Merge pull request #2299 from dfinity/enhance-frontend-canister-doc

Add instructions for manually deploying frontend canister from Wasm

docs/developer-docs/frontend/index.md

@@ -6,9 +6,10 @@ sidebar_position: 1
 
 ## Overview
 
-The Internet Computer allows you to host frontends built with standard web technologies for your dapps, using
-our [JavaScript agent](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@dfinity/agent) as a communication layer. By using
-the [asset canister](https://github.com/dfinity/sdk/tree/master/src/canisters/frontend/ic-frontend-canister) provided by `dfx` to upload static files to ICP,
+A frontend canister, also referred to as an *asset canister**, is a type of canister used to host an application's frontend assets, such as the user interface, webpage, or dashboard for the dapp. 
+
+Frontend canisters utilize the [JavaScript agent](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@dfinity/agent) as a communication layer. By using
+the [default frontend canister](https://github.com/dfinity/sdk/tree/master/src/canisters/frontend/ic-frontend-canister) provided by `dfx` to upload static files to ICP,
 you will be able to run your entire application on decentralized technology. This section takes a closer look at the
 default frontend template that is generated by running the `dfx new` command, configuring the frontend canister, and using other frameworks to
 build the user interface for your projects.
@@ -264,3 +265,29 @@ with your bundler, the following steps should get you going:
     - Alternately hardcode the canister ID if that is your preferred workflow
 
 - #### Step 5: Commit the declarations and import them in your codebase.
+
+## Deploying a frontend canister without building frontend dependencies 
+
+If you'd like to deploy a frontend asset canister without building the node or npm dependency packages, you can manually download the Wasm module dfx uses for its default frontend canister and install the canister manually.
+
+- #### Step 1: Download the frontend asset canister's Wasm module.
+
+```
+wget https://github.com/dfinity/sdk/raw/0.15.2/src/distributed/assetstorage.wasm.gzand
+```
+
+- #### Step 2: Install the canister.
+
+```
+dfx canister install <id instead of name> --wasm assetstorage.wasm.gz
+```
+
+Using the canister ID, the canister will not sync automatically. If you want the canister to sync according to the configuration in `dfx.json`, then use the canister name instead of the canister ID:
+
+```
+dfx canister install frontend_canister --wasm assetstorage.wasm.gz
+```
+
+To sync assets to the canister manually, you can use `icx-asset sync`, but this package must be installed with Rust, `cargo install icx-asset`.
+
+