Table of Contents

Issues Building Oqtane.Server.csproj After Installing 2sxc Templates

When developing with Oqtane in developer mode, you typically run Oqtane.Server.csproj by pressing F5 in Visual Studio. This action builds the project and its dependencies before launching it on IIS Express (localhost). However, after installing 2sxc Content and App templates, you might encounter build failures when compiling Oqtane.Server.csproj.

The same issue can also happen when creating an Oqtane dev app from the oqtane-app template:

dotnet new install Oqtane.Application.Template

mkdir C:\oqtanedemo
cd C:\oqtanedemo

dotnet new oqtane-app -o OqtaneDemoApp
cd OqtaneDemoApp

dotnet build

cd Server
dotnet run

Problem Overview

After adding 2sxc templates to your Oqtane project, the Visual Studio build process may fail with numerous errors—sometimes over 1,000—rendering Oqtane unusable in the development environment.

build errors in Oqtane.Server project

Affected Folders

The build can pick up runtime files from two folders:

  • 2sxc - site apps and templates
  • Content - persisted content, including 2sxc system and app files

These folders must remain on disk, but they should not be included in the Oqtane.Server project.

Solution: Exclude the Runtime Folders from the Build

Add one exclusion block to the server project so build ignores both folders.

Steps to Exclude Folders

  1. Open Oqtane.Server.csproj:

    Locate the server project file (eg Oqtane.Server.csproj) in your project directory and open it with a text editor or within Visual Studio. For template-created apps this is usually Server\YourAppName.Server.csproj.

  2. Add Exclusion Rules:

    Insert the following <ItemGroup> inside the <Project> element. If you already have an exclusion block for 2sxc, replace it with this block:

    <ItemGroup>
  <!-- Exclude these directories from compilation -->
  <Compile Remove="2sxc\**;Content\**" />
  <!-- Exclude content files from the build output -->
  <Content Remove="2sxc\**;Content\**" />
  <!-- Exclude files from being embedded as resources -->
  <EmbeddedResource Remove="2sxc\**;Content\**" />
  <!-- Exclude miscellaneous files not included elsewhere -->
  <None Remove="2sxc\**;Content\**" />
  <!-- Exclude files from the dotnet watch tool -->
  <Watch Remove="2sxc\**;Content\**" />
</ItemGroup>

    This only changes how the project handles the files. It does not delete them or prevent 2sxc from using them at runtime.

  3. Save and Rebuild:

    Save the changes to Oqtane.Server.csproj and rebuild the project by pressing F5 or selecting Build > Rebuild Solution in Visual Studio.

Why This Happens

The .NET SDK automatically includes matching files below the project folder. The 2sxc and Content folders can contain .cs, .cshtml, and other runtime files that belong to 2sxc apps, not to Oqtane.Server. Without the exclusions, build may compile or process these files as part of the server project.

Summary

By excluding both runtime folders, you keep their files available to 2sxc without treating them as part of the server project.

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