Get started with ASP.NET Core MVC

Note

This isn't the latest version of this article. For the current release, see the ASP.NET Core 8.0 version of this article.

By Rick Anderson

This tutorial teaches ASP.NET Core MVC web development with controllers and views. If you're new to ASP.NET Core web development, consider the Razor Pages version of this tutorial, which provides an easier starting point. See Choose an ASP.NET Core UI, which compares Razor Pages, MVC, and Blazor for UI development.

This is the first tutorial of a series that teaches ASP.NET Core MVC web development with controllers and views.

At the end of the series, you'll have an app that manages and displays movie data. You learn how to:

  • Create a web app.
  • Add and scaffold a model.
  • Work with a database.
  • Add search and validation.

View or download sample code (how to download).

Prerequisites

Create a web app

  • Start Visual Studio and select Create a new project.
  • In the Create a new project dialog, select ASP.NET Core Web App (Model-View-Controller) > Next.
  • In the Configure your new project dialog, enter MvcMovie for Project name. It's important to name the project MvcMovie. Capitalization needs to match each namespace when code is copied.
  • Select Next.
  • In the Additional information dialog:
    • Select .NET 8.0 (Long Term Support).
    • Verify that Do not use top-level statements is unchecked.
  • Select Create.

Additional info dialog

For more information, including alternative approaches to create the project, see Create a new project in Visual Studio.

Visual Studio uses the default project template for the created MVC project. The created project:

  • Is a working app.
  • Is a basic starter project.

Run the app

  • Press Ctrl+F5 to run the app without the debugger.

    Visual Studio displays the following dialog when a project is not yet configured to use SSL:

    This project is configured to use SSL. To avoid SSL warnings in the browser you can choose to trust the self-signed certificate that IIS Express has generated. Would you like to trust the IIS Express SSL certificate?

    Select Yes if you trust the IIS Express SSL certificate.

    The following dialog is displayed:

    Security warning dialog

    Select Yes if you agree to trust the development certificate.

    For information on trusting the Firefox browser, see Firefox SEC_ERROR_INADEQUATE_KEY_USAGE certificate error.

Visual Studio runs the app and opens the default browser.

The address bar shows localhost:<port#> and not something like example.com. The standard hostname for your local computer is localhost. When Visual Studio creates a web project, a random port is used for the web server.

Launching the app without debugging by pressing Ctrl+F5 allows you to:

  • Make code changes.
  • Save the file.
  • Quickly refresh the browser and see the code changes.

You can launch the app in debug or non-debug mode from the Debug menu:

Start Debug and Start Without Debugging menus

You can debug the app by selecting the https button in the toolbar:

MvcMovie debug button

The following image shows the app:

Home or Index page

  • Close the browser window. Visual Studio will stop the application.

In the next tutorial in this series, you learn about MVC and start writing some code.

This tutorial teaches ASP.NET Core MVC web development with controllers and views. If you're new to ASP.NET Core web development, consider the Razor Pages version of this tutorial, which provides an easier starting point. See Choose an ASP.NET Core UI, which compares Razor Pages, MVC, and Blazor for UI development.

This is the first tutorial of a series that teaches ASP.NET Core MVC web development with controllers and views.

At the end of the series, you'll have an app that manages and displays movie data. You learn how to:

  • Create a web app.
  • Add and scaffold a model.
  • Work with a database.
  • Add search and validation.

View or download sample code (how to download).

Prerequisites

Create a web app

  • Start Visual Studio and select Create a new project.
  • In the Create a new project dialog, select ASP.NET Core Web App (Model-View-Controller) > Next.
  • In the Configure your new project dialog, enter MvcMovie for Project name. It's important to name the project MvcMovie. Capitalization needs to match each namespace when code is copied.
  • Select Next.
  • In the Additional information dialog:
    • Select .NET 7.0.
    • Verify that Do not use top-level statements is unchecked.
  • Select Create.

Additional info dialog

For more information, including alternative approaches to create the project, see Create a new project in Visual Studio.

Visual Studio uses the default project template for the created MVC project. The created project:

  • Is a working app.
  • Is a basic starter project.

