Programmatically start an asp.net integrated webserver with visual studio files

Question

I'm not sure what keywords to google for, so i'm gonna ask SO.

I have an asp.net website which host a database, wcf dll and silverlight application. I would like to create an .exe file to automatically run an integrated webserver with the application root being the project folder of where my asp.net files are.

Basically what I want to do is run the project in localhost with 1 click without starting up visual studio. Starting up the webserver, browser and redirecting to that localhost url.

The computer I will distribute this to may not have visual studio installed.

Answer 1

I decided to go with Cassina found here. WebDev.WebServer.exe was built on that.

Answer 2

Check out the following article in which I have used C# to start the webdev server.

http://www.highoncoding.com/Articles/367_Unit_Testing_ASP_NET_Pages_Using_WatiN.aspx

Answer 3

Just want to let you know : There is a new feature in Asp.NET 4.0 ; Auto-Start :

The new "auto start" feature of ASP.NET 4 and IIS 7.5 provides a well-defined approach that allows you to perform expensive application startup and pre-cache logic that can run before any end-users hit your application. This enables you to have your application "warmed up" and ready from the very beginning, and deliver a consistent high performance experience.

More: Auto-Start ASP.NET Applications (VS 2010 and .NET 4.0 Series)