Create a second installDist task? - gradle

Question

During development I am using a standard-function installDist (from the application plugin) in build.gradle:
installDist{}
... but I now want to have another task which installs/distributes/deploys a "production" version to the production location, which also incorporates the version into the directory structure. I tried this:
task deployOperativeVersion( type: installDist ) {
destinationDir = file( "$productionDir/$version" )
}
Build failure output:
Build file '/home/mike/IdeaProjects/JavaFXExp2/Organiser/build.gradle' line: 98
* What went wrong:
A problem occurred evaluating root project 'Organiser'.
> class org.gradle.api.tasks.Sync_Decorated cannot be cast to class java.lang.Class
(org.gradle.api.tasks.Sync_Decorated is in unnamed module of loader org.gradle.
internal.classloader.VisitableURLClassLoader #aec6354; java.lang.Class is in module
java.base of loader 'bootstrap')
It appears that installDist is not a "type" as in Test.
How can I achieve this? Incidentally I would be really keen on having two separate tasks: to get installDist to run I've found that you only have to type ./gradlew inst ... with a task called deployXXX it would be sufficient to type ./gradlew depl.
I also tried this:
task deployOperativeVersion{
installDist{
destinationDir = file( "$operativeDir/$version" )
}
}
... which doesn't seem to have done anything. Nor this:
task deployOperativeVersion{
doFirst {
installDist {
destinationDir = file("$operativeDir/$version")
}
}
}
A bit later I thought I had indeed found the answer:
task deployOperativeVersion{
dependsOn installDist{ destinationDir=file("$productionDir/$version")
}
... but to my amazement (will I ever get to a reasonable understanding of Gradle before Hell freezes over?), including this actually appears to influence the "routine" installDist task: specifically, it stops the latter from operating normally, and means that even when I run installDist the deployment/distribution/installation still goes to productionDir/version, rather than the default location.
So then I wondered about two tasks both of which are dependent on installDist:
task deployOperativeVersion{
dependsOn installDist{ destinationDir=file("$productionDir/$version") }
}
task stdInstall{
dependsOn installDist{ destinationDir=file("build/install") }
}
... haha, no joy: I run one and it deploys OK. I then run the other... and get an error:
FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.
* What went wrong:
Execution failed for task ':installDist'.
> The specified installation directory '/home/mike/IdeaProjects/JavaFXExp2/Organiser/build/install' is neither empty nor does it contain an installation for 'Organiser'.
If you really want to install to this directory, delete it and run the install task again.
Alternatively, choose a different installation directory.
... needless to say, this is NOT the case: under ...Organiser/build/install there is one directory only, Organiser, with /bin and /lib directories under it.

Answer 1

Your task should be declared as a Sync task, which is the actual type of the installDist task. The application plugin is using the distribution plugin. You can grab the content configuration from the main distribution, which is the source, or from the installDist task.
task deployOperativeVersion(type: Sync) {
destinationDir = file("${productionDir}/${version}")
with distributions.main.content
}
or
task deployOperativeVersion(type: Sync) {
destinationDir = file("${productionDir}/${version}")
with installDist
}