I am using nant-0.90-alpha1 to build asp.net 3.5 web site. I am unable do that. When I am using msbuild , it throwing error saying unknown tag msbuild. How can I build asp.net 3.5 website using nant?
nRk
The CodeCampServer project provides good examples for a variety of tasks using nant to build MS projects including using MSBuild. However it doesn't use the msbuild task. Here's an excerpt from the common.build file from CodeCampServer:
<target name="compile" depends="init">
<echo message="Build Directory is ${dir.build}" />
<exec program="${framework::get-framework-directory(framework::get-target-framework())}\msbuild.exe"
commandline="${file.solution} /t:Clean /p:Configuration=${project.config} /v:q" workingdir="." />
<exec program="${framework::get-framework-directory(framework::get-target-framework())}\msbuild.exe"
commandline="${file.solution} /t:Rebuild /p:Configuration=${project.config} /v:q" workingdir="." />
</target>
<msbuild> task is part of NAntContrib.
The <msbuild> task must be imported into your build script. Put the following element somewhere within your <project> element.
<project ...>
<loadtasks assembly="C:\Program Files\NAntContrib\NAnt.Contrib.Tasks.dll"/>
...
</project>
I believe NAnt will also pick up additional task libraries if the dlls are placed in the NAnt bin folder.
Related
As part of my build process I want to run a dotnet tool before the compile.
I can add this section to my sdk project file:
<ItemGroup>
<PackageDownload Include="MyTool" Version="[1.0.1]" />
</ItemGroup>
Then the tool is downloaded and is available inside:
\Users\me\.nuget\packages\MyTool\1.0.1\tools\netcoreapp3.1\any\
I can then add a prebuild target like this:
<Target Name="PreBuild" BeforeTargets="CoreCompile">
<Exec Command="dotnet C:\Users\me\.nuget\packages\MyTool\1.0.1\tools\netcoreapp3.1\any\MyTool.dll <MyOptions> />
</Target>
This works, but obviously I do not want absolute references to my user profile (or version) in the path.
Is there a way to substitute path with an environment variable?
I have tried adding GeneratePathProperty="true" to the PackageDownload but $(PkgMyTool) is undefined.
I also tried referencing the tool with <PackageReference> but this fails due to SDK incompatibility. My Tool is netcore3.1 and this project is netstandard2.0.
You can use only the macros provided by the framework. You can find them here. Almost all of them are referring to the relative path of your project. I suggest you to copy your tool inside a project folder and you can make use of these macros.
The best solution I had success with thus far is this:
<Target Name="PreBuild" BeforeTargets="CoreCompile">
<Exec Command="dotnet tool update MyTool --tool-path=$(TargetDir)\tools --version=1.0.1" />
<Exec Command="$(TargetDir)\tools\MyTool <MyOptions> />
</Target>
And it DOES save me from the nitty gritty details like \netcoreapp3.1\any but it does not reuse the tool from NuGet cache, meaning it has to be downloaded on every build.
I still hope someone will provide a better answer.
I want Visual Studio to precompile my ASP.NET application which is used as an Azure web role payload. So I've found this post that explains how to call aspnet_compiler to validate views.
I tried to add the following to "post-build event" of my ASP.NET application:
call "%VS100COMNTOOLS%\vsvars32.bat"
aspnet_compiler -v / -p $(ProjectDir)
or alternatively this (application name specified explicitly):
call "%VS100COMNTOOLS%\vsvars32.bat"
aspnet_compiler -v /ASP.NET-Application-ProjectNameHere -p $(ProjectDir)
In both cases when the build runs I see the following in the build output:
Setting environment for using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 x86 tools.
Utility to precompile an ASP.NET application
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
and clearly no precompilation happens because if I change any .aspx or .cshtml file "Build Action" to "None" it doesn't get to the Azure service package and the view no longer opens once the package is deployed to Azure.
How do I setup aspnet_compiler for precompiling from within Visual Studio?
If you want to use Asp.NET Compiler within your Visual Studio / msbuild then you can add
AspNetCompiler Task to your project file (.csproj/.vbproj) and set MvcBuildViews to true.
Example:
<Project>
<PropertyGroup>
<MvcBuildViews>true</MvcBuildViews>
</PropertyGroup>
<!-- ... -->
<Target Name="PrecompileWeb" AfterTargets="build" Condition="'$(MvcBuildViews)'=='true'">
<Message Text="Starting AspNetCompiler for $(ProjectDir)" Importance="high" />
<AspNetCompiler
VirtualPath="temp"
PhysicalPath="$(WebProjectOutputDir)"
Force="true"
/>
</Target>
<!-- ... -->
</Project>
You may also set TargetPath attribute to specify destination directory.
