Automating publish Visual Studio 2010 functionalities?

Question

I've read a few good posts on automating build processes, however, what I'm interested in is not just a build process, but publishing.

I have several websites and services that use a base model. When I change that model (which won't happen very often), all sites/services will have to be rebuilt and published to their appropriate target directories (already contained in their config).

All project folders exist in one folder.

The approach I am considering is to use MSBuild to run a script from the the main folder, with a named list of projects to build/publish.

I have found a good example on creating a build script for MSBuild here, however, this only satisfies the build for one project.

How would I have the process go through a named list of projects/directories to perform the same build/publish script on?

Thanks.

Have you considered creating a Solution? MSBuild knows how to build them too. — Hans Passant, Dec 15 '11 at 17:57
That's putting me on a different track... I'll check it out, thanks. — ElHaix, Dec 16 '11 at 17:34

ElHaix · Answer 1 · 2011-12-27T20:16:30.727

The final, reusable solution is as follows.

Recap:

I have several sites in a root folder who's directories and project file names are all named the value of the website. I want to be able to publish all sites (or a selected list) from the command line - running a script. The websites are then to be published to my IIS server directories.

First, create a MSBuild script that takes in the parameter of the website name:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Project DefaultTargets="Compile,Deploy" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">

  <Target Name ="DeleteFiles">
    <Delete Files="..\$(ProjectName)\$(ProjectName)\obj\debug\$(ProjectName).dll"></Delete>
    <Delete Files="..\$(ProjectName)\$(ProjectName)\obj\release\$(ProjectName).dll"></Delete>
    <Delete Files="..\$(ProjectName)\$(ProjectName)\bin\$(ProjectName).dll"></Delete>
    <Delete Files="..\$(ProjectName)\$(ProjectName)\bin\$(ProjectName).pdb"></Delete>
  </Target>

  <Target Name="Compile" DependsOnTargets="DeleteFiles">
    <MSBuild Projects="..\$(ProjectName)\$(ProjectName)\$(ProjectName).csproj"
      Targets="Clean;Build"
      Properties="OutputPath=..\$(ProjectName)\bin"/>
  </Target>

  <Target Name="Deploy" DependsOnTargets="Compile">
    <MSBuild Projects="..\$(ProjectName)\$(ProjectName)\$(ProjectName).csproj"
        Targets="ResolveReferences;_CopyWebApplication"
        Properties="OutDir=C:\inetpub\wwwroot\$(ProjectName)\bin\;WebProjectOutputDir=C:\inetpub\wwwroot\$(ProjectName)" />
  </Target>

</Project>

Next, create a text file with one website name per line. This can be easily generated by doing a "dir > sites.txt" then column editing out superfluous content.

ie.

site1.com
site2.com
site3.com
site4.com

Lastly, create a batch file that iterates through the list contained in sites.txt, and executes the MSBuild script:

@echo --------------------------------------------
@echo --  Iterating through list in sites.txt  --
@echo --------------------------------------------
for /f %%X in (sites.txt) do msbuild build.xml /p:ProjectName="%%X" /v:n

This solution resides on in a directory on the same level as the rest of the websites from the root, which why the "..\$(ProjectName)" in the build script.

Great way of publishing a bunch of sites, and hope this helps someone.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 18 '11 at 23:00

Use an <ItemGroup /> element with custom metadata resulting in something like follows:

   <ItemGroup>
      <ProjectToPublish Include="WebApplication1\WebApplication1.csproj" >
                <OutputDir>OutputDir1</OutputDir>
      </ProjectToPublish>
      <ProjectToPublish Include="WebApplication2\WebApplication2.csproj" >
                <OutputDir>OutputDir2</OutputDir>
      </ProjectToPublish>
   </ItemGroup>

   <Target Name="Publish" Inputs="@(ProjectsToPublish)" Outputs="%(Identity).Dummy">
      <RemoveDir Directories="%(OutputDir)" ContinueOnError="true" />
      <MSBuild Projects="%(Identity)"
         Targets="ResolveReferences;_CopyWebApplication"
         Properties="WebProjectOutputDir=$(OutputDir);
         OutDir=%(OutputDir)\" />
   </Target>

ElHaix · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-02T16:00:02.467

So I finally had time to take a look at this again.

I created the following MSBuild script that resides in a folder at the same level of all the websites I have.

<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">


  <Target Name ="DeleteFiles">
    <Delete Files="..\$(ProjectName)\$(ProjectName)\obj\debug\$(ProjectName).dll"></Delete>
    <Delete Files="..\$(ProjectName)\$(ProjectName)\obj\release\$(ProjectName).dll"></Delete>
    <Delete Files="..\$(ProjectName)\$(ProjectName)\bin\$(ProjectName).dll"></Delete>
    <Delete Files="..\$(ProjectName)\$(ProjectName)\bin\$(ProjectName).pdb"></Delete>
  </Target>

  <Target Name="Compile" DependsOnTargets="DeleteFiles">
    <MSBuild Projects="..\$(ProjectName)\$(ProjectName)\$(ProjectName).csproj"
      Targets="Clean;Build"
      Properties="OutputPath=..\$(ProjectName)\bin"/>
  </Target>

  <Target Name="Deploy" DependsOnTargets="Compile">
    <MSBuild Projects="..\$(ProjectName)\$(ProjectName)\$(ProjectName).csproj"
        Targets="ResolveReferences;_CopyWebApplication"
        Properties="OutDir=C:\inetpub\wwwroot\$(ProjectName)\bin\;WebProjectOutputDir=C:\inetpub\wwwroot\$(ProjectName)" />
  </Target>


</Project>

And is called like this:

msbuild build.xml /p:ProjectName="websitetopublish.com" /v:n

Works great for one site, however I'd like a batch-related solution that reads a text file. For each entry in that text file execute the build process.

I easily write a .Net console app to to this, but overkill, and I'd like to know how to accomplish this using some for looping mechanisms in batch files.

hi...i tried doing this but am getting some error as "error MSB4057: The target "Compile,Deploy" does not exist in the project"... I tried searching but could not find much..did you face the same situation — Why, May 15 '14 at 08:57

Automating publish Visual Studio 2010 functionalities?

3 Answers3