Azure-pipelines-tasks: Support for custom App_Offline.htm file

[kipusoep]

As far as I know there's no option for a custom App_Offline.htm file yet.
Would it be possible to add this feature? Maybe provide the path inside the source repo which html file should be used for App_Offline.htm?

[bryanmacfarlane]

These issues are used to track all the tasks in this repo (/tasks). Which task are you referring to?

[kipusoep]

Sorry about that!
I'm refering to the IISWebAppDeploymentOnMachineGroup task.
Within that task there's an advanced deployment option called Take Application Offline.

[vincent1173]

@kipusoep , thanks for reaching out. This is a valid request and added it in backlog. Not sure about the timeline when it will be picked.

[kipusoep]

I did a quick search how this is done without VSTS, so just plain MsDeploy and it seems there's no native support for having a custom App_Offline.htm file.
The only 'work-around' I found is this:

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

[vincent1173]

@kipusoep ,
MSDEPLOY supports custom app offline feature but it has certain conditions:

• App offline file should exist in the destination server and need to provide relative path.
• Destination provider types are limited (we set dest:auto for MSBuild package, which doesnt support custom app offline feature).
  
  [[Reference](https://blogs.iis.net/msdeploy/webdeploy-3-5-rtw)]

As a workaround, you can try the method you found.

You can also upload the custom app_offline, deploy the package and then remove the uploaded custom file after deployment.

[[Reference](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/web-forms/overview/deployment/advanced-enterprise-web-deployment/taking-web-applications-offline-with-web-deploy#deploying-and-deleting-an-appoffline-file)]

[kipusoep]

@vincentdass thank you for the info, really helpful!

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