I have a .NET Console app with a setup project I am trying to port to VSTS Online (visualstudio.com) to make use of the source control and well as adding automated build/deploy.

I've got the code uploaded just fine and it builds great, but am struggling with getting it to produce a MSI. I've tried introducing a command line task after the solution build to run devenv.com but I can't quite get that to work. Any thoughts on getting a setup project to build its MSI?

Thanks!

EDIT:

Here's the command line task I tried:

Tool: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\IDE\devenv
Arguments: SolutionName.sln /Build $(BuildConfiguration) /Project Setup\Setup.vdproj

EDIT 2:

New command line:

Tool: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Enterprise\Common7\IDE\devenv.com
Arguments: MySolution.sln /Build $(BuildConfiguration) /Project Setup\Setup.vdproj

Logs:

2017-10-04T17:58:48.7033117Z ##[command]"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Enterprise\Common7\IDE\devenv.com" MySolution.sln /Build release /Project Setup\Setup.vdproj
2017-10-04T17:59:12.1156461Z microsoft.visualstudio.telemetry.dll
2017-10-04T17:59:12.1196471Z microsoft.visualstudio.telemetry.dll
2017-10-04T17:59:12.1196471Z microsoft.visualstudio.telemetry.dll
2017-10-04T17:59:12.1196471Z microsoft.visualstudio.telemetry.dll
2017-10-04T17:59:12.1206475Z microsoft.visualstudio.telemetry.dll
2017-10-04T17:59:12.1206475Z microsoft.visualstudio.telemetry.dll
2017-10-04T17:59:12.1206475Z microsoft.visualstudio.extensionmanager.implementation.dll
2017-10-04T17:59:46.2231714Z 
2017-10-04T17:59:46.2231714Z Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 Version 15.0.26730.3.
2017-10-04T17:59:46.2231714Z Copyright (C) Microsoft Corp. All rights reserved.
2017-10-04T17:59:46.2231714Z 
2017-10-04T17:59:46.2231714Z Some errors occurred during migration. For more information, see the migration report:
2017-10-04T17:59:46.2231714Z d:\a\1\s\UpgradeLog.htm
2017-10-04T17:59:46.4634939Z ========== Build: 0 succeeded or up-to-date, 0 failed, 0 skipped ==========
2017-10-04T17:59:48.5239469Z ##[section]Finishing: Run C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Enterprise\Common7\IDE\devenv.com

EDIT 3:

As per @Marina - MSFT I have tried the Build VS Installer, but it didn't quite work for me. The task competed successfully but it appears the MSI is never actually generated as nothing appears in the artifact drop. Here are the logs from the task:

2017-10-04T20:38:12.1314337Z ##[section]Starting: Create .msi file(s) from VS Installer project(s).
2017-10-04T20:38:12.1314337Z ==============================================================================
2017-10-04T20:38:12.1314337Z Task : DutchWorkz - Build VS Installer(s)
2017-10-04T20:38:12.1314337Z Description : Build .msi file(s) from VS Installer project(s).
2017-10-04T20:38:12.1314337Z Version : 1.2.4
2017-10-04T20:38:12.1314337Z Author : DutchWorkz B.V.
2017-10-04T20:38:12.1324342Z Help : <b>BuildVsInstaller v1.2.4</b>, DutchWorkz B.V. (Robin Paardekam)<br/><br/>Visual Studio Installer projects are not supported by MSBUILD, so a regular build will not generate your installer files (.msi). Use this build-task to build the .msi file(s) for your project by running devenv on the buildagent directly. <br/><br/><b>Dependencies:</b><br/>Dep1: when using VisualStudio 2017, this task will only function properly if you installed it in the default C:\Program Files (x86)\ location.
2017-10-04T20:38:12.1324342Z ==============================================================================
2017-10-04T20:38:15.3883721Z DEBUG: Aggregated: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\Tools\..\IDE\devenv.com
2017-10-04T20:38:15.4043950Z Now running (C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\Tools\..\IDE\devenv.com) with Arguments ("d:\a\1\s\MySolution.sln" /Build "release|any cpu" /Project "d:\a\1\s\Setup\Setup.vdproj" /Out "d:\a\1\b\BuildInstaller_Log_20171004203815.txt")
2017-10-04T20:39:39.8930682Z Done running DevEnv process. Success = True.
2017-10-04T20:39:39.8950669Z The single MSI should be located here: d:\a\1\s\Setup\release\
2017-10-04T20:39:40.0450669Z ##[warning]No .MSI files were found, please check your build-configuration. If this is expected, you might consider to use the default Visual Studio Build task instead of this custom Installer task.
2017-10-04T20:39:40.0560673Z ##[section]Finishing: Create .msi file(s) from VS Installer project(s).

Task config

Task Config


Solution 1:

To Build .msi file by VS installer project, you can use Build VS Installer task in marketplace.

You can specify to build .sln or .vdproj to generate .msi file(s) in Task-mode option.

enter image description here

Solution 2:

You have to configure your own build agent to run the build since Visual Studio Installer Projects extension is not installed on the Hosted & Hosted 2017 Agent.

Make sure the VS Installer Projects extension is installed on your own build agent and then you can build the setup project either use command line task with "devenv" or use the "Build VS Installer" task.

And if you get the "8000000A" error like following: enter image description here Please following the instruction here to configure your build agent: Solution: An error occurred while validating. HRESULT = '8000000A'.

Then you should be able to build the setup project successfully: enter image description here