Run the app

  • Press Ctrl+F5 to run the app without the debugger.Visual Studio displays the following dialog when a project is not yet configured to use SSL:This project is configured to use SSL. To avoid SSL warnings in the browser you can choose to trust the self-signed certificate that IIS Express has generated. Would you like to trust the IIS Express SSL certificate?Select Yes if you trust the IIS Express SSL certificate.The following dialog is displayed:Security warning dialogSelect Yes if you agree to trust the development certificate.For information on trusting the Firefox browser, see Firefox SEC_ERROR_INADEQUATE_KEY_USAGE certificate error.

Visual Studio runs the app and opens the default browser.

The address bar shows localhost:<port#> and not something like example.com. The standard hostname for your local computer is localhost. When Visual Studio creates a web project, a random port is used for the web server.

Launching the app without debugging by pressing Ctrl+F5 allows you to:

  • Make code changes.
  • Save the file.
  • Quickly refresh the browser and see the code changes.

You can launch the app in debug or non-debug mode from the Debug menu:

Debug menu

You can debug the app by selecting the https button in the toolbar:

MvcMovie debug button

The following image shows the app:

Home or Index page

  • Close the browser window. Visual Studio will stop the application.

In the next tutorial in this series, you learn about MVC and start writing some code.

This tutorial teaches ASP.NET Core MVC web development with controllers and views. If you're new to ASP.NET Core web development, consider the Razor Pages version of this tutorial, which provides an easier starting point. See Choose an ASP.NET Core UI, which compares Razor Pages, MVC, and Blazor for UI development.

This is the first tutorial of a series that teaches ASP.NET Core MVC web development with controllers and views.

At the end of the series, you'll have an app that manages and displays movie data. You learn how to:

  • Create a web app.
  • Add and scaffold a model.
  • Work with a database.
  • Add search and validation.

View or download sample code (how to download).

Prerequisites

Create a web app

  • Start Visual Studio and select Create a new project.
  • In the Create a new project dialog, select ASP.NET Core Web App (Model-View-Controller) > Next.
  • In the Configure your new project dialog, enter MvcMovie for Project name. It's important to name the project MvcMovie. Capitalization needs to match each namespace when code is copied.
  • Select Next.
  • In the Additional information dialog, select .NET 6.0 (Long-term support).
  • Select Create.

Additional info dialog

For alternative approaches to create the project, see Create a new project in Visual Studio.

Visual Studio uses the default project template for the created MVC project. The created project:

  • Is a working app.
  • Is a basic starter project.

Run the app

  • Select Ctrl+F5 to run the app without the debugger.

    Visual Studio displays the following dialog when a project is not yet configured to use SSL:

    This project is configured to use SSL. To avoid SSL warnings in the browser you can choose to trust the self-signed certificate that IIS Express has generated. Would you like to trust the IIS Express SSL certificate?

    Select Yes if you trust the IIS Express SSL certificate.

    The following dialog is displayed:

    Security warning dialog

    Select Yes if you agree to trust the development certificate.

    For information on trusting the Firefox browser, see Firefox SEC_ERROR_INADEQUATE_KEY_USAGE certificate error.

Visual Studio runs the app and opens the default browser.

The address bar shows localhost:<port#> and not something like example.com. The standard hostname for your local computer is localhost. When Visual Studio creates a web project, a random port is used for the web server.

Launching the app without debugging by selecting Ctrl+F5 allows you to:

  • Make code changes.
  • Save the file.
  • Quickly refresh the browser and see the code changes.

You can launch the app in debug or non-debug mode from the Debug menu:

Debug menu

You can debug the app by selecting the MvcMovie button in the toolbar:

MvcMovie debug button

The following image shows the app:

Home or Index page

In the next tutorial in this series, you learn about MVC and start writing some code.

This tutorial teaches ASP.NET Core MVC web development with controllers and views. If you're new to ASP.NET Core web development, consider the Razor Pages version of this tutorial, which provides an easier starting point. See Choose an ASP.NET Core UI, which compares Razor Pages, MVC, and Blazor for UI development.

This is the first tutorial of a series that teaches ASP.NET Core MVC web development with controllers and views.

At the end of the series, you'll have an app that manages and displays movie data. You learn how to:

  • Create a web app.
  • Add and scaffold a model.
  • Work with a database.
  • Add search and validation.

View or download sample code (how to download).

