Why is msbuild duplicating entries in web.config transformations? - msbuild

I am using web.config transformations to insert entries into the web.config for certain build configurations.
E.g. my Web.Test.config has this entry:
<elmah>
<errorMail from="me#me.com" to="me#me.com" async="false" smtpPort="25" smtpServer="mail" subject="test.senegal.co.uk Exception" xdt:Transform="Insert" />
</elmah>
This works absolutely fine building from visual studio.
However when creating a deployment package using msbuild, the entry is duplicated in the web.config. This obviously causes an exception.
Any ideas?
UPDATE
My "master" config is Web.Master.config not Web.config. The web.config file gets overwritten on build in visual studio. I think it must have something to do with this.
What I think is happening is msbuild is transforming web.config rather than using the Web.Master.config.
The question is how to tell it to use the right master.

I added /p:TransformWebConfigEnabled=false to the msbuild parameters, as my web.config was already being transformed in a BeforeBuild target like so:
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
<TransformXml Source="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\Web.Master.config" Transform="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\Web.$(Configuration).config" Destination="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\Web.config" />
</Target>

In my case duplication was caused by xdt:Transform="Insert". If remove it from Web..config and leave the rest it will work properly, e.g.:
<!-- doesn't work -->
<add name="EventLog" type="System.Diagnostics.EventLogTraceListener" initializeData="My"
xdt:Transform="Insert" />
vs.
<!-- works -->
<add name="EventLog" type="System.Diagnostics.EventLogTraceListener" initializeData="My"
/>

Related

Replace config value in teamcity build step

I have a build step in teamcity which allows me to replace web.config values with web.release.config values. I would like to add one more step - pass some parameter from teamcity to web.config. In my case it will be release version, which is part of connection string. The best idea I have is just to have some powershell script which will replace text in some file (web.config). Are there any better options?
Example web config
<add key="Version" value="Replace me, please from teamcity"/>
<add key="some key" value="example 2. version as part of some value #VERSION"/>
You could use File Content Replacer.
Instead of making the creation of the web.config in release dependent of TeamCity, you can use the web.config transformation syntax
ie: To create a specific connection string:
<configuration xmlns:xdt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/XML-Document-Transform">
<connectionStrings>
<add name="MyDB"
connectionString="value for the deployed Web.config file"
xdt:Transform="SetAttributes" xdt:Locator="Match(name)"/>
</connectionStrings>
</configuration>

Set web.config transform in Asp.NET Core

I've just came across with problem of web.config transformation in asp.net core.
There are two files: base web.config and web.prod-zone-a.config. My aim is to use transformation inside web.prod-zone-a.config when publishing my project.
I have the following "prod-zone-a" configuration settings in .csproj:
<PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'prod-zone-a|AnyCPU' ">
<IntermediateOutputPath>obj\Debug\netcoreapp1.1</IntermediateOutputPath>
<DebugSymbols>true</DebugSymbols>
<Optimize>false</Optimize>
<DefineConstants>TRACE;DEBUG;NETCOREAPP1_1</DefineConstants>
<Configuration>prod-zone-a</Configuration>
</PropertyGroup>
web.prod-zone-a.config looks like:
<system.webServer>
<handlers>
<add name="aspNetCore" path="*" verb="*" modules="AspNetCoreModule" resourceType="Unspecified" />
</handlers>
<aspNetCore>
<environmentVariables xdt:Transform="Replace">
<environmentVariable name="ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT" value="prod-zone-a" />
</environmentVariables>
</aspNetCore>
</system.webServer>
I tried to run publish by two commands:
dotnet msbuild /t:Publish /p:OutputPath=c:\delivery /p:Configuration=prod-zone-a
and
dotnet publish --configuration prod-zone-a --output c:\delivery
But no transformation applies to web.config on output - just the default value.
Do I miss something in configuration or command executing?
This worked for me:
Add web.release.config file to the project root.
In Visual Studio 2017, Publish using Web Deploy (make sure it is set to Release). Settings will automatically be picked up.
Sample transformation:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration xmlns:xdt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/XML-Document-Transform">
<system.webServer>
<aspNetCore>
<environmentVariables>
<environmentVariable name="ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT" value="PRODUCTION" xdt:Locator="Match(name)" xdt:Transform="SetAttributes" />
</environmentVariables>
</aspNetCore>
</system.webServer>
</configuration>
Update: If you want to remove web.config.release file and others on publish, simply edit your .csproj file and add something like this:
<ItemGroup>
<Content Remove="appsettings.Development.json" />
<Content Remove="web.release.config" />
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<None Include="appsettings.Development.json" />
<None Include="web.release.config" />
</ItemGroup>
There is a well-documented tool on github for xdt-transformations.
Also it doesn't depend on command, both of dotnet publish and dotnet msbuild works fine
With the latest version of dotnet cli (2.1.400 or greater), you can just set this msbuild property $(EnvironmentName) and publish tooling will take care of adding ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT environmentVariable to the web.config with the specified environment name.
Also, XDT support is available starting 2.2.100-preview1.
Sample: https://github.com/vijayrkn/webconfigtransform/blob/master/README.md
IIS Web Deploy ASP.NET Core (2.1) in Visual Studio 2017 (VS2017)
First do this: (ref:https://github.com/nil4/dotnet-transform-xdt#-use-with-msbuildcsproj-tooling)
Install package - dotnet add package DotNet.Xdt --version 2.1.0
Modify .csproj - add package - refer github
Modify .csproj - add transform code (ApplyXdtConfigTransform) at the end - refer github
Add web.DEV_Server.config transfor file by right-clicking on DEV_Server.pubxml
Added following to web.DEV_Server.config
<environmentVariable xdt:Locator="Match(name)" name="ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT" value="Development" xdt:Transform="SetAttributes" />
Modify DEV_Server.pubxml to modify following setting value.
<LastUsedBuildConfiguration>DEV_Server</LastUsedBuildConfiguration>
Validate Connection & Publish
Deploy still uploads other config files, not sure how to stop that.
Following on from user1820686's answer above:
The github page misses out some of the steps required to add this for MSBuild/csproj tooling:
You need to open a command prompt in your project directory and run
dotnet add myProj.csproj package Microsoft.DotNet.Xdt.Tools --version 2.0.0
Then you need to open the csproj file and add
<ItemGroup>
<DotNetCliToolReference Include="Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.Tools" Version="2.0.0" />
<DotNetCliToolReference Include="Microsoft.Dotnet.Xdt.Tools" Version="2.0.0" />
<!-- ... other package references ... -->
</ItemGroup>
may be i don't clear question. For mine case web.config override all settings in web.Release.config file.
Fix for me, i just add reference for transformation xmlns:xdt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/XML-Document-Transform" to configuration file.
so, .config file should start:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration xmlns:xdt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/XML-Document-Transform">
After some time, the best solutions is using dotnet-transform-xdt tool
This is now supported by dotnet publish from SDK version 2.2 with a whole bunch of options.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/host-and-deploy/iis/transform-webconfig?view=aspnetcore-2.2
I think in the example from the question, it would then work when published as
dotnet publish --configuration prod-zone-a
This worked for me with the 1. & 2. above:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration xmlns:xdt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/XML-Document-Transform">
<location>
<system.webServer>
<httpErrors existingResponse="PassThrough"
xdt:Locator="Match(existingResponse)"
xdt:Transform="InsertIfMissing" />
</system.webServer>
</location>
</configuration>

