Build .Net Core as an EXE not a DLL

I think most people got to this page because they picked .net core and they can't get an executable .exe file from their VS 2017 build. vs 2015 always used to make a .exe file for a console application. Suddenly vs 2017 is fussing over this simple task. With vs 2017 when you create the project you get 2 choices for a Console application. One is Console App (.NET Core) and the other choice is Console App (.NET Framework). If you pick the .NET Core option you are going to have to move heaven and earth to get a .exe file from your Build. The (.NET Core) option creates a .dll file from a Build. If you pick the (.NET Framework) option it will build a xxxx.exe executable for you by default.

To produce an EXE instead of a DLL, you need a self-contained deployment. What you are currently doing is a framework-dependent deployment. To convert yours to self-contained, take the following steps in your project.json file.

1. Remove "type": "platform".
2. Add a "runtimes" section for the operating systems your app supports.

When you build, pass in the target operating system. E.g. dotnet build -r osx.10.10-x64.

This is the resultant project.json

{
  "version": "1.0.0-*",
  "compilationOptions": {
    "emitEntryPoint": true
  },
  "buildOptions": {
    "debugType": "portable",
    "emitEntryPoint": true
  },
  "dependencies": {},
  "frameworks": {
    "netcoreapp1.1": {
      "dependencies": {
        "Microsoft.NETCore.App": {
          "version": "1.1.0"
        }
      },
      "imports": "dnxcore50"
    }
  },
  "runtimes": {
    "win10-x64": {},
    "osx.10.10-x64": {}
  }
}

See also: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/articles/core/deploying/#self-contained-deployments-scd