Using a wwwroot folder (ASP.NET Core style) in ASP.NET 4.5 project

I believe I have a working method for doing this now. Took a bit of googling and experimentation, but in the end I came up with the following process:

1. Create a new ASP.NET 4.5 project in VS2015, selecting the Empty Template

2. Add OWIN references through nuget (Install-Package Microsoft.Owin.Host.SystemWeb and Microsoft.Owin.StaticFiles)

3. Add a startup file similar to this:

   [assembly: OwinStartup(typeof(MyApp.Startup))]
   namespace MyApp.UI
   {
       public class Startup
       {
           public void Configuration(IAppBuilder app)
           {
               string root = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory;
               var physicalFileSystem = new PhysicalFileSystem(Path.Combine(root, "wwwroot"));
               var options = new FileServerOptions
               {
                   RequestPath = PathString.Empty,
                   EnableDefaultFiles = true,
                   FileSystem = physicalFileSystem
               };
               options.StaticFileOptions.FileSystem = physicalFileSystem;
               options.StaticFileOptions.ServeUnknownFileTypes = false;
               app.UseFileServer(options);
           }
       }
   }
   

4. Add the following to your web.config file, to prevent IIS from serving static files you don’t want it to, and force everything through the OWIN pipeline:

   <system.webServer>
       <handlers>
         <remove name="StaticFile"/>
         <add name="Owin" verb="" path="*" type="Microsoft.Owin.Host.SystemWeb.OwinHttpHandler, Microsoft.Owin.Host.SystemWeb"/>
       </handlers>
     </system.webServer>
   

I’m always open to better suggestions on how to do this, but this at least seems to work for me.