Specify Machine Name in Web.Config Transform

I am using Web.config transforms to successfully create debug and release versions of the my web.config - this is working correctly.
I am interested to know whether there is a 'machine name' property to specify the current machine name which I can use in a debug URL, rather than hard-coding a specific machine name (using localhost isn't an option in the case), e.g.
<add name="XrmService" connectionString="http://$(ComputerName):5555/Service.svc" />
Are there any properties available using Web.config transforms? Similar to MSBuild's $(ComputerName) property?
I faced a similar issue, what I ended up doing is :
1) Added the following build target to the project file. (Which is an MSBuild script effectively)
<Target Name="AfterBuild">
<TransformXml Source="Web.config" Condition="Exists('Web.$(Computername).config') " Transform="Web.$(Computername).config" Destination="Web.config" />
</Target>
2) Added a Web.MyMachineName.config config transform file to the project. In your case it should look like this:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration xmlns:xdt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/XML-Document-Transform">
<connectionStrings>
<add name="XrmService"
connectionString="http://MyMachineName:5555/Service.svc"
xdt:Transform="SetAttributes"
xdt:Locator="Match(name)"/>
</connectionStrings>
</configuration>
This has the benefit of running different transformations based on the machine name, without creating a separate build configuration. You can configure it to be debug only by specifying Condition="'$(Configuration)' == 'Debug'".
There is an Environment Variable that you can use. It is $(COMPUTERNAME).
Open a command window, type "set" (without the double quotes) and press Enter. You will see this Environment Variable somewhere at the top of the screen.

Config transformation in WIX setup

I'm creating a MSI setup with WIX for my Web Application. This works correct. The only thing that I don't get to work is to enabling the config transformation of the standard web application publish method.
I understand that you can add the using tag for existing target files. I try'ed to add the TransformXml to the AfterBuild Target in the project file of the WIX installer but that doesn't work.
<TransformXml Source="Web.Config" Transform="Web.$(Configuration).config" Destination="Web.Config" />
Can someone help me?
I created a test project for this called WebApplicationWix
I didn't see any mention of TransformXml in your example project.
You need code similar to this:
<UsingTask TaskName="TransformXml" AssemblyFile="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v10.0\Web\Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.dll" />
<Target Name="AfterCompile">
<CallTarget Targets="TransformWebConfiguration" Condition="Exists('web.$(Configuration).config')"/>
</Target>
<Target Name="TransformWebConfiguration">
<!-- Generate transformed web configuration -->
<TransformXml Source="web.config" Destination="web.transformed.config" Transform="web.$(Configuration).config" />
</Target>
A few things to note:
Check the path to Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.dll in the UsingTask element (change for your version of Visual Studio)
In your example, the source and destination were the same; you should make sure the destination is a different file so that you don't have file lock issues or overwrite the web.config you're trying to transform with the transformed one.
In Visual Studio 2010, there were file locking issues with TransformXml, so be careful of that if you're using 2010.

