TFS Build without solution file - msbuild

We use TFS 2008 server for our builds.
I need to create a build from a non Visual Studio project without solution file (only make files for custom compiler). But Build Wizard doesn't allow me create build project file without solution.
Is is posible to create TFS build for such project?
Thanks.

You will need to have either a solution or project defined. What you can do is inside the .proj file create a custom task to handle your scenario.
I would need to better understand what you needed done in order to provide a better answer.

Related

Cannot analyze multple VS Solutions via SonarQube integrated with TFS 2012 build

I followed the instructions on the "SonarQube Setup Guide for .NET Users" (http://redirect.sonarsource.com/doc/sq-setup-guide-for-dotnet-users.html) to setup a SonarQube 5.1.2 server and integrated with TFS 2012. Even though the document describes how to integrate SonarQube with TFS 2013 XAML builds and TFS 2015 Build vNext, I was able to somewhat integrate it with TFS 2012 XAML build. Here are the sequence of steps in the TFS 2012 XAML.
call InvokeProcess build activity (with WorkingDirecotry set to the directory containing the VS Solution file to be compiled such as C:\Builds\...\ClassLibrary3 to call MSBuild.SonarQube.Runner.exe begin ... (MSBuild SonarQube Runner version 1.0.1)
Call Microsoft MSBuild activity to compile 1 or more VS Solutions such as C:\Builds\...\ClassLibrary3\ClassLibrary3.sln
call InvokeProcess build activity (with WorkingDirecotry set to the directory containing the VS Solution file previously compiled) to call MSBuild.SonarQube.Runner.exe end
The problem is that I can only analyze one compiled VS Solution even if multiple VS Solutions are compiled. This is because the working directory must be the same when calling MSBuild.SonarQube.Runner.exe and MSBuild. The MSBuild activity's working directory is set to where the VS Solution file is located but will differ for each VS Solution compiled but MSBuild.SonarQube.Runner.exe can only specify one working directory. Is there a way to analyze multiple VS Solutions? I don't think there's a way to change MSBuild activity's working directory is there? Thx.
The best way to proceed is be have one project in SonarQube for each of your solution, and use the Portfolio Management plugin (commercial) to perform the aggregation of all these projects on the server side to offer the big picture. See http://www.sonarsource.com/products/plugins/governance/portfolio-management/ & on Nemo how it integrates all Apache projects for example: http://nemo.sonarqube.org/dashboard/index?id=Apache
Another way would be to craft a *.proj file that will include all other projects to build.
Another way, which I wouldn't recommend, is to invoke MSBuild.SonarQube.Runner begin for every solution that you build, then movie the contents of every .sonarqube\out folders to a single one (aggregate it), and call MSBuild.SonarQube.Runner end from that location.
Another way would be to upgrade to TFS 2015, and check how its MSBuild task behaves.

tfs build craeting wrong AppManifest.xaml

I created a automated build in tfs for the silverlight project. my project uses prism and so it has many xap created. but the AppManifest.xaml in the main xap file is wrong. it is using AppManifest.xaml of some other module(XAP file). Can anyone explain why this wil happen
This sounds like an MS BUILD configuration issue. Can you post your .proj file? I am guessing you have something configured incorrectly- that is the only way this would happen.
The probelm is, as the silverlight projects in the solution are building randomly, so it picks the manifest.xml of the project which is currently building and create a xap file.
So the solution is creating dependencies between sivelright projects. so that it will build in a certain order and there will not be any confusion of manifest

TFS2010 build for VS2005 Projects

We have migrated few projects from TFS2008 to TFS2010 by using the method-
1.Attch TFS2008 DB to TFS2010 DB
2.Tfsconfig import
3.Delete the project not required.
There are few projects in the migrated projects which use VS2005. They do not want to do any change in their project and want to use VS2005 to work with migrated projects. We have applied couple of patches in VS2005 and now they are able to access the TFS2010 projects from VS2005.
However we are clueless about the build configuration. We have configured build server for their Collection...now what configuration needs to be changed in TFsbuild.proj to make the build run again.
Is there any more steps required to make the build work?
Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thanks Upfront.
Kabir
If you have not had a build definition for you TFSbuild.proj then you will need to create one. In your build definition, you will need to choose UpgradeTemplate.xaml as the build process template. In TFS 2010 this template is used to run legacy build definitions.
See how to run build with the UpgradeTemplate.xaml here.
I also found this useful post in the MSDN Build Automation forum that tells you the differences between 2010 and 2005 build processes.

How to use MSBUild 2010 to write scripts

I am working on MSBuild 2010 and TFS 2010. Heard that one can also use MSBuild apart from using Windows Workflow. My question is how? How do i create a MSBuild project and see the .proj file just like i used to in TFS 2008/ MSBuild 2008
If you have builds that you've created in TFS 2008 that you want to use now, create a build definition that uses the UpgradeTemplate.xaml. This template was created for porting over earlier TFS builds and lets you specify the TfsBuild.proj file that was used in TFS 2008.
Other than that, if you are just looking to use MSBuild scripts instead of the workflow in your build process, you can do that as well (though it is more difficult now.) In VS 2010, you can specify what you want to build when creating a build definition - it defaults to solutions in source control but it can be any msbuild script. Just select an msbuild script that you've created and go from there. For this route, I would recommend the DefaultTemplate.xaml, which you will definitely need to modify along the way.

How can I make Distribution files using Visual Studio 2008

I want to distribute the installer package to my clients. Please anybody provide me details information about how can I make setup.exe file for my visual studio 2008 projects. If I am failed to provide any necessary info please let me know. Thanks in advance.
Though this is written for C#, the tutorial should work fine in VB.NET as well, if that's what you're using.
http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/showtopic58021.htm
In VS2008, add a new project. Then click "Other Project Types" and Setup and Deployment underneath that. You can then pick "Setup Wizard" this will guide you through creating a setup.exe and an MSI installer. This can then be built just like any other project, so when you make a change to your project, you can rebuild the setup.
In order to create an installer package, do the following:
Go to File -> Add New Project
Select Setup Project from "Setup and Deployment Projects"
From here you can add your files and when you compile it will generate an MSI file.
If you have access to a web server, i would publish your file using clickonce. This way anytime you make a change your users will automatically get the updates. To do so, right click the main project that you want to expose and click on the publish tab.