ConfigDeploy

ConfigDeploy is a .NET Worker Service that can run as a Windows Service. It periodically fetches configured Git repository branches and completely replaces configured local directories with the files from those branches.

Behavior

• Supports multiple repository, branch, and destination mappings.
• Uses the installed git command line client.
• Works with existing Git Credential Manager credentials.
• Can also pass configured username/password or personal access token credentials through Git's askpass flow.
• Replaces the entire destination directory, so files deleted from the repository are also removed locally.
• Keeps a service-managed clone cache outside the destination directories.

Configuration

Edit appsettings.json after publishing, or provide equivalent environment variables.

{
  "ConfigDeploy": {
    "CacheDirectory": "C:\\ProgramData\\ConfigDeploy\\cache",
    "PollIntervalSeconds": 60,
    "GitTimeoutSeconds": 300,
    "Repositories": [
      {
        "Name": "Production config",
        "RepositoryUrl": "https://github.com/contoso/configuration.git",
        "Branch": "main",
        "DestinationPath": "C:\\Deployments\\production-config",
        "RedeployWhenCommitUnchanged": true,
        "Enabled": true
      },
      {
        "Name": "Release config",
        "RepositoryUrl": "https://github.com/contoso/private-configuration.git",
        "Branch": "release",
        "DestinationPath": "C:\\Deployments\\release-config",
        "RedeployWhenCommitUnchanged": true,
        "Enabled": true,
        "Credentials": {
          "Username": "git",
          "PersonalAccessTokenEnvironmentVariable": "CONFIGDEPLOY_RELEASE_PAT"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Set RedeployWhenCommitUnchanged to true when the local destination must be repaired even if no new commit exists. Set it to false when the service should only replace the destination after the branch commit changes.

For credentials, prefer environment variable references:

• UsernameEnvironmentVariable
• PasswordEnvironmentVariable
• PersonalAccessTokenEnvironmentVariable

Literal Username, Password, and PersonalAccessToken values are supported, but storing secrets in appsettings.json is usually not appropriate for production.

Publish

dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained false -o C:\Services\ConfigDeploy

Install as a Windows Service

Run PowerShell as Administrator:

New-Service `
  -Name "ConfigDeploy" `
  -DisplayName "ConfigDeploy" `
  -BinaryPathName "C:\Services\ConfigDeploy\ConfigDeploy.exe" `
  -StartupType Automatic

Start-Service ConfigDeploy

To remove the service:

Stop-Service ConfigDeploy
sc.exe delete ConfigDeploy

Permissions

The service account must have:

• Read access to each configured Git repository.
• Modify access to every DestinationPath.
• Modify access to CacheDirectory.
• Network access to the Git server.

Do not point DestinationPath at a drive root or at a directory that overlaps the ConfigDeploy cache. The service rejects those unsafe paths.