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A Blazor Web App runs on Sevalla as an ASP.NET Core application: Ingot, Sevalla’s builder, publishes it with the .NET SDK, and the web process runs dotnet /app/Storefront.dll on Microsoft’s ASP.NET Core runtime image, listening on the port that Sevalla sets in the PORT environment variable. With interactive server rendering, each browser tab keeps a SignalR connection over a WebSocket, called a circuit, to the instance that runs its components. This guide deploys the .NET 10 Blazor template with a form, keeps the application’s Data Protection keys in a Sevalla PostgreSQL database so forms and cookies survive deployments, and explains why the web process runs one instance.

At a glance

Environment variables

Before you begin

  • A Sevalla company with a payment method, and a GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket account for the repository. See Git providers.
  • The .NET 10 SDK on your computer: dotnet --version prints 10.0.100 or later. .NET 10 is the current long-term support release; see Deploy an ASP.NET Core application for why this guide uses it.

Create the project

Create a Blazor Web App named Storefront whose interactive components run on the server:
The template’s Counter page is an interactive server component: each click on Click me goes to the server over the circuit’s WebSocket. Add a page with a form that Blazor renders on the server without a circuit, and protects with an antiforgery token:
Components/Pages/Subscribe.razor

Keep the Data Protection keys in PostgreSQL

ASP.NET Core encrypts antiforgery tokens, authentication cookies and the state of prerendered interactive components with its Data Protection keys. By default, each instance creates its own keys in its home folder, which every deployment and restart discards. A form that a visitor loaded before a deployment then fails after it: the post returns 400 with an empty page, because the new instance can’t read the token. At start, the runtime logs warn about it:
Runtime logs
Store the keys in the database instead, with Entity Framework Core (EF Core). Add the packages and the EF Core command-line tool:
Add a database context for the keys:
KeysDb.cs
In Program.cs, add the using lines at the top and the connection, the context and the key storage before AddRazorComponents. The rest is the template’s:
Program.cs
ASP.NET Core reads environment variables into its configuration, so config["DB_HOST"] is the DB_HOST variable. Npgsql takes a connection string of keys and values rather than the postgres:// URL in DB_URL, so the code builds one from the separate variables. Create the migration that adds the DataProtectionKeys table, then write the lock file of the exact package versions:
With the keys in the database, the warning is gone. ASP.NET Core still logs No XML encryptor configured when it creates a key: it stores the keys unencrypted, so anyone who can read the database can read them. Keep the database’s credentials as private as the keys themselves.

Prepare the project for Sevalla

The migrations run from a migrations bundle: a single executable that dotnet ef builds next to the application, which applies the pending migrations and needs neither the SDK nor the source. Ingot’s own build step publishes the application only, so tell it to build the bundle too, in an ingot.json file at the root of the repository:
ingot.json
A custom build command must publish to /app/publish: Ingot copies that folder to /app in the image, so the bundle runs as /app/efbundle. See Configure the build. Ingot needs no other configuration. It detects ASP.NET Core and, in the image it builds, points ASPNETCORE_HTTP_PORTS at the PORT variable, so Kestrel listens on the web process’s port, 8080 by default, and sets ASPNETCORE_FORWARDEDHEADERS_ENABLED=true, so the application takes the scheme from the X-Forwarded-Proto header of Sevalla’s proxy: requests are HTTPS, and the template’s UseHttpsRedirection and UseHsts work without a redirect loop. Commit everything and push it to your Git provider:

Deploy to Sevalla

These steps build with Ingot. To build from your own Dockerfile instead, see Deploy with a Dockerfile.
1

Create the database

In the sidebar, click Databases, then click Create database. Under Database, choose PostgreSQL and the newest version. Enter orders-db as the Display name, choose a Data center and a Size, then click Create database. See Create a database for every field.
2

Create the application

In the sidebar, click Applications, then click Create > Application. Under Source, click Private repository, then choose the Git provider, the Repository and the Branch. Under Location, choose the same Data center as the database. Keep the Size at H1 or choose a larger one, then click Create application. The application opens on its Overview tab with the status Not deployed yet: creating an application doesn’t deploy it.
3

