.NET Core include folder in publish

Question

I have the following folder structure for my .NET Core 2.1 project:

How can I include folder AppData and all of its subfolders and files when I publish the solution?

I tried adding this to .csproj file but it didn't work:

<ItemGroup>
    <Folder Include="AppData\*" />
</ItemGroup>

EDIT

I also tried with this and it didn't work:

<ItemGroup>
    <Content Include="AppData\**" LinkBase="AppData" />
</ItemGroup>

Possible duplicate of [dotnet core publish: include/exclude dir in output](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/43569821/dotnet-core-publish-include-exclude-dir-in-output) — Iskander Raimbaev, Feb 19 '19 at 09:27
@Bardr It works, but only for folders which contain files/subfolders. How can I copy empty folders as well? — Sam Carlson, Feb 19 '19 at 09:41
I don't know if this is possible but there is workaround: ` ` This will create AppData folder after publishing if it doesn't exist. It won't exist only if it's empty while publishing. — Bardr, Feb 19 '19 at 09:45

score 121 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 19 '19 at 12:01

121

Adding this:

<ItemGroup> 
  <Content Include="AppData\**"> 
    <CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory> 
  </Content> 
</ItemGroup>

to your .csproj file will copy AppData folder if it's not empty. For empty AppData folder you can use this workaround:

<Target Name="CreateAppDataFolder" AfterTargets="AfterPublish">
  <MakeDir Directories="$(PublishDir)AppData" Condition="!Exists('$(PublishDir)AppData')" /> 
</Target>

This will create AppData folder after publish if it won't be already included in output. Meaning this will create AppData folder only if it's empty while publishing.

answered Feb 19 '19 at 12:01

Bardr

2,319
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1

This is the implementation I prefer since it doesn't rely on creating a placeholder file. With the placeholder file approach, somewhere down the road, someone may wonder why the file is there and ask what it does. – SRQ Coder Feb 20 '19 at 04:41
@Bardr and after you include this in the build ( when oublish ) how we are going to retrieve the files inside the folder? I`ve tried many ways but i keep getting errors that the folder cannot be found... In the build action, i set the files to contents – Csibi Norbert Aug 09 '20 at 08:59

score 25 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 02 '19 at 21:31

25

There is simple and useful solution:

  <ItemGroup>
    <Content Include="AppData\**" CopyToPublishDirectory="PreserveNewest"/>
  </ItemGroup>

You can find more tricks here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/tools/project-json-to-csproj

answered Dec 02 '19 at 21:31

Dmitriy Ivanov

1,050
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You can also add LinkBase="MyDirectory" to the element if you want to specify a folder to place the files into within the publish directory. – Andrew Nov 09 '20 at 07:36
Link is dead :( – Zero3 Sep 21 '22 at 10:28

score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 24 '21 at 02:24

First solution, if run dotnet build or dotnet publish will add the folder inside bin.

<ItemGroup>
  <None Update="AppData\**"  CopyToOutputDirectory="PreserveNewest"  />
</ItemGroup>

Second solution, if run dotnet publish will add the folder inside bin.

<ItemGroup>
  <Content Include="AppData\**" CopyToPublishDirectory="PreserveNewest"/>
</ItemGroup>

score 6 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 05 '20 at 17:37

None of the above solutions worked for me. So, I took the same approach taken in "React project template" and I added this code to my .csproj file:

  <Target Name="PublishFrontend" AfterTargets="ComputeFilesToPublish">
    <ItemGroup>
      <DistFiles Include="ClientApp\build\**" />
      <ResolvedFileToPublish Include="@(DistFiles->'%(FullPath)')" Exclude="@(ResolvedFileToPublish)">
        <RelativePath>%(DistFiles.Identity)</RelativePath>
        <CopyToPublishDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToPublishDirectory>
        <ExcludeFromSingleFile>true</ExcludeFromSingleFile>
      </ResolvedFileToPublish>
    </ItemGroup>
  </Target>

This still doesn't work for me when running a build in Azure DevOps. Was this solution only for a local publish? — user2966445, Jun 02 '21 at 04:17
I didn't build in Azure, but it works in my CI. I use AppVeyor. — manna, Sep 17 '21 at 15:35

score 4 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 19 '19 at 09:34

You can put a placeholder file in it (or use your existing files). Then add the file to the project and set the file properties: Copy To Output Directory: Copy if newer or Copy always.

Other way: add a post build step command, that creates the directory.

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered May 22 '23 at 09:54

I tried to put 'logs' directory into publish out directory, finally this lines into Project.csproj works (mind to set 'Delete existing files = false' in publish setting):

<Target Name="LogDirectoryOnPublish" BeforeTargets="Publish">
    <RemoveDir Condition="Exists('$(PublishUrl)')" Directories="$(PublishUrl)" />
    <MakeDir Directories="$(PublishUrl)\logs\" />
</Target>

.NET Core include folder in publish

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