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.

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

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.

Answer 3

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>