AfterTargets="build" is similar to "post-build event". See Target Build Order for more.
Integrate ASPX compilation into Visual Studio
One of the principles I insist on is to always try my build on a clean environment and simulate installation as if it was done by QA. Lately I've noticed that I keep falling on errors hidden deep in the aspx files. So, why not using the old and familiar aspnet_compiler.exe tool? It is located at C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727 and it is quite easy to use.
As a VS add-ins freak I've started thinking on an amazing add-in that will integrate to the VS and will listen to build events and display the results at the output pane. Heck, why not add some coffee serving capabilities?
It took me about 10 minutes of googling to stumble on this blog. Mike Hadlow had a genius in its simplicity idea. Use the POST BUILD EVENT!
All I need to do is put the following line in the post build event: C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\aspnet_compiler.exe -v / -p "$(ProjectDir)\"
Now, All that is left is to make the process of adding this line to each and every web project in our team to be automatic.
I have just the add-in for that :)
enter link description here
The answer from Matej was helpful for me, but I was not able to use it as-is and still get it to work for both local builds within Visual Studio and automated builds via TFS.
I had to add some extra msbuild settings. Actually, there were 2 different scenarios that I had. One project was an Web App that built into the _PublishedWebsites folder and one was an MVC Web App that did not build into the _PublishedWebsites folder.
First, add the following if it is not already in your project file:
<PropertyGroup>
<MvcBuildViews>true</MvcBuildViews>
</PropertyGroup>
For the one WITH _PublishedWebsites:
<Choose>
<When Condition="'$(BuildingInsideVisualStudio)' == true">
<PropertyGroup>
<AspNetCompilerPhysicalPath>$(ProjectDir)</AspNetCompilerPhysicalPath>
</PropertyGroup>
</When>
<Otherwise>
<PropertyGroup>
<AspNetCompilerPhysicalPath>$(WebProjectOutputDir)</AspNetCompilerPhysicalPath>
</PropertyGroup>
</Otherwise>
</Choose>
<Target Name="PrecompileWeb" AfterTargets="build" Condition="'$(MvcBuildViews)'=='true'">
<!-- aspnet_compiler.exe needs to be run on the folder that has the aspx files and the "bin" subfolder.
When running locally, the value needs to be the project directory, which is $(ProjectDir).
When running the TFS build, the value needs to be (BuildFolder)\(ProjectName)\_PublishedWebsites\(ProjectName).
The $(AspNetCompilerPhysicalPath) will hold the correct value for both types of builds.
-->
<Message Text="Starting AspNetCompiler for $(ProjectName) at $(AspNetCompilerPhysicalPath)" Importance="high" />
<AspNetCompiler
VirtualPath="/"
PhysicalPath="$(AspNetCompilerPhysicalPath)"
TargetPath="$(AspNetCompilerPhysicalPath)\bin_precompile"
Force="true"
/>
</Target>
For the one WITHOUT _PublishedWebsites:
<Choose>
<When Condition="'$(BuildingInsideVisualStudio)' == true">
<PropertyGroup>
<AspNetCompiler_CopyFilesFirst>false</AspNetCompiler_CopyFilesFirst>
</PropertyGroup>
</When>
<Otherwise>
<PropertyGroup>
<AspNetCompiler_CopyFilesFirst>true</AspNetCompiler_CopyFilesFirst>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<AllOutputFiles Include="$(OutDir)\\**\*.*" />
</ItemGroup>
</Otherwise>
</Choose>
<Target Name="PrecompileWeb" AfterTargets="build" Condition="'$(MvcBuildViews)'=='true'">
<!-- aspnet_compiler.exe needs to be run on the folder that has the cshtml files and the "bin" subfolder. I could not find a setting that was appropriate for both.
When running locally, the value needs to be the project directory, which is $(ProjectDir).
When running the TFS build, there is no folder that matches both of those criteria.
So first we will copy the output into the source code folder's "bin" subfolder,
then run it against the source $(ProjectDir), the same as if we were building locally.