Msbuild just produces a package but does not deploy it when using a publish profile. Why?

MSBuild really seems to like me.
Recently I am trying out the different possibilities to build and deploy from command line.
However I am experiencing some seemingly strange behaviour when I pass a publish profile to MSBuild.
Here is an example of what I just did:
I deploy to a local IIS for the moment with a command such as this:
msbuild D:\PathToFile\DeployDBVariation01\DeployDBVariation01\DeployDBVariation01.csproj
/p:Configuration=Release;
Platform=AnyCpu;
DeployOnBuild=true;
DeployTarget=MSDeployPublish;
MSDeployServiceURL="localhost";
DeployIisAppPath="DeployApp/DeployThis";
MSDeployPublishMethod=InProc;
Username=thisIsNotActuallyMyUsername;
password=guesswhat;
AllowUntrustedCertificate=true
And this works! After that it is successfully deployed and I can call it in a browser.
However, since Visual Studio gives us the comfort of using publishing profiles I wanted to try that in conjunction with MSBuild over command line and tried the following command:
msbuild D:\PathToFile\DeployDBVariation01\DeployDBVariation01\DeployDBVariation01.csproj
/p:DeployOnBuild=true;
AllowUntrustedCertificate=true;
PublishProfile=ReleaseLocal
ReleaseLocal is a profile I created in Visual Studio and it looks like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<PropertyGroup>
<WebPublishMethod>MSDeploy</WebPublishMethod>
<LastUsedBuildConfiguration>Release</LastUsedBuildConfiguration>
<LastUsedPlatform>Any CPU</LastUsedPlatform>
<SiteUrlToLaunchAfterPublish />
<ExcludeApp_Data>False</ExcludeApp_Data>
<MSDeployServiceURL>localhost</MSDeployServiceURL>
<DeployIisAppPath>DeployApp/DeployThis</DeployIisAppPath>
<RemoteSitePhysicalPath />
<SkipExtraFilesOnServer>True</SkipExtraFilesOnServer>
<MSDeployPublishMethod>InProc</MSDeployPublishMethod>
<EnableMSDeployBackup>False</EnableMSDeployBackup>
<UserName />
<_SavePWD>False</_SavePWD>
<PublishDatabaseSettings>
<Objects xmlns="">
<ObjectGroup Name="DefaultConnection" Order="1" Enabled="False">
<Destination Path="Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog=HorstDataProductive;User ID=sa;Password=GuessWhat" />
<Object Type="DbDacFx">
<PreSource Path="Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog=HorstData;User ID=sa;Password=GuessWhat" includeData="False" />
<Source Path="$(IntermediateOutputPath)AutoScripts\DefaultConnection_IncrementalSchemaOnly.dacpac" dacpacAction="Deploy" />
</Object>
<UpdateFrom Type="Web.Config">
<Source MatchValue="Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog=HorstData;User ID=sa;Password=GuessWhat" MatchAttributes="$(UpdateFromConnectionStringAttributes)" />
</UpdateFrom>
</ObjectGroup>
</Objects>
</PublishDatabaseSettings>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<MSDeployParameterValue Include="$(DeployParameterPrefix)DefaultConnection-Web.config Connection String">
<ParameterValue>Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog=HorstDataProductive;User ID=sa;Password=GuessWhat</ParameterValue>
</MSDeployParameterValue>
</ItemGroup>
</Project>
As you can see I have some additional connection string replacement there that I want to test.
So I execute that last MSBuild-command that I have shown you and it executes without any errors. Instead it says that the web deployment task was successful and that a package has been created in a certain path. Now that is actually the right package. When I import that manually in my IIS it is the result I expect, also the connection string replacement has been done.
But I do not understand why it actually is just creating the package but not deploying it in one run, like in my first command.
Can someone explain?
(Or even better, what do I have to do to make it also deploy that package immediately)
You need to specify the VS version.
http://www.asp.net/mvc/tutorials/deployment/visual-studio-web-deployment/command-line-deployment
msbuild /P:DeployOnBuild=True /P:VisualStudioVersion=11.0 /P:PublishProfile=Dev.pubxml
Don't forget to allow untrusted certs if you're using a 'fake' internal certificate
Looks like you're missing the deploy target.. it's got all the necessary info, but doesn't know what you want it to do. Try this;
msbuild D:\PathToFile\DeployDBVariation01\DeployDBVariation01\DeployDBVariation01.csproj
/p:DeployOnBuild=true;DeployTarget=MSDeployPublish;AllowUntrustedCertificate=true;PublishProfile=ReleaseLocal