Connect the database

Click the Networking tab. Under Connected services, click Add internal connection. Choose orders-db as the Service, turn on Add environment variables to the application, and click Add internal connection. Sevalla adds DB_HOST, DB_PORT, DB_DATABASE, DB_USERNAME, DB_PASSWORD and DB_URL to the application. See Connect an application.
4

Create the migration job

Click the Processes tab, then click Create process. Choose Job, enter Migrate as the Name and /app/efbundle as the Custom start command. Keep the Start policy at Before deployment and the Resource at H1, then click Create process.
5

Deploy

Click the Overview tab, then click Deploy now under Recent deployments. Check the Branch and click Deploy.
6

Turn on auto-deploy

To deploy every push to the branch automatically, click the Settings tab, then click Update auto-deploy in the Auto-deploy section. Turn on Auto-deploy and click Update auto-deploy. See Deployments.

Verify the deployment

  1. On the Deployments tab, click the deployment. Its Build log shows Ingot’s build plan: .NET 10 from the project’s TargetFramework, ASP.NET Core and the start command.
    Build log
    During the rollout, the build log shows Migrate has been successful. If the job fails, the deployment fails and the previous version keeps running.
  2. Wait for the deployment’s status to change to Deployed, then click the domain under the application’s name, for example storefront-x7k2m.sevalla.app. The template’s home page shows Hello, world!.
  3. Click Counter, then click Click me three times. The page shows Current count: 3: the clicks reached the server over a WebSocket to wss://storefront-x7k2m.sevalla.app/_blazor, which Sevalla’s proxy passes through with no settings.
  4. Add /subscribe to the address, enter an email address and click Subscribe. The page shows Thanks, ana@example.com is subscribed. Load the form again, deploy, then submit it: it still works, because the new instance reads the keys from the database.
The application header with its name, Running status, repository, branch and the domain that opens the applicationThe application header with its name, Running status, repository, branch and the domain that opens the application
If the deployment fails, read its build log, then see Troubleshoot Ingot builds. To check the deployment from a terminal or an AI agent, read its status with Get deployment (getDeploymentV3) until it’s success, and its build log with Get application deployment logs (getApplicationDeploymentLogsV3), as in Deploy with the API. Then ask for a circuit the way the browser does: the negotiate request lists the transports the server offers, WebSockets first:
Get application runtime logs (getApplicationRuntimeLogsV3) with search finds the migration that the Migrate job applied:
The migration’s name starts with the time you created it, so yours differs.

Run one instance

Keep the web process at 1 instance, and give it a larger size when it needs more capacity. A circuit lives in the memory of one instance, and SignalR opens it with two requests: a POST to /_blazor/negotiate, then the WebSocket. Sevalla’s proxy has no sticky sessions, so with 2 or more instances the two requests can reach different instances. Every page load where they do fails to connect (4 of 8 in a test with 2 instances), and the browser’s console shows:
Browser console
To run several instances, render the interactive components with WebAssembly instead (--interactivity WebAssembly when you create the project): they run in the browser and need no circuit. Azure SignalR Service, Microsoft’s other answer to scaling out Blazor Server, is outside the scope of this guide. A deployment replaces the instance, so it ends every open circuit. The template’s reconnection dialog tries to rejoin, the new instance rejects the unknown circuit, and the page reloads: the state of interactive components, such as the counter, starts over.

Deploy with a Dockerfile

Ingot needs no Dockerfile. Write one when you want full control of the image: the base image, system packages and every layer. Add a Dockerfile and a .dockerignore to the root of the repository:
Dockerfile
.dockerignore
The template ships Bootstrap with its source maps, 6 MB that the application doesn’t need, so .dockerignore leaves them out of the image. Commit and push both files. Ingot doesn’t use the Dockerfile, so you can keep it in a repository that builds with Ingot, but it adds the .dockerignore patterns to its own (its build plan shows Ignored 10 patterns from .dockerignore), and the Ingot build passes with this file. Then switch the application to the Dockerfile build strategy:
1

Choose the Dockerfile build strategy

On the application’s Settings tab, in the Build strategy section, click Update build strategy. Click Dockerfile, keep the Dockerfile path Dockerfile and the Docker context ., then click Update build strategy.
2

