Modernize your .NET application

Code modernization for .NET, powered by Gemini Generative AI models, is a code generation and application modernization tool. It helps you modernize your Microsoft .NET Framework applications that are Windows-dependent by refactoring your applications to cross-platform .NET code.

Cross-platform .NET applications, unlike .NET Framework applications, can run on Linux, eliminating the need for Windows licenses and enabling cloud-native capabilities including containerization.

In this guide, you'll grant IAM roles for your Google Cloud project, create a Cloud Storage bucket, create a Gemini API key, and install the code-modernization-for-dotnet extension on your local machine to re-factor your .NET Framework application to cross-platform .NET code.

Before you begin

  1. Create a Google Account, if you don't already have one. You can use any email address to create a Google Account, including your work email address.
  2. Submit the Code Modernization for .NET: Allowlist Request form to join the allow list. You can't proceed with the steps on this page until this request has been approved.
  3. Sign in to your Google Cloud account. If you're new to Google Cloud, create an account to evaluate how our products perform in real-world scenarios. New customers also get $300 in free credits to run, test, and deploy workloads.

  4. In the Google Cloud console, on the project selector page, select or create a Google Cloud project.

    Roles required to select or create a project

    • Select a project: Selecting a project doesn't require a specific IAM role—you can select any project that you've been granted a role on.
    • Create a project: To create a project, you need the Project Creator (roles/resourcemanager.projectCreator), which contains the resourcemanager.projects.create permission. Learn how to grant roles.

    Go to project selector

  5. Verify that billing is enabled for your Google Cloud project.

  6. Enable the Cloud Build, Secret Manager, Cloud Storage JSON API, Generative Language API, Cloud Logging, and Compute Engine APIs.

    Roles required to enable APIs

    To enable APIs, you need the Service Usage Admin IAM role (roles/serviceusage.serviceUsageAdmin), which contains the serviceusage.services.enable permission. Learn how to grant roles.

    Enable the APIs

  7. In the Google Cloud console, on the project selector page, select or create a Google Cloud project.

    Roles required to select or create a project

    • Select a project: Selecting a project doesn't require a specific IAM role—you can select any project that you've been granted a role on.
    • Create a project: To create a project, you need the Project Creator (roles/resourcemanager.projectCreator), which contains the resourcemanager.projects.create permission. Learn how to grant roles.

    Go to project selector

  8. Verify that billing is enabled for your Google Cloud project.

  9. Enable the Cloud Build, Secret Manager, Cloud Storage JSON API, Generative Language API, Cloud Logging, and Compute Engine APIs.

    Roles required to enable APIs

    To enable APIs, you need the Service Usage Admin IAM role (roles/serviceusage.serviceUsageAdmin), which contains the serviceusage.services.enable permission. Learn how to grant roles.

    Enable the APIs

    10.
  10. Install VS Code, if you haven't already.

Grant Identity and Access Management (IAM) roles

Console

  1. To grant the IAM roles for your Google Cloud project, go to the IAM & Admin page.

    Go to IAM & Admin

  2. Add the following IAM roles:

  • User Permissions

    • Storage Object User (roles/storage.objectUser)
    • Cloud Build Editor (roles/cloudbuild.builds.editor)

  • Cloud Build Service Account

    • Cloud Build Service Account (roles/cloudbuild.builds.builder)
    • Secret Manager Viewer (roles/secretmanager.viewer)
    • Logs Writer (roles/logging.logWriter)
    • Storage Object User (roles/storage.objectUser)

gcloud

To add the required IAM roles, run the following gcloud commands:

  • Assign the Storage Object User (roles/storage.objectUser) role:

    gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding PROJECT_ID \
--member="user:USER_ID" \
--role="roles/storage.objectUser"

  • Assign the Cloud Build Editor (roles/cloudbuild.builds.editor) role:

    gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding PROJECT_ID \
--member="user:USER_ID" \
--role="roles/cloudbuild.builds.editor"

  • Assign the Cloud Build Service Account (roles/cloudbuild.builds.builder) role:

    gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding PROJECT_ID \
  --member="serviceAccount:SERVICE_ACCOUNT" \
  --role="roles/cloudbuild.builds.builder"

  • Assign the Secret Manager Accessor (roles/secretmanager.secretAccessor) role:

    gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding PROJECT_ID \
  --member="serviceAccount:SERVICE_ACCOUNT" \
  --role="roles/secretmanager.secretAccessor"

  • Assign the Logs Writer (roles/logging.logWriter) role:

    gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding PROJECT_ID \
  --member="serviceAccount:SERVICE_ACCOUNT" \
  --role="roles/logging.logWriter"

  • Assign the Storage Object User (roles/storage.objectUser) role:

    gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding PROJECT_ID \
  --member="serviceAccount:SERVICE_ACCOUNT" \
  --role="roles/storage.objectUser"

Create a Cloud Storage bucket

To create a Cloud Storage bucket, run the following:

gcloud storage buckets create gs://BUCKET_NAME \
--project=PROJECT_ID

Create Gemini API key and save in Secret Manager

To create a Gemini API key, run the following:

gcloud services api-keys create --project=PROJECT_ID \
  --display-name="API Key for .Net Modernization" \
  --api-target="service=generativelanguage.googleapis.com" \
  --key-id="gemini-api-key"

To save the Gemini API key in Secret Manager, run the following:

echo -n "(gcloud services api-keys get-key-string gemini-api-key \
--project=PROJECT_ID \
--format="value(keyString)")" | \

gcloud secrets create "gemini-api-key" \
--project=PROJECT_ID \
--data-file=- \
--replication-policy="automatic"

Install and configure the extension

Once your Code Modernization for .NET: Allowlist Request form is approved, you'll receive the extension as a .VSIX file. To install the extension to your local machine, follow these steps:

  1. In VS Code, navigate to Extensions in the activity bar.

  2. Click more_horiz Views and More Actions and select Install from VSIX.

  3. Navigate to and select the VSIX package file. This initiates the installation of the Code-modernization-for-dotnet extension in VS Code on your local machine.

  4. Once the installation is complete, restart VS Code.

  5. Update Code Modernization for .NET extension settings to the following:

    • Extension Mode: LocalGit (experimental)
    • Project ID: PROJECT_ID
    • Bucket Name: BUCKET_NAME
    • Region: us-central1
    • Gemini API Secret: gemini-api-key-secret-name
    • Google Account: GOOGLE_ACCOUNT
    • Target Framework: .NET 8.0

    Replace the following:

    • PROJECT_ID: The ID of your Google Cloud project—for example, 1234567890.
    • BUCKET_NAME: The name of your Cloud Storage bucket.
    • GOOGLE_ACCOUNT: Your Google Account—for example, your_full_name@gmail.com.

Trigger the build

  1. To login to Google Cloud, run the following command:

    gcloud auth login --update-adc

  2. To trigger the modernization workflow, in the activity bar, select Source Control, click more_horiz More Actions to open the context menu, and select Google Cloud: Modernize .NET code.

Add your project to the allow list

To get your project on the allow list, email your Cloud Build Service Account ID to code-modernization-for-dotnet-discuss@google.com.

You can also contact the same email address for support, to ask questions, or to provide feedback.