I have the following problem and I'm surprised that I can't find any straightforward solution on SO or MSDN.
I have existing *.pubxml profiles in several of my web applications and I would like to execute post deployment script - powershell script - which reorganizes WebSite and its child applications slightly.
I'm not usign Web Deployment Package - just Web Deploy.
The script is deployed successfully but the problem is - how should I execute it automatically after deployment?
I have two scenarios:
Execute by simply "Publish..." from Visual Studio.
Execute as part of TFS Build definition (TFS 2013).
You can try to define a “Target” by MSBuild to achieve your requirement.
For the first scenario:
The Visual Studio build process is defined by a series of MSBuild .targets files that are imported into your project file. One of these imported files, Microsoft.Common.targets. This file contains a set of predefined empty targets that are called before and after some of the major targets in the build process.
So you can define a "Target" element whose "AfterTarget" attribute's value is set to "MSDeployPublish":
<Target Name="CustomPostPublishActions" AfterTargets="MSDeployPublish" >
<Exec Command="..\PostDeploymentScript.sp1 " />
</Target>
For the second scenario:
You can add a PowerShell build task as MrHinsh`s suggestion.
You should switch to deploying from Build & Release only in VSTS/TFS.
You can then add a PowerShell build task and either point at a script or use Inline if it's short. If it is a script that you use in many builds you might want to write your own build task.
Related
How to deploy (copy the application files) to multiple locations when TFS build is executed.
See the picture when ever build is initiated I am copying to a location, I wanted to give multiple location in MSBuild Arguments.
MSBuild Arguments : /p:DeployPath=\\ServerName\C$\Inetpub\wwwroot\ApplicationName
Add another CopyDirectory activity to your build process template XAML.
<mtbwa:CopyDirectory DisplayName="Drop Files to Drop Location" Source="[BinariesDirectory]" Destination="[DropLocation]" />
Or, use MSBuild Copy task in the last scipt being run in the build (AKA post-build script).
I have a problem with building a Web Deployment Package from a Web Application Project (within a solution containing multiple projects, as well as multiple web applications).
This actually works
I can build the project just fine from the command line if I use this command for example:
msbuild D:\PathTo\Solution\Project\Project.csproj
/fl /flp:logfile="D:\buildadventures\Build.log";errorsonly;verbosity=diagnostic
/p:SolutionDir="D:\PathTo\Project\\";Configuration=Release;Platform=AnyCpu
But this does not work
But when I try the same command just a bit differently to build a deployment package for me like that:
msbuild D:\PathTo\Solution\Project\Project.csproj
/fl /flp:logfile="D:\buildadventures\Build.log";errorsonly;verbosity=diagnostic
/T:Package
/p:SolutionDir="D:\PathTo\Solution\\";Configuration=Release;Platform=AnyCpu;
PackageLocation="D:\buildadventures\Project.zip";
AutoParameterizationWebConfigConnectionStrings=false
...it fails miserably, spitting out hundreds of errors of the "The type or namespace name '' does not exist"-kind
And why does it work this way?
The strange thing however is, the second command I posted works fine if the first one was executed prior to that.
I suppose the tasks executed when doing a "normal" build are different to those that are executed when building a package, now I wonder in what way they are different.
What symptomatically seems to cause it
I noticed that in the project file of the project I want to build a package of contains a custom section towards the end:
<PropertyGroup>
<PreBuildEvent>
cscript $(ProjectDir)SvnRevision\svnrevision.vbs $(ProjectDir) $(ProjectDir)Version.cs
nuget install "$(ProjectDir)packages.config" -o "$(SolutionDir)Packages"
</PreBuildEvent>
</PropertyGroup>
This seems to be responsible for that difference; if I do a "normal" build I can see that after that a new "Packages" directory was created in my solution folder.
However, as you might have guessed, that directory is missing when I try to do the package creation command. I also do not run into this problem if I let Visual Studio create the package for me.
Maybe I do have to change the project file or passed properties to carry over this behavior for my package creation, too?
Or Is there maybe a way to force a "normal" build and then just append package creation to that somehow?
Silly me.
I was able to circumvent this issue by just calling multiple targets in my msbuild command such as that:
msbuild D:\PathTo\Solution\Project\Project.csproj
/fl /flp:logfile="D:\buildadventures\Build.log";errorsonly;verbosity=diagnostic
/t:Build;Package
/p:SolutionDir="D:\PathTo\Solution\\";Configuration=Release;Platform=AnyCpu;
PackageLocation="D:\buildadventures\Project.zip";
AutoParameterizationWebConfigConnectionStrings=false
I've been using Jenkins/Hudson CI for deploying my .NET web site project. I've been using the MSbuild plugin to build my project, and then xcopy to copy it out to the server.