Deploy

Click the Overview tab, then click Deploy now under Recent deployments. Check the Branch and click Deploy.
The build log starts the build with 📦 Building and pushing docker image using Dockerfile... instead of Ingot’s build plan, and still shows Migrate has been successful. The Counter and Subscribe pages work as in Verify the deployment, and a form loaded before the deployment still submits. The deployment’s Dockerfile tab shows the file the image was built from. When you push a change to the code only, the build log shows CACHED for the dotnet restore step. With the API, Update application (updateApplicationV3) switches the build strategy. Then deploy and wait as in Deploy with the API:
The CLI does the same with sevalla apps update $APP_ID --build-type dockerfile --dockerfile-path Dockerfile. The new deployment’s build log names the Dockerfile build:

Deploy changes

With Auto-deploy on, every push to the branch starts a deployment; otherwise, click Deploy now for each change. Each deployment builds the image, runs the Migrate job, then replaces the web process’s instance, which ends the open circuits. Without a readiness probe, the new instance gets requests as soon as its container starts, a moment before Kestrel listens, and they fail with 503: turn on a readiness probe with the Path /. The probe calls the instance over plain HTTP, so each instance logs Failed to determine the https port for redirect. once; the warning is harmless. To add tables, add a DbSet to a context, run dotnet ef migrations add <Name> locally and commit the new files in Migrations/. When you add or update a package, dotnet add package updates packages.lock.json: commit it too. See Deployments.

Use environment variables

Add variables on the application’s Environment variables tab; they apply at the next deployment. ASP.NET Core reads every environment variable into its configuration: read PAYMENT_API_URL with builder.Configuration["PAYMENT_API_URL"], or inject IConfiguration into a component, and write a nested setting such as ConnectionStrings:Default as ConnectionStrings__Default. See Environment variables.

Add a custom domain

To serve the application from your own domain, such as shop.example.com, add the domain on the application’s Domains tab and create the DNS records that Sevalla shows. The template allows every host and SignalR accepts the connection on any domain the application serves, so the application needs no change. Custom domains need a web process larger than H1, so scale the web process first. See Custom domains.

Troubleshoot

For more causes, see Troubleshoot Ingot builds.

Deploy with the API

These calls make the same deployment as Deploy to Sevalla, in an order that a script or an AI agent runs as it is. Each step names the Sevalla API operation, then the CLI command and the MCP server tool that do the same. You need:
  • An API key with the Company developer role, or the APP:CREATE, APP:READ, APP:UPDATE, DATABASE:CREATE, DATABASE:READ and DATABASE:UPDATE permissions, in the SEVALLA_API_KEY environment variable. The CLI reads the key from SEVALLA_API_TOKEN.
  • The repository on a Git provider that’s connected to your Sevalla account. See Git providers. Creating the application checks it: when Sevalla can’t read the repository, the call returns 400 with Cannot access repository https://github.com/acme/storefront: Repository not found or you don't have access., followed by where to grant access.
  • curl, jq and openssl.
1

Choose the location

List clusters (listClustersV3) returns the locations your company can use, each with its id, the display_name that the dashboard shows and its region ID in location. Keep the ID of the one you want by its region ID, such as eu-frankfurt-1 for Frankfurt, Germany. Locations lists them all. The database and the application must be in the same location:
CLI: sevalla resources clusters. MCP: get_platform_options.
2

Find the newest PostgreSQL version

List database versions (listDatabaseVersionsV3) returns the versions you can create in the location:
CLI: sevalla resources db-versions --cluster $CLUSTER_ID --type postgresql. MCP: create_database picks the newest version when you leave version out.
3

Find the DB1 size

List database resource types (listDatabaseResourceTypesV3) returns the database sizes by name. DB1, the smallest, is the dashboard’s default:
CLI: sevalla resources db-types. MCP: get_platform_options.
4