Prerequisites

Create a web app

  • Start Visual Studio and select Create a new project.
  • In the Create a new project dialog, select ASP.NET Core Web Application > Next.
  • In the Configure your new project dialog, enter MvcMovie for Project name. It's important to name the project MvcMovie. Capitalization needs to match each namespace matches when code is copied.
  • Select Create.
  • In the Create a new ASP.NET Core web application dialog, select:
    • .NET Core and ASP.NET Core 5.0 in the dropdowns.
    • ASP.NET Core Web App (Model-View-Controller).
    • Create.

Create a new ASP.NET Core web application

For alternative approaches to create the project, see Create a new project in Visual Studio.

Visual Studio used the default project template for the created MVC project. The created project:

  • Is a working app.
  • Is a basic starter project.

Run the app

  • Select Ctrl+F5 to run the app without the debugger.

    Visual Studio displays the following dialog when a project is not yet configured to use SSL:

    This project is configured to use SSL. To avoid SSL warnings in the browser you can choose to trust the self-signed certificate that IIS Express has generated. Would you like to trust the IIS Express SSL certificate?

    Select Yes if you trust the IIS Express SSL certificate.

    The following dialog is displayed:

    Security warning dialog

    Select Yes if you agree to trust the development certificate.

    For information on trusting the Firefox browser, see Firefox SEC_ERROR_INADEQUATE_KEY_USAGE certificate error.

    Visual Studio:

    The address bar shows localhost:port# and not something like example.com. The standard hostname for your local computer is localhost. When Visual Studio creates a web project, a random port is used for the web server.

Launching the app without debugging by selecting Ctrl+F5 allows you to:

  • Make code changes.
  • Save the file.
  • Quickly refresh the browser and see the code changes.

You can launch the app in debug or non-debug mode from the Debug menu item:

Debug menu

You can debug the app by selecting the IIS Express button

IIS Express

The following image shows the app:

Home or Index page

In the next part of this tutorial, you learn about MVC and start writing some code.

This tutorial teaches ASP.NET Core MVC web development with controllers and views. If you're new to ASP.NET Core web development, consider the Razor Pages version of this tutorial, which provides an easier starting point. See Choose an ASP.NET Core UI, which compares Razor Pages, MVC, and Blazor for UI development.

This is the first tutorial of a series that teaches ASP.NET Core MVC web development with controllers and views.

At the end of the series, you'll have an app that manages and displays movie data. You learn how to:

  • Create a web app.
  • Add and scaffold a model.
  • Work with a database.
  • Add search and validation.

View or download sample code (how to download).

Prerequisites

Create a web app

  • From the Visual Studio, select Create a new project.

  • Select ASP.NET Core Web Application > Next.

    Create a new ASP.NET Core Web Application project

  • Name the project MvcMovie and select Create. It's important to name the project MvcMovie so when you copy code, the namespace will match.

    Configure your new project

  • Select Web Application(Model-View-Controller). From the dropdown boxes, select .NET Core and ASP.NET Core 3.1, then select Create.

    New project dialog, .NET Core in left pane, ASP.NET Core web

Visual Studio used the default project template for the created MVC project. The created project:

  • Is a working app.
  • Is a basic starter project.

Run the app

  • Select Ctrl+F5 to run the app without debugging.

    Visual Studio displays the following dialog when a project is not yet configured to use SSL:

    This project is configured to use SSL. To avoid SSL warnings in the browser you can choose to trust the self-signed certificate that IIS Express has generated. Would you like to trust the IIS Express SSL certificate?

    Select Yes if you trust the IIS Express SSL certificate.

    The following dialog is displayed:

    Security warning dialog

    Select Yes if you agree to trust the development certificate.

    For information on trusting the Firefox browser, see Firefox SEC_ERROR_INADEQUATE_KEY_USAGE certificate error.

    Visual Studio:

    The address bar shows localhost:port# and not something like example.com. The standard hostname for your local computer is localhost. When Visual Studio creates a web project, a random port is used for the web server.

Launching the app without debugging by selecting Ctrl+F5 allows you to:

  • Make code changes.
  • Save the file.
  • Quickly refresh the browser and see the code changes.

You can launch the app in debug or non-debug mode from the Debug menu item:

Debug menu

You can debug the app by selecting the IIS Express button

IIS Express

The following image shows the app:

Home or Index page

In the next part of this tutorial, you learn about MVC and start writing some code.