Hosting a Snitz Forum (shared hosting)

Step 1: Upload Files

• Connect via FTP or the host’s file manager.

• Upload the published files into the root folder (often wwwroot or a special folder like /site/wwwroot).

• If your host requires a sub‑application folder, place files there.

Step 2: Configure Startup

• Most shared hosts auto‑detect ASP.NET Core apps using the web.config file generated during publish.

• Ensure your web.config contains:

  <aspNetCore processPath="dotnet" arguments=".\SnitzForum.dll" stdoutLogEnabled="true" stdoutLogFile=".\logs\stdout" hostingModel="InProcess" />
  

• If your host doesn’t allow InProcess, switch to OutOfProcess and use Kestrel behind IIS.

Step 3: Verify

• Visit your domain. If you see a 500 error, check:

  • The host supports your runtime version.

  • Your deployment mode (portable vs self‑contained).

  • Logs in the /logs folder (enable stdoutLogEnabled in web.config).

Common Shared Hosting Gotchas

• Runtime mismatch → Your app targets .NET 8, but host only supports .NET 6.

• Permissions → Make sure logs folder has write permissions.

• Timeouts → Shared hosting often limits long‑running processes.

• No IIS Manager → You can’t tweak app pools; rely on host defaults.

If you want fewer headaches, use Self‑Contained Deployment — it makes your app independent of the host’s runtime version. Downside: larger upload size.