Knowledge Base

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====== Single-File / Multi-OS / Multi-Architecture Publishing in .NET ======

===== Walkthrough =====

Assumes .NET 5 or 6. Earlier versions of .NET Core support single file publishing as well, but it’s markedly improved in v5 and v6.

Single file publishing is controlled by three arguments to the dotnet publish command:

^ Argument ^ Description ^
| -r <rid> | Runtime Identifier. Specifies which operating system, operating system version, and architecture to target. |
| –self-contained true | Include all dependencies. This removes the need to have the associated .NET runtime installed on the target machine. |
| /p:PublishSingleFile=true | Bundle the output into a single file. |

For example, the command for publishing to a single file, targeting Windows 10 (64-bit), looks like this:

<code bash>
dotnet publish -c Release -r win10-x64 --self-contained true \
  /p:PublishSingleFile=true
</code>

Targeting other OS/architecture combinations is as simple as replacing the RID value in the command with the RID you want to target.

I’ve tested the following RIDs:

^ RID^ Operating System ^ Architecture ^
| linux-x64 | Linux | 64-bit AMD |
| linux-arm | Linux | 32-bit ARM (This can be used to target Raspberry Pi) |
| osx.10.14-x64 | macOS 10.14 Mojave | 64-bit ARM |
| win10-x64 | Windows 10 | 64-bit AMD |

You can find more information about RIDs in the [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/rid-catalog|.NET Core RID Catalog article]].

===== Results for .NET 5 =====

Technically speaking, the publish command does not produce a “single file” in all cases. Starting with a simple console project named “SingleFilePublish”, the following outputs are produced:

==== Linux ====

One executable:

<code>
SingleFilePublish
</code>

==== Windows ====

5 files, including the executable:

<code>
clrcompression.dll
clrjit.dll
coreclr.dll
mscordaccore.dll
SingleFilePublish.exe
</code>

==== macOS ====

8 files, including the executable:

<code>
libclrjit.dylib
libcoreclr.dylib
libSystem.IO.Compression.Native.dylib
libSystem.Native.dylib
libSystem.Net.Security.Native.dylib
libSystem.Security.Cryptography.Native.Apple.dylib
libSystem.Security.Cryptography.Native.OpenSsl.dylib
SingleFilePublish
</code>

==== Raspberry Pi (32-bit ARM) ====

One executable:

<code>
SingleFilePublish
</code>

===== Results for .NET 6 =====

With .NET 6, it looks like true single-file publishing has been achieved.

==== Linux ====

One executable:

<code>
SingleFilePublish
</code>

==== Windows ====

One executable:

<code>
SingleFilePublish.exe
</code>

==== macOS ====

One executable:

<code>
SingleFilePublish
</code>

==== Raspberry Pi (32-bit ARM) ====

One executable:

<code>
SingleFilePublish
</code>

===== Deployment =====

When you run the **dotnet publish** command, outputs are written to the **bin/Release/net5.0/publish** directory. To deploy, simply copy the contents of this directory to your target machine.

<WRAP center round info 60%>
The publish directory includes a .pdb file, but it’s not required. It just contains debugging information.
</WRAP>

===== Sample Makefile =====

Simplifies the steps described above.

<file make Makefile>
LINUX_RID = linux-x64
LINUX_RID_ARM = linux-arm
MAC_RID = osx.10.14-x64
WINDOWS_RID = win10-x64
CONFIGURATION_ARGS = Release
PUBLISH_ARGS = --self-contained true /p:PublishSingleFile=true
 
default:
	@echo 'Targets:'
	@echo '  run'
	@echo '  run-win'
	@echo '  copy-pi'
	@echo '  publish'
	@echo '  publish-win'
	@echo '  publish-mac'
	@echo '  publish-arm'
	@echo '  clean'
 
run: publish
	./bin/Release/net5.0/linux-x64/publish/SingleFilePublish
 
run-win: publish-win
	wine ./bin/Release/net5.0/win10-x64/publish/SingleFilePublish
 
copy-pi: publish-arm
	scp ./bin/Release/net5.0/linux-arm/publish/SingleFilePublish pi@raspi4-main:/home/pi
 
publish:
	dotnet publish -c $(CONFIGURATION_ARGS) -r $(LINUX_RID) $(PUBLISH_ARGS)
 
publish-win:
	dotnet publish -c $(CONFIGURATION_ARGS) -r $(WINDOWS_RID) $(PUBLISH_ARGS)
 
publish-arm:
	dotnet publish -c $(CONFIGURATION_ARGS) -r $(LINUX_RID_ARM) $(PUBLISH_ARGS)
 
publish-mac:
	dotnet publish -c $(CONFIGURATION_ARGS) -r $(MAC_RID) $(PUBLISH_ARGS)
 
clean:
	-rm -rf bin/
	-rm -rf obj/
</file>

{{tag>cross_platform dotnet}}