Package Building

ElectronNET.Core integrates with Visual Studio's publishing system to create distributable Electron packages using electron-builder. The process leverages .NET's build system while automatically generating the necessary Electron configuration files.

🎯 Publishing Overview

The publishing process differs slightly between ASP.NET and console applications:

• ASP.NET Apps - Use folder publishing with SelfContained=true
• Console Apps - Use folder publishing with SelfContained=false

🚀 Publishing Process

Step 1: Create Publish Profiles

Add publish profiles to Properties/PublishProfiles/:

ASP.NET Application Profile (Windows)

win-x64.pubxml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project>
  <PropertyGroup>
    <Configuration>Release</Configuration>
    <Platform>Any CPU</Platform>
    <PublishDir>publish\$(Configuration)\$(TargetFramework)\$(RuntimeIdentifier)\</PublishDir>
    <PublishProtocol>FileSystem</PublishProtocol>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
    <RuntimeIdentifier>win-x64</RuntimeIdentifier>
    <SelfContained>true</SelfContained>
    <PublishSingleFile>false</PublishSingleFile>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

ASP.NET Application Profile (Linux)

linux-x64.pubxml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project>
  <PropertyGroup>
    <Configuration>Release</Configuration>
    <Platform>Any CPU</Platform>
    <PublishDir>publish\$(Configuration)\$(TargetFramework)\$(RuntimeIdentifier)\</PublishDir>
    <PublishProtocol>FileSystem</PublishProtocol>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
    <RuntimeIdentifier>linux-x64</RuntimeIdentifier>
    <SelfContained>true</SelfContained>
    <PublishSingleFile>false</PublishSingleFile>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

Console Application Profile (Windows)

win-x64.pubxml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project>
  <PropertyGroup>
    <Configuration>Release</Configuration>
    <Platform>Any CPU</Platform>
    <PublishDir>publish\$(Configuration)\$(TargetFramework)\$(RuntimeIdentifier)\</PublishDir>
    <PublishProtocol>FileSystem</PublishProtocol>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
    <RuntimeIdentifier>win-x64</RuntimeIdentifier>
    <SelfContained>false</SelfContained>
    <PublishSingleFile>false</PublishSingleFile>
    <PublishReadyToRun>false</PublishReadyToRun>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

Console Application Profile (Linux)

linux-x64.pubxml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project>
  <PropertyGroup>
    <Configuration>Release</Configuration>
    <Platform>Any CPU</Platform>
    <PublishDir>publish\$(Configuration)\$(TargetFramework)\$(RuntimeIdentifier)\</PublishDir>
    <PublishProtocol>FileSystem</PublishProtocol>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
    <RuntimeIdentifier>linux-x64</RuntimeIdentifier>
    <SelfContained>false</SelfContained>
    <PublishSingleFile>false</PublishSingleFile>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

Step 2: Configure Electron Builder

ElectronNET.Core automatically adds a default electron-builder.json file under Properties\electron-builder.json.
Please see here for details of the available configuration options: https://www.electron.build/.

Step 3: Publish from Visual Studio

1. Right-click your project in Solution Explorer
2. Select "Publish"
3. Select your publish profile (Windows/Linux)
4. Click "Publish"

The publish process will:

• Build your .NET application
• Copy all files as needed
• Install npm dependencies
• Run electron-builder

Note

When running publish for a Linux configuration on Windows, Electron.NET will automatically use WSL for the platform-specific steps.

After publishing, the final results will be in

publish\Release\netx.0\xxx-xxx\

MacOS

Note

macOS builds can't be created on Windows machines because they require symlinks that aren't supported on Windows (per this Electron issue). macOS builds can be produced on either Linux or macOS machines.

🚀 Next Steps

• Startup Methods - Understanding different launch modes for packaged apps
• Debugging - Debug packaged applications
• Migration Guide - Update existing projects for new publishing

💡 Benefits

✅ Native VS Integration - Use familiar publish workflows
✅ Cross-Platform Building - Build Linux packages from Windows
✅ Automatic Configuration - No manual electron-builder setup
✅ Multiple Package Types - NSIS, AppImage, DMG, etc.
✅ CI/CD Ready - Easy integration with build pipelines