Deploy a .NET App to Railway in 10 Minutes

# Dockerfile
# Stage 1: Build
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:8.0 AS build
WORKDIR /src
 
# Copy project file and restore dependencies first (better layer caching)
COPY *.csproj .
RUN dotnet restore
 
# Copy everything else and build
COPY . .
RUN dotnet publish -c Release -o /app/publish
 
# Stage 2: Runtime (much smaller image)
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:8.0 AS final
WORKDIR /app
 
# Non-root user for security
RUN adduser --disabled-password --gecos "" appuser
USER appuser
 
COPY --from=build /app/publish .
 
EXPOSE 8080
ENV ASPNETCORE_URLS=http://+:8080
 
ENTRYPOINT ["dotnet", "MyApp.dll"]

// Program.cs
var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
 
// Railway sets PORT automatically; fall back to 8080 for local dev
var port = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PORT") ?? "8080";
builder.WebHost.UseUrls($"http://+:{port}");
 
// ... rest of your app configuration

{
  "$schema": "https://railway.app/railway.schema.json",
  "build": {
    "builder": "DOCKERFILE",
    "dockerfilePath": "Dockerfile"
  },
  "deploy": {
    "startCommand": "dotnet MyApp.dll",
    "healthcheckPath": "/health",
    "healthcheckTimeout": 30,
    "restartPolicyType": "ON_FAILURE",
    "restartPolicyMaxRetries": 3
  }
}

// Program.cs
app.MapGet("/health", () => Results.Ok(new { status = "healthy", timestamp = DateTime.UtcNow }));

# Install
npm install -g @railway/cli
 
# Authenticate
railway login
 
# Link to an existing project (from your project directory)
railway link
 
# Or create a new project
railway init
 
# Deploy the current directory
railway up
 
# Watch logs in real-time
railway logs
 
# Open the running app in browser
railway open

# One-command deploy
railway up
 
# Deploy a specific service
railway up --service my-api
 
# Deploy and watch logs
railway up && railway logs

# Set a variable
railway variables set DATABASE_URL="Server=...;Database=...;"
railway variables set ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT="Production"
railway variables set JWT_SECRET="your-secret-here"
 
# List all variables
railway variables
 
# Delete a variable
railway variables delete OLD_VAR

// appsettings.json values are overridden by environment variables
var connectionString = builder.Configuration.GetConnectionString("DefaultConnection");
// This reads from ConnectionStrings__DefaultConnection env var (note double underscore)
 
// Or read directly
var jwtSecret = builder.Configuration["JWT_SECRET"]
    ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("JWT_SECRET not configured");

# Add Postgres to your project
railway add --plugin postgresql
 
# Railway automatically sets DATABASE_URL in your service's environment

dotnet add package Npgsql.EntityFrameworkCore.PostgreSQL

// Program.cs — read the DATABASE_URL Railway sets
var databaseUrl = builder.Configuration["DATABASE_URL"]
    ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("DATABASE_URL not set");
 
// Parse Railway's postgres:// URL format
var databaseUri = new Uri(databaseUrl);
var userInfo = databaseUri.UserInfo.Split(':');
 
var connectionString = $"Host={databaseUri.Host};Port={databaseUri.Port};" +
                       $"Database={databaseUri.AbsolutePath.TrimStart('/')};" +
                       $"Username={userInfo[0]};Password={userInfo[1]};" +
                       $"SSL Mode=Require;Trust Server Certificate=true";
 
builder.Services.AddDbContext<AppDbContext>(options =>
    options.UseNpgsql(connectionString));

# Railway also provides individual connection variables:
PGHOST, PGPORT, PGDATABASE, PGUSER, PGPASSWORD

var connectionString = new NpgsqlConnectionStringBuilder
{
    Host = builder.Configuration["PGHOST"],
    Port = int.Parse(builder.Configuration["PGPORT"] ?? "5432"),
    Database = builder.Configuration["PGDATABASE"],
    Username = builder.Configuration["PGUSER"],
    Password = builder.Configuration["PGPASSWORD"],
    SslMode = SslMode.Require
}.ConnectionString;

# Add a custom domain via CLI
railway domain --service my-api add www.yourdomain.com
 
# Railway provides the CNAME to point at your domain registrar

# Create a staging environment
railway environment create staging
 
# Deploy to staging
railway up --environment staging
 
# Switch CLI context to staging
railway environment staging