How to Publish a .NET Application from a Batch Script

@echo off
setlocal

set "project=MyWebApp"
set "config=Release"
set "output=publish"

:: Verify dotnet CLI is available
where dotnet >nul 2>&1
if %errorlevel% neq 0 (
    echo [ERROR] dotnet CLI not found. Install the .NET SDK.
    pause
    exit /b 1
)

echo Publishing %project% (%config%^)...

:: Clean output
if exist "%output%" rmdir /s /q "%output%"

dotnet publish "%project%" -c %config% -o "%output%"

if %errorlevel%==0 (
    echo.
    echo [SUCCESS] Published to: %output%
    echo.
    echo Contents:
    dir /b "%output%\*.dll" "%output%\*.exe" "%output%\*.json" 2>nul
) else (
    echo.
    echo [ERROR] Publish failed.
    exit /b 1
)

pause

@echo off
setlocal

set "project=MyWebApp"
set "config=Release"
set "rid=win-x64"
set "output=publish\%rid%"

echo Publishing self-contained for %rid%...

if exist "%output%" rmdir /s /q "%output%"

dotnet publish "%project%" -c %config% -r %rid% --self-contained -o "%output%"

if %errorlevel%==0 (
    echo.
    echo [SUCCESS] Self-contained publish complete.
    echo Output: %output%
    echo.
    echo The application can run on any Windows x64 machine without .NET installed.
) else (
    echo [ERROR] Publish failed.
    exit /b 1
)

pause

@echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion

set "project=MyConsoleApp"
set "config=Release"
set "rid=win-x64"
set "output=publish\single"

echo Publishing as single file...

if exist "%output%" rmdir /s /q "%output%"

dotnet publish "%project%" -c %config% -r %rid% --self-contained ^
    /p:PublishSingleFile=true ^
    /p:PublishTrimmed=true ^
    /p:IncludeNativeLibrariesForSelfExtract=true ^
    -o "%output%"

if !errorlevel!==0 (
    echo.
    echo [SUCCESS] Single file published.
    for %%F in ("%output%\*.exe") do (
        echo   File: %%~nxF
        echo   Size: %%~zF bytes
    )
) else (
    echo [ERROR] Failed.
    exit /b 1
)

pause

@echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion

:: Configuration
set "project=MyWebApp"
set "config=Release"
set "publish_dir=artifacts\publish"
set "package_dir=artifacts\packages"

:: Verify dotnet CLI
where dotnet >nul 2>&1
if %errorlevel% neq 0 (
    echo [ERROR] dotnet CLI not found.
    exit /b 1
)

echo =============================================
echo   .NET PUBLISH PIPELINE
echo =============================================
echo.

:: Version
set "version=1.0.0"
if exist VERSION (
    set /p "version=" < VERSION
)
set "build=0"
if exist BUILD_NUMBER (
    set /p "build=" < BUILD_NUMBER
)
set /a build+=1
>BUILD_NUMBER echo !build!

set "full_version=!version!.!build!"
echo Version: !full_version!
echo.

:: Stage 1: Clean
echo [1/4] Cleaning...
if exist "%publish_dir%" rmdir /s /q "%publish_dir%"
if exist "%package_dir%" rmdir /s /q "%package_dir%"
mkdir "%publish_dir%"
mkdir "%package_dir%"

dotnet clean "%project%" -c %config% --verbosity quiet >nul 2>&1
echo       Done.

:: Stage 2: Test
echo [2/4] Running tests...
if exist "%project%.Tests" (
    dotnet test "%project%.Tests" -c %config% --verbosity quiet
    if !errorlevel! neq 0 (
        echo       [FAIL] Tests failed. Aborting publish.
        exit /b 1
    )
    echo       Done.
) else (
    echo       No test project found (%project%.Tests^). Skipping.
)

:: Stage 3: Publish
echo [3/4] Publishing...
dotnet publish "%project%" -c %config% -o "%publish_dir%" ^
    /p:Version=!full_version! ^
    /p:AssemblyVersion=!full_version! ^
    /p:InformationalVersion=!full_version!

if !errorlevel! neq 0 (
    echo       [FAIL] Publish failed.
    exit /b 1
)
echo       Done.

