Download Publish Profile From Visual Studio 2017: .NET Core Quick Posts

Today, we will see how to download the publishSettings file from Visual Studio 2017.

What Is a PublishSettings File?

• Whenever you deploy your applications or services using the Azure App Service, all the details of your deployment are stored in the Publish profile; this is nothing but the .publishSettings file.
• You can use this file whenever you want to deploy your application or service on the same services.

• This is an XML file with all the required information, like:

  • Server Name
  • Username
  • Subscription ID and name
  • ServiceManagementUrl
  • Password of the Web host (as of now, it is Azure)
  • Management Certificate
• It also contains a management certificate which can be used to authenticate Windows Azure Service Management API requests.

So, if you create an application or services directly on the Azure App Service then you need to download the Publish profile from the Azure portal.

But you can download Publish Profile (.publishSettings file) directly from the Visual Studio 2017.

For this, click on View tab -> Cloud Explorer:

Connect with your Azure subscription and select your app service for which you require the Publish profile.

Right-click on the App service, here you'll see the Download Publish Profile link:

Once you click on this link, it will download the .publishSettings file. You can use this file when you want to Publish your application for the same App Service.

At the time of publishing, right click on the solution -> Click on Publish -> Select Import Profile:

Click on Publish -> Upload the .publishSettings file here. This will be very useful for your future deployments for the same App service.

Security Note: The publish settings files contain a management certificate that is encoded, but not encrypted. If malicious users access your publish settings file, they might be able to edit, create, and delete your Azure services. As a security best practice, save the file to a location in your Downloads or Documents folder and then delete it after using

Hope it helps.

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