title: Dotnet publish doesn't create folder when publishing web api
body: <p>I've been trying to follow <strong>multiple</strong> (<a href="https://docs.docker.com/engine/examples/dotnetcore/#create-a-dockerfile-for-an-aspnet-core-application" rel="nofollow noreferrer">example</a>) tutorials about how to place an asp.net Web API onto a docker image. And in pretty much all of them use a docker file in which the following command is done <code>dotnet [csproj name] -c Release -o out</code> and then eventually copy the information from this to another folder. however, I kept getting issues with the folder out not being found. So I decided to use this command locally, and to my amazement found out that no out folder is ever produced, nor anything is built. </p>
  
  <p>When we look at the documentation of the <code>dotnet publish</code> on <a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/tools/dotnet-publish?tabs=netcore21" rel="nofollow noreferrer">it</a> we can see it says the following:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Packs the application and its dependencies into a folder for deployment to a hosting system.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>and</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p><code>-o|--output &lt;OUTPUT_DIRECTORY&gt;</code>
    Specifies the path for the output directory. If not specified, it defaults to ./bin/[configuration]/[framework]/publish/ for a framework-dependent deployment or ./bin/[configuration]/[framework]/[runtime]/publish/ for a self-contained deployment. If the path is relative, the output directory generated is relative to the project file location, not to the current working directory.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>And yes, I've tried pretty much every solution from <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12201146/visual-studio-2012-web-publish-doesnt-copy-files">here</a>.</p>
  
  <p>Which seems to me that this command should make a new folder in which all the published files are placed into. So my question is: Am I mistaken, or is there an issue at play here and what is the solution for the issue?</p>