I am building a .net solution using the Azure Devops 2019 pipeline. The solution I am building is referencing projects in another directory. These projects are located in the source control however during the build I get the following error:
> ##[error]C:\a\_work\9\s\UI\UIProject\UIProject.sln.metaproj(0,0):
> Error MSB3202: The project file
> "C:\a\_work\9\s\Te\..\..\BusinessLogic\MyBLLProject\MyBLLProject.csproj"
> was not found
If I look at the Build server drive the BusinessLogic folder is missing even though the files are located in the source control.
Shouldn´t the build server take care of referenced projects and build them as well?
If you are trying to build/restore a simple project, the restore task will not handle the referenced project.
If you are trying to build/restore solution level .sln, the restore task will handle both projects.
However, according to your error info.
"C:\a_work\9\s\Te....\BusinessLogic\MyBLLProject\MyBLLProject.csproj"
was not found
It's a project not found, not some dlls not found, the issue should not related nuget side.
Just as comment suggest, you should double check your workspace mapping relationship. Make sure the get source steps will also download the referenced projects.
If the referenced project is in a separate repo, then your build will fail. I haven't tried it myself but you can reference other repo: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/pipelines/repos/multi-repo-checkout?view=azure-devops
Related
Is there a way to generate a solution and project file out of a folder structure through a azure pipeline .ymal stage?
The way the project has been set up is that there are lots of other .git repos set up inside a master repo and inserted though subtrees. These repos don't have a .sln in themselves but instead when they are added into Unity they get added into the projects .sln and a .csproj is generated for each of the assemblies within the submodule (package)
What I'm looking to do is to have documentation generated for each of these submodules whenever an update is pushed to its master (not the projects it lives in master) as these tend to be more utilities and self contained systems. Problem I'm facing is that I can trigger all the documentation system with docFX but because this module does not contain a .csproj I'm unable to generate the documentation for it. so I'm wondering if its possible to have a step where I can create a project file for all scripts that are within a folder structure, and as such then have a project file for docFX to work of.
I know its not ideal in any sense, but wondering if its a possibility while I investigate further into other solutions.
Is there a way to generate a solution and project file out of a folder
structure through a azure pipeline .ymal stage?
For this issue, I am afraid that azure pipeline is impossible to achieve this.
".csproj" is a Visual Studio .NET C# Project file extension. This file
will have information about the files included in that project,
assemblies used in that project, project GUID and project version etc.
This file is related to your project. It will be automatically
generated when we create
".sln" is a structure for organizing projects in Visual Studio. It
contains the state information for projects in .sln (text-based,
shared) and .suo (binary, user-specific solution options) files. We
can add multiple projects inside one solution.
Azure pipeline cannot generate a solution and project file according to the folder structure.
I am attempting to set up a DevOps build definition to build a VS2017 solution on an on-site agent.
After adding the standard Visual Studio Build step to the build pipeline, the build agent reports the error:
"Error MSB3030: Could not copy the file "d:\agent_work..."
This seems to be happening for any LINKED item.
These items were added to the project from other solutions ("add existing item->Add As Link")
The solution/project builds fine locally on developers PCs, but not on agent.
All that is really required is for the build step to copy these files to an output directory to be included in the build artifacts.
Properties for all linked items are set to "content & copy always".
Error MSB3030: Could not copy the file "d:\agent_work..." because it was not found.
Am I missing something basic here?
This is a workspace mapping issue. You have files that aren't part of your build workspace. You will need to update your build to have a workspace that is mapped in a fashion equivalent to your developers' workspaces.
If your developers are referencing files outside their workspaces, this is a problem that you will have to rectify, then update the build accordingly.
Solved the build error : "Error MSB3030: Could not copy the file "d:\agent_work..." because it was not found." by adjusting the mappings in preceding "get sources" step. After looking at the logs of the build it appeared that the agent was looking in "d:\agent" for some items and "d:\agent\s" for other items (and not finding them). Don't know why it was looking in the "s" sub-directoy. But anyway, the work-around was to include the "s" in the local path mappings for "Local path under $(build.sourcesDirectory)" (ie: s/MyLocalPath)
I want to set up continuous integration and deployment for an XAP Mobile app in Azure Devops.
