WebApplication publish to relative filesystem path
Solution 1:
For those using Visual Studio 2012 and the new publish configuration file (Properties/PublishProfiles/Local.pubxml
) you can use this syntax in the file itself:
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<PropertyGroup>
<WebPublishMethod>FileSystem</WebPublishMethod>
<SiteUrlToLaunchAfterPublish />
<publishUrl>$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)..\..\obj\publish</publishUrl>
<DeleteExistingFiles>True</DeleteExistingFiles>
</PropertyGroup>
</Project>
Be aware that the $(MSBuildThisFileDirectory) property will resolve to the Local.pubxml directory. From there you should traverse up to get where you need to be.
Solution 2:
Edit
For Visual Studio 2012, this solution will not work. You should look at the answer by michielvoo just after this one.
Original answer
After trying and trying I found the solution: you can use a relative path by setting
file:///./obj/publish
in the Publish WebApp
dialog, but you must use a path that is already existent and writable by the user you are using. This way you can publish your web app in a local folder, or a path related folder.
Let me know if this helps. It did for me.