-->
<Message Text="Before running AspNetCompiler, copy files from $(OutDir) to $(ProjectDir)\bin" Importance="high" />
<Exec Command="( robocopy.exe /mir $(OutDir) $(ProjectDir)\bin ) ^& IF %25ERRORLEVEL%25 LEQ 1 exit 0" Condition="'$(AspNetCompiler_CopyFilesFirst)'=='true'" />
<Message Text="Starting AspNetCompiler for $(ProjectName) at $(ProjectDir)" Importance="high" />
<AspNetCompiler
VirtualPath="/"
PhysicalPath="$(ProjectDir)"
TargetPath="$(ProjectDir)\bin_precompile"
Force="true"
/>
</Target>
How can I build an ASP.NET web application from the command line?
Try this in a .bat file, replace v4.0.30319 with the appropriate version:
CD C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319
msbuild "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\MyWebSite.sln"
Take a look at the devenv.exe /Build switch, you give it a solution file to build, e.g.
devenv.exe "C:\Documents and Settings\someuser\MySolution.sln" /build DEBUG
If you have more complex build requirements then look into MSBuild.
This is a round about way to do it, but you can use the MSBuild task as part of an msbuild project:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="3.5" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<ItemGroup>
<Solutions Include="*.sln" />
</ItemGroup>
<Target Name="Build" >
<MSBuild BuildInParallel="true" Projects="#(Solutions)" RebaseOutputs="true" />
</Target>
built with msbuildprojectname.proj from the command line.
This may seem like overkill, but you can then add extra stuff into the project (like restarting websites, zipping files, Virtual machine control even!, code coverage) that can help you setup and test the project.
As dumb as I might look, I have used "aspnet_compiler.exe" for compiling/deploying projects
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/msbuild/thread/2ca80dfd-b7d7-4e09-98ff-891b1570f4db
To build a solution directly,
msbuild mysolution.sln
You'll find MSBuild in the Microsoft.NET folder in your Windows directory.
You may also want to pre-compile your Web site. Instructions for that are on MSDN here. If you use the Web Deployment project node (detailed at the bottom) then the deployment will happen automatically when you run msbuild on the solution file.
I've upgraded from ASP.NET MVC Beta to 1.0 and did the following changes to the MVC project (as descibed in the RC release notes):
<Project ...>
...
<MvcBuildViews>true</MvcBuildViews>
...
<Target Name="AfterBuild" Condition="'$(MvcBuildViews)'=='true'">
<AspNetCompiler VirtualPath="temp" PhysicalPath="$(ProjectDir)\..\$(ProjectName)" />
</Target>
...
</Project>
While the build runs fine on our local dev boxes, it fails under TFS 2008 Build with "Could not load type 'xxx.MvcApplication'", see below build log:
...
using "AspNetCompiler" task from assembly "Microsoft.Build.Tasks.v3.5, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a".
Task "AspNetCompiler"
Command:
C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\aspnet_compiler.exe -v temp -p D:\Builds\xxx\Continuous\TeamBuild\Sources\UI\xxx.UI.Dashboard\\..\xxx.UI.Dashboard
The "AspNetCompiler" task is using "aspnet_compiler.exe" from "C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\aspnet_compiler.exe".
Utility to precompile an ASP.NET application
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
/temp/global.asax(1): error ASPPARSE: Could not load type 'xxx.UI.Dashboard.MvcApplication'.
The command exited with code 1.
Done executing task "AspNetCompiler" -- FAILED.
...
MVC 1.0 is installed on TFS and the solution compiles when built within a Visual Studio instance on the same TFS server.
How can I resolve this TFS Build issue?
Actually, there's a better solution to this problem. I've tested it with VS/TFS 2010 but it should also work with VS/TFS 2008.
<Target Name="AfterBuild" Condition="'$(MvcBuildViews)'=='true'">
<AspNetCompiler VirtualPath="temp" PhysicalPath="$(WebProjectOutputDir)" />
</Target>
I'm going to work with the MVC team to update their project template to to use this approach along with a custom target (rather than overriding AfterBuild).
I've published a blog post on How to Turn on Compile-time View Checking for ASP.NET MVC projects in TFS Build 2010.
The problem stems from the fact that the AspNetCompiler MSBuild task used within the AfterBuild target of an ASP.NET MVC project expects to reference the dll's in the bin folder of the Web project.
On a desktop build the bin folder is where you would expect it under your source tree.
However TFS Teambuild compiles the output of your source to a different directory on the build server. When the AspNetCompiler task starts it cannot find the bin directory to reference the required DLL and you get the exception.
