I have a NuGet package (MyPkg) that contains a build target which is dependent on build tasks in another package (AnotherPkg). AnotherPkg has a tools directory with that build task DLL. Following NuGet behavior, the DLL is installed to \packages\AnotherPkg.0.1.1\tools
I am wondering if there is a proper way to reference AnotherPkg's tools path and make it version agnostic. For example, I'd like the package user to be able to upgrade AnotherPkg to 0.1.2, and not have to change anything in my package.
I have some code that kind of works to try and find AnotherPkg's directory... but it seems a little flaky and the project might not load if AnotherPkg has not yet been installed.
<ItemGroup>
<AnotherPkgDll Include="$(SolutionDir)\packages\AnotherPkg.*\tools\AnotherPkg.Tasks.dll" />
</ItemGroup>
<UsingTask AssemblyFile="#(AnotherPkgDll)" TaskName="Whatever" />
Any other tips? I'm hoping I'm missing some sort of NuGet function to get this info.
The package I'm trying to use in my package is on Github. So I modified it and submitted a pull request. :)
Related
I have a solution with a console app ConsoleApp-net461 that references a library ClassLibrary-net452.
Both projects reference a multi-framework nuget package NuGetPackage-net452-net461.
When I build, I end up with the nuget package's net461 dll in the output folder. At runtime, I am getting errors like:
System.TypeLoadException: Inheritance security rules violated by type: 'ClassA'.
Derived types must either match the security accessibility of the base type or be less accessible.
I am suspecting this is because my ClassLibrary-net452 ends up having a dependency on the nuget package dll with the net461 framework.
Is this normal behavior? What are the best ways to ensure the net452 dll is resolved from the nuget package? BindingRedirects don't seem to let you choose a target framework.
Not 100% sure this will work, but might be worth trying:
(Relies on using SDK csproj format, this link might work for packages.config, but I know less about the area.)
It looks like what you want is something like this. However the dotnet/SDK team haven't got round to implementing it yet.
The suggested work around is:
- Grab the dll path from your package reference
- Tell the package reference to not copy compile assets (dlls).
- Use the dll path to generate a similar path for a non-package reference that redirects to the Net452 version of the package.
Explanatory links here and here.
Summary is that your csproj should contain something like this:
<ItemGroup>
<PackageReference Include="*MyPackageName*" ExcludeAssets="Compile" GeneratePathProperty="true">
<Version>x.y.z</Version>
</PackageReference>
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<Reference Include="*NameYouWantToGiveThisReference(suggest dll name)*">
<HintPath>$(Pkg*MyPackageName*)lib\net452\*DLLname*.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
Everything surrounded by ** needs to be named according to whatever your projects are actually called.
The two MyPackageNames must match up (with the caveat that all "."s in the first one should be replaced with "_" in the second one).
We recently upgraded our assemblies to use the PackageReference format instead of the packages.config for our NuGet dependencies. One of the packages, OctoPack, stopped working after doing this. Is there any way to get OctoPack to work while still using the PackageReference format?
Yes, but you have to use Octo.exe pack (same process as for ASP.NET Core applications)
Yes. Recent Nuget versions will autogenerate imports for the MSBuild tasks in the obj/xxx.csproj.nuget.g.targets file.
If it doesn't...
When using packages.config, Nuget will add something like this to your csproj.
<Target Name="EnsureNuGetPackageBuildImports" BeforeTargets="PrepareForBuild">
<PropertyGroup>
<ErrorText>This project references NuGet package(s) that are missing on this computer. Enable NuGet Package Restore to download them. For more information, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=322105. The missing file is {0}.</ErrorText>
</PropertyGroup>
<Error Condition="!Exists('..\packages\OctoPack.3.6.4\build\OctoPack.targets')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', '..\packages\OctoPack.3.6.4\build\OctoPack.targets'))" />
and
<Import Project="..\packages\OctoPack.3.6.4\build\OctoPack.targets" Condition="Exists('..\packages\OctoPack.3.6.4\build\OctoPack.targets')" />
The EnsureNuGetPackageBuildImports target is probably already there, even before.
If you add this to your csproj (or keep it, if you converted from packages.config) it will sort of still work. The problem is that packages are not stored in "..\packages".
This is easily fixed by replacing e.g "..\packages\OctoPack.3.6.4" with "$(NuGetPackageRoot)\octopack\3.6.4". Of course you need the PackageReference to octopack. It will be enough to make a restore operation put the package in $(NuGetPackageRoot).
YMMV, but it works for me, both locally and in CI (TeamCity)
I am having a problem with nuget (version 4.3.0.4406) and msbuild (version 15.3.409.57025). I am using VS2017 to create class library. Using the pack capability of VS2017 i can successfully create a nuget package (that i can install in another solution). Now i want to add an install.ps1 script to the package in the tools folder that runs when the nuget is installed.
