VS Publish, Web Deploy - create Event Source - powershell

Question

I want to create an new event log Event Source to log my webAPI app to when I Import Application through IIS.
I publish my application to a web deploy folder (zip) file in VS2015 and import from this.
I have found this code to create the event source:
if ([System.Diagnostics.EventLog]::SourceExists("myWeb.API") -eq $false) {
[System.Diagnostics.EventLog]::CreateEventSource("myWeb.API", "Application")
}
and I can put this in a EventSource.ps1 file which does what I want when I run it from a prompt.
How can I execute this during the IIS Import Application process?
I have tried using the .pubxml file but which element to use/override/call-it-via baffles me - I've tried AfterAddIisSettingAndFileContentsToSourceManifest and PipelineDependsOn.
<Target Name="CustomCreateEventSource">
<Message Text="Create Event Source" Importance="high"/>
<PropertyGroup>
<EventSource Condition=" '$(EventSource)'=='' ">
myWeb.API
</EventSource>
</PropertyGroup>
<Exec Command="powershell.exe"
-NonInteractive
-executionpolicy Unrestricted
-file "$(PublishUrl)Publish\EventSource.ps1" "$(EventSource)"" /></Target>
I'd rather it was done via IIS Import Application, as a 1-hit process, and not a:
Import Application
Run the powershell
because it'll be imported by not-necessarily technical users.
Many thanks for taking the time to assist!

Answer 1

You can use the <projectName>.wpp.targets file to kick off a custom command when the application is imported into IIS.
For example, if your project name is MyApp, add a file called MyApp.wpp.targets to the root level of the project.
I tested and verified that this approach works using a targets with the following content:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<Target Name="CustomTask" AfterTargets="AddIisSettingAndFileContentsToSourceManifest">
<ItemGroup>
<MsDeploySourceManifest Include="runCommand">
<!-- specify InputFormat None (see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4238192/running-powershell-from-msdeploy-runcommand-does-not-exit) -->
<Path>powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy bypass -NoLogo -inputformat none -NonInteractive -Command .'$(_MSDeployDirPath_FullPath)\Deploy\createEventLog.ps1'</Path>
</MsDeploySourceManifest>
</ItemGroup>
</Target>
</Project>
One important thing to note is that Visual Studio will sometimes cache the .wpp.targets file. The only way I know to release it is to restart Visual Studio. I just experienced this issue which threw me off track for a while, because I was getting an error that I couldn't make go away.
For reference, here is the .pubxml file I used to create the package Zip:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<PropertyGroup>
<WebPublishMethod>Package</WebPublishMethod>
<LastUsedBuildConfiguration>Release</LastUsedBuildConfiguration>
<LastUsedPlatform>Any CPU</LastUsedPlatform>
<SiteUrlToLaunchAfterPublish />
<LaunchSiteAfterPublish>True</LaunchSiteAfterPublish>
<ExcludeApp_Data>False</ExcludeApp_Data>
<DesktopBuildPackageLocation>c:\temp\IISImportTestPkg.zip</DesktopBuildPackageLocation>
<PackageAsSingleFile>true</PackageAsSingleFile>
<DeployIisAppPath>Default Web Site/IISImportTest</DeployIisAppPath>
<PublishDatabaseSettings>
<Objects xmlns="" />
</PublishDatabaseSettings>
</PropertyGroup>
</Project>
Lastly, here are a couple of resources that may help:
This is where I picked the idea of usin .wpp.targets file: http://sedodream.com/2011/11/08/SettingFolderPermissionsOnWebPublish.aspx
List of MsDeploy Providers where I found the runCommand provider: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd569040(v=ws.10).aspx