Solution is to modify the AfterBuild target of the MVC Project to be as follows:
<Target Name="AfterBuild" Condition="'$(MvcBuildViews)'=='true'">
<AspNetCompiler Condition="'$(IsDesktopBuild)' != 'false'" VirtualPath="temp" PhysicalPath="$(ProjectDir)\..\$(ProjectName)" />
<AspNetCompiler Condition="'$(IsDesktopBuild)' == 'false'" VirtualPath="temp" PhysicalPath="$(PublishDir)\_PublishedWebsites\$(ProjectName)" />
</Target>
This change enables you to compile Views on both the desktop, and the TFS build server.
Jim Lamb's solution didn't work for us when I built our web .csproj with
/p:UseWPP_CopyWebApplication=true;PipelineDependsOnBuild=False
because the target was being executed AfterBuild and the application has not been copied into the WebProjectOutputDir yet. (BTW, I pass those properties to the web project build cos I want the build to create a OutDir folder with only my binaries and cshtml files suitable for zipping, ie not an in-place build)
To get around this issue and honour the intent of his original target, I did the following:
<PropertyGroup>
<OnAfter_WPPCopyWebApplication>
MvcBuildViews;
</OnAfter_WPPCopyWebApplication>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="MvcBuildViews" Condition="'$(MvcBuildViews)'=='true'">
<AspNetCompiler VirtualPath="temp" PhysicalPath="$(WebProjectOutputDir)" />
</Target>
I assume you meant you changed the following setting in the .csproj file:
<MvcBuildViews>true</MvcBuildViews>
The setting you posted in your question shouldn't be touched.
If it works on your local machine, then obviously you can pre-build an ASP.NET MVC application.
I think you need to track down what's different between your TFS build environment and your local VS machines. Maybe it's using a different version of MsBuild or something.
Try performing both builds with verbose output and compare the two to see what's different.
We are still testing this out, but it appears that you can move the false/true from the tag set, into the property group for your DEBUG build version, you can still set it to true and MSBuild will compile (assuming MSBuild TfsBuild.proj file is setup to use something other than debug configuration). You will need to edit the csproj file using Notepad to accomplish this.
<Project DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003" ToolsVersion="3.5">
<PropertyGroup>
<Configuration Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == '' ">Debug</Configuration>
<MvcBuildViews>true</MvcBuildViews>
....
You need to move the MVCBuildViews tag from the default property group above, to the debug configuration property group (below). Again, when we get the TFS / MSBuild setup, I'll try to post the step we added to our TFSBuild.proj file in TFS.
<PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Debug|AnyCPU' ">
<MvcBuildViews>true</MvcBuildViews>
<DebugSymbols>true</DebugSymbols>
....
This problem seems similar to the one talked about here:
http://blogs.msdn.com/aaronhallberg/archive/2007/07/02/team-build-and-web-deployment-projects.aspx
it seems the invocation of aspnet_compiler.exe fails to locate the binaries because the are not in the bin folder of the MVC project on the build machine. I haven't worked out a solution yet.
The accepted answer didn't work for me. The $(PublishDir) parameter did not point to the correct location. Instead I had to use:
<Target Name="AfterBuild" Condition="'$(MvcBuildViews)'=='true'">
<AspNetCompiler Condition="'$(IsDesktopBuild)' != 'false'" VirtualPath="temp" PhysicalPath="$(ProjectDir)\..\$(ProjectName)" />
<AspNetCompiler Condition="'$(IsDesktopBuild)' == 'false'" VirtualPath="temp" PhysicalPath="$(OutDir)\_PublishedWebsites\$(ProjectName)" />
</Target>
I had some old folders in my source control that were not visible in the Solution.
You cannot pre-build an ASP.NET MVC application.
I am trying to publish an Asp.net MVC web application locally using the NAnt and MSBuild. This is what I am using for my NAnt target;
<target name="publish-artifacts-to-build">
<msbuild project="my-solution.sln" target="Publish">
<property name="Configuration" value="debug" />
<property name="OutDir" value="builds\" />
<arg line="/m:2 /tv:3.5" />
</msbuild>
</target>
and all I get is this as a response;
[msbuild] Skipping unpublishable project.
Is it possible to publish web applications via the command line in this way?
The "Publish" target you are trying to invoke is for "OneClick" deployment, not for publishing a website... This is why you are getting the seemingly bizarre message.
You would want to use the AspNetCompiler task, rather than the MSBuild task. See http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms164291.aspx for more info on this task. Your "PublishDir" would correspond to the TargetPath property of the task.
Source
I came up with such solution, works great for me:
msbuild /t:ResolveReferences;_WPPCopyWebApplication /p:BuildingProject=true;OutDir=C:\Temp\buidl\ Test.csproj
Secret sauce is _WPPCopyWebApplication target.