Deploy Using Github Actions - asp.net-core

Question

I am using Github as my source control, and using Github Actions as my CI/CD solution. I have a dedicated Windows Server somewhere, which accepts the published version of my repo.
I have a Github Action, which does Built, Test, Publish and Deploy (using FTP). I am not convinced with the "Deploy" idea. for example lets say my website has a huge codebase, and then FTPing everytime when we make a commit (Push) is NOT really a productive idea (i am publishing the published directory...not the Source Code to my server). Sometimes FTPing simply does not work, due to IIS Locking the files. what is the most reliable way to publish/deploy files to a remote server using Github Actions (or any other provider).
below is my sample Yaml file...
name: .NET Core
on:
push:
branches: [ master ]
pull_request:
branches: [ master ]
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout#v2
- name: Setup .NET Core
uses: actions/setup-dotnet#v1
with:
dotnet-version: 2.1
- name: Install dependencies
run: dotnet restore
- name: Build
run: dotnet build --configuration Release --no-restore
- name: Test
run: dotnet test --no-restore --verbosity normal
- name: Run the Publish
run: dotnet publish --configuration Release --no-restore --output ./publish
- name: FTP-Deploy-Action
uses: sebastianpopp/ftp-action#releases/v2
with:
host: my_host
user: my_user
password: ${{ secrets.FTP_PASSWORD }}
localDir: "/home/runner/work/CiTest/CiTest/CiTest/publish"
remoteDir: "CI-Test"

Answer 1

I wanted to add an answer to this question because Rosco's answer helped me, but I have more to contribute.
We've set up a self-hosted runner on the internal IIS server we want to deploy to. So our GitHub Actions flow looks a bit like yours to begin with (up to the dotnet publish command), but then has some extra bits.
First, still in the cloud, we "upload" artifacts from the build (I'm replacing our project name with "Foo"):
- name: Upload a Build Artifact
uses: actions/upload-artifact#v2.2.1
with:
name: application
path: /home/runner/work/Foo/Foo/Foo/bin/Release/net5.0/publish/
Then we have a whole new job that runs on prem:
deploy:
needs: build
runs-on: self-hosted
steps:
- name: Take application offline
run: New-Item -Type File -Name app_offline.htm -Path E:\Foo -Force
- name: Download new binaries over the top of the app
uses: actions/download-artifact#v2
with:
name: application
path: E:\Foo
- name: Bring the app back online
run: Remove-Item E:\Foo\app_offline.htm
So this creates an app_offline.htm file in our website folder (E:\Foo), then pulls the artifacts down from GitHub directly into that folder. When it's done, it deletes the app_offline.htm file and the site starts again.
It works a treat! Obviously keen to hear feedback from others if you think I'm doing something wrong, but I wanted to get that up here because this question ranks pretty highly when you search for "github actions deploy iis".

Answer 2

Since you have a dedicated server for your application, I would recommend using a Github self-hosted runner.
You install the runner service on your server and then the Github CI/CD build process runs on your dedicated server.
The build script can build your app then stop the IIS site locally which prevents locked files.
After that it can copy (or robocopy) the new build into the app folder.
Gitlab also has self-hosted runners.