:: Add build info
for /f "tokens=2 delims==" %%T in ('wmic os get LocalDateTime /value') do set "dt=%%T"
set "build_date=%dt:~0,4%-%dt:~4,2%-%dt:~6,2% %dt:~8,2%:%dt:~10,2%:%dt:~12,2%"

(
echo version=!full_version!
echo published=!build_date!
echo machine=%COMPUTERNAME%
echo config=%config%
) > "%publish_dir%\build_info.txt"

:: Stage 4: Package
echo [4/4] Packaging...
set "package=%package_dir%\%project%_v!full_version!.zip"

powershell -NoProfile -Command ^
    "try { Compress-Archive -Path '%publish_dir%\*' -DestinationPath '!package!' -Force -ErrorAction Stop; exit 0 }" ^
    "catch { Write-Host ('[ERROR] ' + $_.Exception.Message); exit 1 }"

if !errorlevel! neq 0 (
    echo       [FAIL] Packaging failed.
    exit /b 1
)

for %%F in ("!package!") do set "size=%%~zF"

echo.
echo =============================================
echo   PUBLISH COMPLETE
echo   Version: !full_version!
echo   Output:  %publish_dir%
echo   Package: !package!
echo   Size:    !size! bytes
echo =============================================

pause

@echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion

set "project=MyToolApp"
set "config=Release"
set "output_base=artifacts"

set "platform_count=3"
set "platforms[0]=win-x64"
set "platforms[1]=linux-x64"
set "platforms[2]=osx-x64"

echo =============================================
echo   MULTI-PLATFORM PUBLISH
echo =============================================
echo.

set "success=0"
set "failed=0"
set /a last=platform_count - 1

for /L %%i in (0,1,!last!) do (
    set "rid=!platforms[%%i]!"
    set "out=%output_base%\!rid!"

    echo Building for !rid!...

    if exist "!out!" rmdir /s /q "!out!"

    dotnet publish "%project%" -c %config% -r !rid! --self-contained ^
        /p:PublishSingleFile=true -o "!out!" --verbosity quiet

    if !errorlevel!==0 (
        set /a success+=1
        for %%F in ("!out!\%project%*") do echo   [OK] %%~nxF (%%~zF bytes^)
    ) else (
        set /a failed+=1
        echo   [FAIL]
    )
)

echo.
echo =============================================
echo   RESULTS: !success! succeeded, !failed! failed
echo =============================================

if !failed! gtr 0 exit /b 1
pause

@echo off
setlocal

set "project=MyWebAPI"
set "image_name=mywebapi"
set "publish_dir=publish\docker"

set "version=latest"
if exist VERSION (
    set /p "version=" < VERSION
)

:: Verify Docker is available
where docker >nul 2>&1
if %errorlevel% neq 0 (
    echo [ERROR] Docker not found.
    pause
    exit /b 1
)

if not exist "Dockerfile" (
    echo [ERROR] Dockerfile not found in the current directory.
    pause
    exit /b 1
)

echo Publishing for Docker...

:: Publish for Linux
if exist "%publish_dir%" rmdir /s /q "%publish_dir%"

dotnet publish "%project%" -c Release -r linux-x64 --self-contained -o "%publish_dir%"
if %errorlevel% neq 0 (
    echo [ERROR] dotnet publish failed.
    exit /b 1
)

:: Build Docker image
docker build -t %image_name%:%version% .

if %errorlevel%==0 (
    echo [SUCCESS] Docker image: %image_name%:%version%
) else (
    echo [ERROR] Docker build failed.
    exit /b 1
)

pause

:: WRONG - Debug builds include debug symbols, are not optimized
dotnet publish MyApp -c Debug -o publish

:: PROBLEMATIC - Publishes to a deep nested default path
dotnet publish MyApp -c Release
:: Output goes to bin\Release\net8.0\publish\ (hard to find)