When using .NET and Docker some folks have been confused by the number of available images. To understand what each images is for, you need to understand the two different ways that you can choose to deploy a .NET Core application as well as some of the different ways people use containers.
Let's start with the different ways you can deploy .NET apps:
-
Portable
This is the default way to deploy and run an ASP.NET Core application. When you build a portable application then the output of
dotnet publish
is a.dll
that you can run usingdotnet <appName>.dll
. However, you don't need the entire CLI just to run your already built.dll
. You don't need restore, build, etc. You only need the dotnet command that can run your app. -
Standalone