Host ASP.NET Core on Rocky/RHEL (Apache reverse proxy)
Introduction
This is to prep the Linux server to host Visual Studio code.
This is for either RedHat or Rocky Linux installations.
For this configuration were are installing on a Rocky Linux server.
Platform prep: This page covers platform preparation (runtime, Apache reverse proxy, and systemd basics). For on-prem ADO pipelines, secrets, and troubleshooting, see the sibling page: On-prem ADO → Apache/.NET Kestrel deploy runbook .
Preparation
Make sure that the server is up to date
dnf update -y
Configuration
Install the ASP.NET Core runtime for the target major version (8, 9, or 10)
dnf install aspnetcore-runtime-8.0 -y
Verification
dotnet --info
This should bring back the installation results
Host: Version: 8.0.8 Architecture: x64 Commit: 08338fcaa5 RID: rocky.9-x64
.NET SDKs installed: No SDKs were found.
.NET runtimes installed: Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 8.0.8 [/usr/lib64/dotnet/shared/Microsoft.AspNetCore.App] Microsoft.NETCore.App 8.0.8 [/usr/lib64/dotnet/shared/Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Other architectures found: None
Environment variables: DOTNET_ROOT [/usr/lib64/dotnet]
global.json file: Not found
Learn more: https://aka.ms/dotnet/info
Download .NET: https://aka.ms/dotnet/download
Setup the Project
You will need to SSH to to the Linux server and navigate to the deployment folder.
In our case the project is an API project that is called MyFFLBookAPI
Once in the folder you can start the project this way
cd /var/www/html/api
dotnet MyFFLBookAPI.dll
[/var/www/html/api]# dotnet MyFFLBookAPI.dll warn: Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.KeyManagement.XmlKeyManager[35] No XML encryptor configured. Key {3cacc8f4-baca-4475-9498-610b5e187653} may be persisted to storage in unencrypted form. info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[14] Now listening on: http://localhost:5000 info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[0] Application started. Press Ctrl+C to shut down. info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[0] Hosting environment: Production info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[0] Content root path: /var/www/html/api
As you can see the server started on localhost port 5000. If you wish you can change the port to another if needed.
Simply use the Ctrl+C key to shutdown the project
Change Port
You will need to add an entry for Kestrel to redirect the port after the allowed hosts entry
"AllowedHosts": "*",
"Kestrel": {
"Endpoints": {
"Http": {
"Url": "http://*:8081"
}
}
}
Now to test restart the project
dotnet MyFFLBookAPI.dll
[/var/www/html/api]# dotnet MyFFLBookAPI.dll info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[14] Now listening on: http://[::]:8081 info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[0] Application started. Press Ctrl+C to shut down. info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[0] Hosting environment: Production info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[0] Content root path: /var/www/html/api
Now you can see that is started on the new port 8081
Setup a Service
First you will have the create a unit file for the service by doing the following
vi /lib/systemd/system/myfflbookapi.service
then for the entries within the unit service file
[Unit]
Description=MyFFLBookAPI
[Service]
WorkingDirectory=/var/www/html/api
ExecStart=/usr/bin/dotnet /var/www/html/api/MyFFLBookAPI.dll
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
KillSignal=SIGINT
SyslogIdentifier=myfflbookapi
User=aspnet
Environment=ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Production
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
Once configured you can test the service
To start the service do the following
systemctl start myfflbookapi
Then verify the status of the service
systemctl status myfflbookapi
Results of the above command
* myfflbookapi.service - MyFFLBookAPI Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/myfflbookapi.service; disabled; preset: disabled) Active: active (running) since Sat 2024-08-31 10:14:38 EDT; 6s ago Main PID: 59786 (dotnet) Tasks: 28 (limit: 408004) Memory: 40.5M CPU: 515ms CGroup: /system.slice/myfflbookapi.service `-59786 /usr/bin/dotnet /var/www/html/api/MyFFLBookAPI.dll
Aug 31 10:14:38 sfl-web-001.onling.com systemd[1]: Started MyFFLBookAPI. Aug 31 10:14:38 sfl-web-001.onling.com myfflbookapi[59786]: info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[14] Aug 31 10:14:38 sfl-web-001.onling.com myfflbookapi[59786]: Now listening on: http://[::]:8081 Aug 31 10:14:38 sfl-web-001.onling.com myfflbookapi[59786]: info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[0] Aug 31 10:14:38 sfl-web-001.onling.com myfflbookapi[59786]: Application started. Press Ctrl+C to shut down. Aug 31 10:14:38 sfl-web-001.onling.com myfflbookapi[59786]: info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[0] Aug 31 10:14:38 sfl-web-001.onling.com myfflbookapi[59786]: Hosting environment: Production Aug 31 10:14:38 sfl-web-001.onling.com myfflbookapi[59786]: info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[0] Aug 31 10:14:38 sfl-web-001.onling.com myfflbookapi[59786]: Content root path: /var/www/html/api
As you can see the service is running.
Now you can set the service to auto start on boot
systemctl enable myfflbookapi
It will auto create a link for boot
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/myfflbookapi.service -> /usr/lib/systemd/system/myfflbookapi.service.
Redirecting Ports
in the "/etc/httpd/sites-available" folder you will need to create a file for the website, in our case we will be using "sflservicesllc.io.conf"
cd /etc/httpd/sites-available
Then create the following file
vi sflservicesllc.io.conf
Add the following in the file
ServerName sflservicesllc.io
ServerAlias www.sflservicesllc.io
ProxyPreserveHost On
ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:8081/
ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:8081/
ErrorLog logs/API_error_log
TransferLog logs/API_access_log
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{SERVER_NAME} =sflservicesllc.io
RewriteRule ^ https://%{SERVER_NAME}%{REQUEST_URI} [END,NE,R=permanent]
SSLProxyEngine On
SSLProxyVerify none
SSLProxyCheckPeerCN off
SSLProxyCheckPeerName off
SSLProxyCheckPeerExpire off
#SSLProxyCACertificateFile
ServerName sflservicesllc.io
ServerAlias www.sflservicesllc.io
ProxyPreserveHost On
ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:8081/
ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:8081/
ErrorLog logs/ssl_API_error_log
TransferLog logs/ssl_API_access_log
Now create a link to allow Apache to start the website
cd /etc/httpd/sites-enabled
ln -s /etc/httpd/sites-available/sflservicesllc.io.conf
Then restart the Apache web service
systemctl restart httpd
House notes
Document ASP.NET Core runtimes 8, 9, and 10; SFL-WEB-004 currently has 8.0.30, 9.0.19, and 10.0.11. This is not Visual Studio-only guidance or .NET 8-only guidance.
Behind Apache, proxy to http://127.0.0.1:PORT ; TLS terminates at the edge Apache. Do not default to https://localhost:8081 .
Prefer a dedicated User= account in systemd; User=root is not for production.
The Apache path is /etc/httpd/sites-available (not site-available ).
MyFFLBookAPI is one worked example, not the house standard for every API.
If the TLS edge uses ProxyPass "/.well-known/" "!" for ACME, narrow the exclusion to /.well-known/acme-challenge/ ; a blanket exclusion breaks OpenID discovery/JWKS.
Other Materials
You can also find on the Microsoft web site how to install on different versions other then the ones mentioned here
Install the .NET SDK or the .NET Runtime on RHEL and CentOS Stream