Custom app_offline.htm file during publish

Question

When I publish my ASP.NET MVC application it generates a app_offline.htm file to take the site offline while it updates the website and then deletes the file once the publis

Answer 1

An easy solution that many might find suitable involves simply adding your own file also named "app_offline.htm" to your solution.

I have tested this method, using Visual Studio 2015, and it does indeed work.

However, the only drawback is that during the publishing process, the default generated app_offline.htm file is copied first, then the solution files in what appears to be in/near alphabetical order.

This means that your custom app_offline.htm file quickly (but not instantly) overwrites the system generated file. Therefore the (ugly) system generated copy of app_offline.htm might be served to requests within a 1-2 second window of initiating the publish, before being updated with your custom file.

The publishing process automatically deletes the app_offline.htm from the remote server irrespective of its content or origin.

The advantage is (over replacing the system copy) is that your own copy is portable, is automatically solution-specific, and works with source control.

I know this question is old, but I hope this helps others coping with this issue.