# Diagnose deployment failures for ASP.NET Core

## Summary

Deployment diagnostics for a ASP.NET Core app on Ample. Verified on ASP.NET Core: the same app deployed with a deliberate boot failure (CANARY_FAIL=boot): `ample deploy` exited 1 with a coded failure (health_check_failed when the process dies at boot, public_ingress_failed when the framework boots but every request answers 500) and the app's own error line was readable with `ample logs <deployment_id> --kind runtime`, so the cause is read from the framework's output rather than guessed. Build and start: dotnet publish -c Release -o out in the builder, then dotnet <entry>.dll on the dotnet-10 template with ASPNETCORE_URLS bound to PORT.

## Infrastructure requirements

- [Compute](/discover/primitive/compute): verified (Apps run in isolated x86_64 Firecracker microVMs that auto-pause when idle and wake on request; sizes are the priced VM sizes.)

## Prerequisites

- A ASP.NET Core project (dotnet publish -c Release -o out in the builder, then dotnet <entry>.dll on the dotnet-10 template with ASPNETCORE_URLS bound to PORT)
- An Ample account token with servers:write

## Exact tested configuration

- template: `dotnet-10`
- runtime: `dotnet`
- size: `s-1vcpu-1gb`
- build: `dotnet publish -c Release -o out`
- start: `ASPNETCORE_URLS=http://0.0.0.0:$PORT dotnet out/$(basename $(ls out/*.runtimeconfig.json | head -n 1) .runtimeconfig.json).dll`

## Steps

1. **Read the failure code.** Deploy is synchronous. Exit 1 with build_failed means the isolated build failed; health_check_failed means the app built but never answered on PORT (it crashed at boot or bound the wrong port); public_ingress_failed means it answered on PORT but the public URL returned an error status (a request handler or bootstrap failed); exit 2 means a required preflight action is blocking.
2. **Read the build log.** The last lines name the failing command and its output.

```
   ample logs <deployment_id> --kind build
   ```
3. **Read the runtime log.** For health_check_failed the runtime log carries the ASP.NET Core process output: in the verified run the deliberate boot failure's own error line was there, followed by the platform's health-check verdict and the start command it ran.

```
   ample logs <deployment_id> --kind runtime
   ```
4. **Fix and redeploy once.** Change the source, the environment or the command override, then run ample deploy again. Do not loop deploys to poll status; an unchanged redeploy is a no-op.
5. **Verify.** Fetch the live URL on the example; on failure read the build and runtime logs.

```
   ample logs <deployment_id> --kind build
   ```

## Tested examples

- **ASP.NET Core pattern fixture** (tests/deploy-canaries/asp-net-core-patterns): Verified deployment diagnostics on ASP.NET Core.

## Success checks

- failed deploy reports health_check_failed synchronously
- runtime log carries the app's own error line

## Limitations

- Verified on the dotnet-10 template at s-1vcpu-1gb; other sizes and ASP.NET Core major versions are not verified.
- Region, compliance attestations and request-duration limits are unknown and not claimed.

## Cost estimate

Estimated 5.00 USD per month (size prices from pricing.toml at build revision a1b8c38919e59cd035ebabaced73cf84ece24371).
- app server x1 `s-1vcpu-1gb`: 5.00 USD

Always-on monthly price of the tested sizes; apps auto-pause when idle. Buckets are allocation-priced per quota and not included.

## Verification evidence

- canary_run on 2026-09-21T02:23:07Z at revision `50dbac567d2c5cc8e55e6c748a646be0025d9cfb-dirty (CLI 0.1.21)`: ASP.NET Core pattern fixture deployed on Ample with CANARY_FAIL=boot (dotnet publish -c Release -o out in the builder, then dotnet <entry>.dll on the dotnet-10 template with ASPNETCORE_URLS bound to PORT); the same app deployed with a deliberate boot failure (CANARY_FAIL=boot): `ample deploy` exited 1 with a coded failure (health_check_failed when the process dies at boot, public_ingress_failed when the framework boots but every request answers 500) and the app's own error line was readable with `ample logs <deployment_id> --kind runtime`, so the cause is read from the framework's output rather than guessed. (expires 2027-03-20T02:23:07Z)

Last verified: 2026-09-21T02:23:07Z

## Execution binding

No execution binding. This recipe is documentation only; nothing is executed automatically.