In order to get CI/CD I need to set up the Azure Pipeline to install the right packages.
There is some information in the docs on Hosting your own NuGet feeds
and Get started with NuGet packages in Azure DevOps
Dev Express explained that they do not currently provide a Nuget feed for XAF, but I can make my own Delegate's DCNugetPackageBuilder
Using DXNugetPackageBuilder to make Nuget packages
As per the instructions I downloaded the .pdb files extracted them to c:\tmp\symbols
I also downloaded DXNugetPackageBuilder and edited buildPackages.bat according to instructions.
Next I ran build.ps1 in elevated Powershell
This created the .nupkg files at C:\tmp\Nuget
By default this uses the files located at
C:\Program Files (x86)\DevExpress 18.1\Components\Bin\Framework
and the .pdb files located at
c:\tmp\symbols
Using Nuget.Exe and the Credential Provider to push the packages to the feed
The Connect To Feed screen mentions I need to download Nuget.exe and the credential provider
Here are the docs on the Credentials Provider
I unzipped the VSTS CredentialProviders Nuget.Exe is included.
The next step is to follow the instructions given by the "add this feed" section of the Connect To Feed screen.
For example
nuget.exe push -Source "SBDDevExpress" -ApiKey VSTS c:\tmp\Nuget\DevExpress.Data.18.1.6.0.nupkg
I ran into an access denied issue that got solved here
then I was able to push all the packages I wanted.
Set the Nuget Package Source
In VS2017 with my solution open I used Tools -> Nuget Package Manager -> Package Manager Settings
I added package settings with the Azure endpoint set up as a package source.
Errors building
When I run the build pipeline I get errors like
The type or namespace DevExpress could not be found are you missing a directive or assembly reference?
From studying Updater.cs and Module.cs
It seems I am missing the following namespaces from the Nuget feed.
DevExpress.ExpressApp.DC;
DevExpress.ExpressApp.Updating;
DevExpress.Persistent.BaseImpl.PermissionPolicy;
[Update]
DevExpress suggested I compare the dlls generated in the bin folder with my package feed.
I found several missing files and pushed their packages.
I now have
XafMobile.Module\Properties\licenses.licx(1.0): Error LC0003: Unable to resolve type 'DevExpress.ExpressApp.ModuleBase"
I can see from the source code that ModuleBase is a public class in DevExpress.ExpressApp
I am wondering if this is something to do with reflection.
There is some mention of it at Dev Express support
[Update]
I tried removing the licence files and syncing the project.
Now the errors show as missing assembly references
Also When I rebuild my solution the license files are missing from the properties folders
I wonder if this helps explain it
[Update]
Manuel Grunder [DevExpress MVP] and DXNugetPackageBuilder author explained that
"
When working with nuget.packages you need to reference them via nuget as well
as he explains here
"
As is explained here
"When working with nuget.packages you need to reference them via nuget as well. Thats the reason why it did not work in the first place."
I have two projects in TFS, WebSite and Reference, and they follow the structure:
$\
WebSite: Main project to be built
Reference: Repository with many referenceable dlls.
Website.dll uses dlls existing at Reference but, for several reasons, they are not contained in the same solution, and may be mapped to different folders that do not follow the VSTS structure.
So, in order to have the Website project compiling locally, the Reference's.dlls Hintpath at Website.csproj have been manually changed to a specific, absolute path, common to all developers' machine.
Now, we're experiencing with CI/CD, and we're thrilled with the hypothesis of having VSTS doing the dirty, tedious work of building/deploying. Thing is, since Reference.dll is not in the same project as Website, building ends up lacking essential libraries (the aforementioned Reference folder) and fails.
Is there a way of telling VSTS to GET Reference's dlls (which are compiled at this point), copy them to the directory Website.csproj is being built at and let them be used to build the main project?
What I've tried:
First:
Map Website and Reference in the Get Sources step
Using a Copy Files task, set Source FOlder as $\References and Target Folder as $(Agent.BuildDirectory)
Build
Now:
Added all the references in the main project.
In both cases, none of the references are found, and the
The type or namespace name '(namespacehere)' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)
errors are thrown.