Create the database

Create database (createDatabaseV3) needs a password: generate one and keep it, because Get database (getDatabaseV3) doesn’t return it. The call returns at once, with the status creating:
CLI: sevalla databases create --name orders-db --type postgresql --db-version $PG_VERSION --cluster $CLUSTER_ID --resource-type $DB_SIZE_ID --db-name orders --db-user storefront --db-password $DB_PASSWORD. MCP: create_database, which generates the password and doesn’t return it, so use this call when the application needs the password itself.
5

Wait for the database

Get database (getDatabaseV3) returns the status, creating and then ready once the database accepts connections, and the internal hostname and port that the application connects to:
CLI: sevalla databases get $DB_ID. MCP: get_database.
6

Create the application

Create application (createApplicationV3) creates the application with a web process. It builds with Ingot (build_type is ingot) and isn’t deployed yet:
CLI: sevalla apps create --name storefront --cluster $CLUSTER_ID --source privateGit --git-type github --repository https://github.com/acme/storefront --branch main. MCP: create_application with deploy set to false.
7

Find the domain

List application domains (listApplicationDomainsV3) returns the domain that Sevalla gives the application. It appears a few seconds after the application is created, so ask until it’s there:
CLI: sevalla apps domains list --app-id $APP_ID. MCP: get_application.
8

Connect the database

Create internal connection (createApplicationInternalConnectionV3) connects the application to the database over the private network and returns the connection’s id. Unlike the dashboard, it doesn’t add environment variables:
CLI: sevalla apps internal-connections create $APP_ID --target-id $DB_ID --target-type database. MCP: sevalla_api_create with createApplicationInternalConnectionV3.
9

Add the connection variables

Create environment variable (createEnvironmentVariableV3) adds the five variables that Program.cs reads, with the names and values that the dashboard’s internal connection adds, available at runtime only. The dashboard also adds DB_URL, which this application doesn’t read:
CLI: sevalla apps env-vars create $APP_ID --key DB_HOST --value $DB_HOST, once per variable; it always makes a variable available during the build and runtime. MCP: set_environment_variables with buildtime set to false.
10

Find the web process

List processes (listProcessesV3) returns the web process that the application was created with:
CLI: sevalla apps processes list --app-id $APP_ID. MCP: get_application.
11

Find the H1 size

List process resource types (listProcessResourceTypesV3) returns the sizes by name, in lowercase:
CLI: sevalla resources process-types. MCP: get_platform_options.
12

Create the migration job

Create process (createProcessV3) creates the Migrate job. The API needs the size, a scaling_strategy and the job_start_policy, which the dashboard fills in for you:
CLI: sevalla apps processes create $APP_ID --name Migrate --type job --command /app/efbundle --resource-type $H1_ID --job-start-policy beforeDeployment. MCP: sevalla_api_create with createProcessV3 and the same body.
13

Set the size

The API creates the web process at S1, where the dashboard’s default is H1. Update process (updateProcessV3) sets the size:
CLI: sevalla apps processes update $WEB_ID --app-id $APP_ID --resource-type $H1_ID. MCP: scale_process with size_id.
14

Turn on auto-deploy

Update application (updateApplicationV3) turns on automatic deployments for every push to the branch:
CLI: sevalla apps update $APP_ID --data '{"auto_deploy":true}'. MCP: sevalla_api_update with updateApplicationV3.
15

Deploy

Trigger deployment (triggerDeploymentV3) deploys the latest commit on the branch:
CLI: sevalla apps deployments trigger $APP_ID --branch main. MCP: trigger_deployment.
16

Wait for the deployment

Get deployment (getDeploymentV3) returns the deployment’s status: waiting and inProgress while it runs, then success, failed, cancelled or skipped. Poll it until the status is final, for up to 30 minutes:
CLI: sevalla apps deployments get $DEPLOYMENT_ID --app-id $APP_ID. MCP: get_deployment.
17

Read the build log

Get application deployment logs (getApplicationDeploymentLogsV3) returns the build log, oldest line first: the build plan from Verify the deployment, the build and the rollout. When the status is failed, the last lines say why. With search, it finds the job’s result:
CLI: sevalla apps deployments logs $DEPLOYMENT_ID --app-id $APP_ID. MCP: get_deployment_logs.
18

Check the application

Request the home page from the application’s domain:
Then run the other checks in Verify the deployment.