attached Data Sources tab.

Note

When you publish updates, you don't need to republish the database unless you have changed the schema. To prevent the database from being republished, clear the Publish database schema check box.

The database server must be running a compatible version of SQL Server, such as SQL Server 2005 or SQL Server 2005 Express. You don’t need to publish the application to the database server.

Note

The user connection string can’t use Integrated Security; you must specify a valid user name and password for the connection.
On the Attached Data Sources tab, update the connection strings for any additional connections as needed, choose the Next button, and then choose the Publish button.

When the service is published, other applications can access it from the website specified by the Site/Application name plus ServiceName.svc, where ServiceName is the name of a data source that your service exposes.

To package a service

In Solution Explorer, choose the ProjectName node, where ProjectName is the name of your project.
On the menu bar, choose Build, PublishApplicationName.

The LightSwitch Publish Application Wizard appears.
On the Application Type page, choose the Web service only option button, and then choose the Next button.
On the Application Server Configuration page, choose the IIS Server option button.

Note

If you have a publish settings file (.publishsettings or .pubxml) that was created for another application, you can use that file to provide the rest of the information that you need for deployment. Choose the Import Settings button to specify a publish settings file.
Choose the Next button, and then, on the Publish Output page, choose the Create a package on disk option button.
In the What should the website be named? text box, enter a name for the website that will host the service.

By default, the name of the website is the application name.
In the Where should the package be created? text box, enter the UNC path for the location where you want the output to be published.

By default, the output is published in the Publish subdirectory under your project directory.
If the Application Administrator tab of the Security Settings page will appear. Enter a valid User Name, Full Name, and Password for the user who will be the initial application administrator, and then choose the HTTPS tab.

Note

When you publish updates, the application administrator already exists. Select the No, an Application Administrator already exists check box to skip this step.
On the HTTPS tab of the Security Settings page, choose Yes to require a secure HTTPS connection, or choose No if your application doesn’t need a secure connection.

See Security Considerations for LightSwitch.
Choose the Next button, and then, on the Database Connections tab of the Data Connections page of the wizard, select the Generate the SQL database script option button, and then enter a name for the database.

You must specify the same name that you entered for the Application Name property in the Application Designer.

Note

If the database already exists on the server, choose the Generate a new database called option button, and then enter the connection string for that database. If you don’t have access to the server, you can enter a connection string for another database that has the same schema as the database on the server.

Note

When you publish an update, you don't need to republish the database unless you’ve changed the schema. To prevent the database from being republished, clear the Generate the SQL database script check box.
On the Attached Data Sources tab, update the connection strings for any additional connections as needed, choose the Next button, and then choose the Publish button.

When the service is published, a .zip file that contains the package is placed in the directory that you specified for the publish output. After this package has been created, a server administrator can use the MSDeploy tool to deploy the service to servers that are running IIS and SQL Server. See How to: Install a LightSwitch Application on a Server.

When the service is deployed, other applications can access it from the website specified by the Site/Application name plus ServiceName.svc, where ServiceName is the name of a data source that your service exposes.

Note

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

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How to: Deploy a LightSwitch OData Service

To publish a service

To package a service

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