In the csproj file i am specifying multiple target frameworks:
<TargetFrameworks>net45;net452</TargetFrameworks>
I cannot figure out how to do this. I've created a nuspec file using the nuget -spec command which generates a simple nuspec file. When i use the msbuild command with the /t:pack and /p:Nuspecfile=path.to.nuspec I get the following errors:
NuGet.Build.Tasks.Pack.targets(141,5): error : Value cannot be null or an empty string.
I have nuspec files from other projects (from VS2015 solutions) that work without problem, and the structure of the one i am using now is basically the same. Can anyone let me know whether i am trying something that cannot be done?
You can pack any item by updating its metadata in the csproj file:
<ItemGroup>
<None Update="install.ps1" CopyToOutputDirectory="PreserveNewest" Pack="true" PackagePath="\tools" />
</ItemGroup>
Note that the ps1 file is only run for projects using packages.config to reference the NuGet package and you should investigate alternative ways to accomplish what you are trying to do with the script as PackageReference is now more likely to be used instead.
I'm trying to use MSBuild to create a target that will create an installer with InstallShield 2012. I'm having difficultly understanding how to access InstallShield. I ran across this mentioning an InstallShield task but I'm not sure how to get access to it. I think I need a UsingTask directive, but not sure what to import. Can someone give me a pointer on how to get this going? Thanks.
You need to import the targets file. Took me a while to figure that out as well since it's in the msbuild extensions directory together with a dll. Here's a basic sample of how to use it (note this is for 2012Spring but you get the idea):
<Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\InstallShield\2012Spring\InstallShield.targets" />
<Target Name="BuildInstaller">
<InstallShield.Tasks.InstallShield
Project="/path/to/my.ism"
ProductConfiguration="Package"
ReleaseConfiguration="MSI" />
</Target>
Btw if this doesn't work out for some reason, you can always invoke ISCmdBld.exe in an Exec task, it will do the job just as fine.
InstallShield provides Visual Studio integration. When you create an InstallShield project in VS it creates a project file (.ISPROJ) which imports the InstallShield.targets file for that version of InstallShield. The project file contains plenty of examples on how to build a particular configuration and pass in such things as merge module path, properties, path variable overrides and so on.
Please note that building InstallShield requires the x86 MSBuild platform due to COM components.
I've just committed some code changes to my repository and all of a sudden (after weeks of being fine). The TC build starts failing as it fails to download the NuGet package for Microsoft.Bcl.Build.1.0.6.
I ended up having to manually copy the contents of the packages directory to the TC build location which utterly defeats the point of NuGet.
What can I check to get to the root cause of this?
Everything about NuGet is enabled in the solution for getting packages.
I've blogged about this issue at http://sedodream.com/2012/12/24/SlowCheetahBuildServerSupportUpdated.aspx. To summarize NuGet package restore (prior to 2.7) is implemented as a part of the MSBuild build process. When MSBuild starts a build it will evaluate the project file and any Import declarations importing other files. This happens before any target gets executed.
Since NuGet pkg restore is a part of the build process the .targets files get restored at a point in time that it is too late for the Import statement to have any impact.
You can work around this by either checking in the .targets file as you stated, or by invoking pkg restore before the build process. I've created a NuGet package, PackageRestore, which can help with the latter approach.
To use PackageRestore just add the NuGet package to your project which will automatically create a file named packageRestore.proj in your projects directory. When configuring your build, you will need to build that item before your .sln/.csproj file.
OK This is a bit of a nasty issue.
If you are having this problem you need to do something rather ugly to your repository.
Make sure you are checking in the packages\repositories.config file.
Then if your build is failing with unresolved references to Microsoft.Bcl.Build you will need to also checkin the .targets file for this package. eg:
package\Microsoft.Bcl.Build.x.x.x\tools\Microsoft.Bcl.Build.targets
Hideous ...
This blog post is the most thorough one I've seen for explaining the workaround options:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/dotnet/archive/2013/06/12/nuget-package-restore-issues.aspx
None are great IMO - this problem still needs a better solution.
But for the time being, the best recommended option is to check the Bcl.Build .targets file into source control - which means when the version of Bcl.Build is updated, you'll need to add the new .targets file, and remove the old one.
I think (but am not sure, so I created this SO question: What does the Microsoft.Bcl.Build NuGet package do?) that Microsoft.Bcl.Build is only needed for development, and is not needed on a build server. So, I have a Builder.targets file that only exists in the build environment, that is indirectly <import> ed into all of our projects, which includes this bit of MSBuild xml:
<!-- Skip Microsoft.Bcl.Build functionality when building only from Source. Presumably Microsoft.BclBuild is only needed for development. -->
<PropertyGroup>
<BclBuildImported>Ignore</BclBuildImported>
</PropertyGroup>
Since the block of MSBuild logic inserted into your project by the Bcl.Build nuget package is dependent on the BclBuildImported property being empty, this effectively sidesteps the problem in my build environment - the Microsoft.Bcl.Build steps are skipped, and it no longer breaks my CI builds.
Note that since it appears that this package manages binding redirects in your app.config, and ensures that transitive dependencies are included in your projects, it's important to leave in for development. But I'm not currently aware of a need for it in a build server environment.