I've noticed if I use the publish feature in Visual Studio I get a different set of files. I've got the config transforms working, but I end up with all the .cs files and a winmerge compare shows the binaries being different.
So, I'd like to either get Jenkins working just like the publish feature, or confirm that an xcopy deploy is functionally the same thing.
I've had good experiences with using Web Deploy and as a final build step with Jenkins running a bat file containing:
msdeploy.exe -verb:sync -source:package=%PACKAGE% -dest:auto,ComputerName=%TARGETHOST%
You'll have to install the web deploy package on your build server and the extention on IIS.
I'm using the MSBuild Jenkins plugin to build and then deploy the project. As mentioned in other answers, you need to have Web Deploy installed.
In the project configuration page in Jenkins, you need to add the following to the Command Line Arguments field:
/p:Configuration=Debug /p:DeployOnBuild=true /p:PublishProfile=publishProfileName
Of course, you need to first create the publish profile, either in VS or by exporting it from IIS and you also need to specify the solution file path in the MSBuild Build File field.
I am trying to automatically publish and deploy my .Net 4 web application automatically from a build script to be run by our continuous integration server. I am using the new _WPPCopyWebApplication target from VS2010 to perform the publish, however it appears to reset the current working directory of the msbuild project to c:\ this causes my prebuild steps to fail as they have relative paths to some external tools. The task I am running from our master.build file is as follows:
<Target Name="PublishWeb">
<MSBuild
Projects="$(ProjectPath)"
Targets="ResolveReferences;_WPPCopyWebApplication"
Properties="WebProjectOutputDir=$(DeployPath);OutDir=$(TempOutputFolder)$(WebOutputFolder)\;OutputPath=$(ProjectPath)\bin\Debug;" />
</Target>
This does not happen when using the legacy _CopyWebApplication. Does anyone have any idea how to resolve this problem?
Two possibilities come to mind:
Use the Exec task to call msbuild.exe, and supply a specific working directory.
Your pre-build steps are evaluated by MSBuild and can reference any MSBuild property, so make your paths relative to something specific, like $(MSBuildProjectDirectory), or $(MSBuildThisFileDirectory), instead of just relative to the current directory.
Is there a way to invoke an external script or batch file from VC6 (and later) project files?
I have a background process that I need to kill before attempting to build certain projects (DLLS, executables) and haven't found a way to successfully do so from the project itself. I'd like simply to call a batch file with a taskkill command in it.
(Yes, I could run the batch file from a command line before building the projects, but I don't always remember to do so and having it done automatically would be more convenient and less irritating for the whole development team.)
You can create a utility project (configuration type: Utility in the project property pages) that has a post build event. You then call the batch file from that Post-Build event. If I remember correctly, utility configuration appeared in VS2005. But I believe the same can be achieved with another type of configuration on VC6.
Here is an example of a setup (this is the text of the Command Line property of the Post-Build Event):
set solutionDir=$(SolutionDir)
set platformName=$(PlatformName)
set configurationName=$(ConfigurationName)
call $(SolutionDir)PostBuild.bat
As you can see, you have all the flexibility of customizing the batch environment based on VisualStudio macros.
If you want to have this batch file called every time you build, add a dependency to the requiring project (your main executable or dll project for example). You can add your batch file to the solution items for convenient access (right-click on the solution and select Add -> Existing Item...).
You can even invoke the build command on this utility project to force the execution of the batch file.
At work we have a similar setup to start our unit tests each time a build is triggered.
You could invoke it from a custom build step or a build event.
At least for C# in Visual Studio 2008, you can open the project file and find within the file the following comment:
<!-- To modify your build process, add your task inside one of the targets below and uncomment it.
Other similar extension points exist, see Microsoft.Common.targets.
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
</Target>
<Target Name="AfterBuild">
</Target>
-->
Uncomment the one that works best for you, in this case the "BeforeBuild" item. Then substitute your batch file for the one I have here:
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
<Exec Command="MyBatchFile.bat" />
</Target>
That's all there is to it; whenever you build that project, this will take place each and every time.
That said, I do not know if this works the same for VS 2005 or, especially, VC6. YMMV!