I've been searching through the vsts help section, but can't seem to find any obvious solutions.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
It’s mainly caused by the Reference's dlls are not added in source control (TFVC repo).
First, please make sure you add the Reference's dlls into the website project. So the project file will contain the reference as below (ClassLibrary1.dll as the reference in below example):
<Reference Include="ClassLibrary1">
<HintPath>..\..\ClassLibrary1\ClassLibrary1\bin\Debug\netstandard2.0\ClassLibrary1.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
Then you can use any of below options to make the referenced dlls work.
Option 1: add the referenced dlls into source control
If you have added .tfignore file into your TFVC repo, it will ignore files and folders under **\bin, so the reference dlls not checkin to TFVC repo by default. You can follow below options to checkin the reference dlls into TFVC repo:
Exclude the reference dlls in .tfignore
Exclude the dlls you want to refer in .tfignore. The format is:
!**\referencename.dll
Such as !**\ClassLibrary1.dll.
Add the reference dlls into source control
In VS -> Source Control Explorer -> Add items to folder -> selected the dlls.
Checkin and double check the dlls are added into TFVC repo
In VS pending changes window, there will show the dlls and the .tfignore file as Inculded changes, checkin the changes.
And double check the dlls are added into TFVC repo in VSTS web page.
Option 2: build the reference project before building website project
If you do not want to add the dlls into source control, you can also build the reference solution firstly so that the reference dlls will generate before build the website project. Details as below:
Edit build definition -> add VS Build task (specify reference solution) before building website project -> Save and queue the build.
Note: for option 2, the build configuration you specified in the relative path should be consistent with the build configuration in VSTS build definition.
Such as I specified Debug in the relative path ..\..\ClassLibrary1\ClassLibrary1\bin\Debug\netstandard2.0\ClassLibrary1.dll. So in my VSTS build definition, VS build task to build the reference project, the build configuration must be Debug.
Now, no matter which option you are using, VSTS build will not show the error message The type or namespace name '(namespacehere)' could not be found.
The correct way to approach this is to not store references in source control. Turn them into packages, store them in a package management feed, and restore them during build. Developers will automatically restore them on build.
I need to execute a command line utility from a package that is downloaded as part of nuget package restore in the TFS build process.
On my local computer that is stored in c:\users\me.nuget*
I've tried every permutation of that on TFS without success. I've also tried \mydir\packages with no success as well.
The biggest problem is that I have to run the package restore step before being able to see any sort of feedback from the log. That's some slow debugging.
Any ideas? Thanks ahead.
With the latest nuget/msbuild the packages folder is held under the active user's profile directory, so an appropriate Powershell command is
Get-ChildItem $(UserProfile)\.nuget\packages
This currently evaluates on the VSTS 2017 Hosted build agent to C:\Users\VssAdministrator\.nuget\packages but by using the variable you are insulated from any changes made.
Just an addition to #Paul Hatcher's answer:
I also faced the same problem in Azure DevOps build pipeline where a specific package and nuget packages directory could not be found.
It is a Xamarin.Forms app based on a .net standard library where no packages folder exists. I later noticed in build logs that the packages are restored to nuget folder under user's profile. However this particular case is not documented on https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/pipelines/build/variables?view=vsts#agent-variables.
That means #Paul Hatcher's answer is also valid if you try to reference nuget package folder directly from your build pipeline. This ($(UserProfile).nuget\packages) should actually be a (standard) predefined build variable.
The Nuget package cache folder is in C:\Users\buildguest.nuget\packages, but it will be cleaned after build if you are using Hosted build server.
The simple way to verify:
Add NuGet restore or .Net Core Restore build step to restore packages
Add PowerShell build step to list files in C:\Users\buildguest.nuget\packages
Code:
Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Users\buildguest\.nuget\packages
Queue build and check the PowerShell step log (the packages’ will be listed in the log)
Remove/disable NuGet restore or .Net Core Restore build step > Save build definition
Queue build
The build will be failed, because the path does not exist.
So, the packages need to be restored before build solution/project if aren’t existing. You can add packages to source control and map to build agent to deal with the issue of too long time takes to restore packages.