Automating creating NuGet package as part of build process

Solution 1:

One thing that might work well is to create a custom MSBuild .proj file. You could define a couple targets in the custom script, the first to execute the compile on your solution. A second target to execute following compilation would use the EXEC MSBuild task to invoke the nuget.exe command line utility. Then, you update your batch file-runner to execute the msbuild executable supplying your custom project file as an argument. You might already be using MSBuild in your batch script, which in that case it would simply be a matter of argument swapping. You could include your custom proj file in the solution items of your solution. If you did that you could easily add an external tool reference in Visual Studio to quickly test out your custom script to make sure it was building and producing the package like you hope.

Sample MSBuild

You can use this as a starting place:

<Project DefaultTargets="Compile" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003" >
    <PropertyGroup>
      <SolutionFile></SolutionFile>
      <NugetExecutable>C:\PathToNuget\nuget.exe</NugetExecutable>
      <NuspecFile></NuspecFile>
    </PropertyGroup>

    <Target Name = "Compile">
        <MSBuild Projects="$(SolutionFile)" Properties="Configuration=Release" />
    </Target>

    <Target Name = "Package">
    <!-- You could use the MSBuild Copy task here to move the compiled code into
           a structure that fits your desired package format -->
      <Exec Command="&quot;$(NugetExecutable)&quot; pack $(NuspecFile)" />
    </Target>
</Project>

You'd then call this like:

"C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\MSBuild.exe" Build.proj /p:SolutionFile=PathToSolution\App.sln;NuspecFile=foo.nuspec

Solution 2:

I'm doing the thing you want to achieve already in my current project:

Every assembly is built into its own proper nuget package, with dependencies in place.

I solved it by making a package folder in the project for which I wanted to make a nuget package. There I configure a nuspec file with the necessary information about the nupkg

There I make all the folders and unchanging files in there needed for Nuget package structure.

I added a post build step in the project that copies the files that just have been built into the package folder and run nuget.exe

So it goes:

• Build Project.
• Copy output back into Package\Lib of project.
• Run nuget.exe with nuspec file in package folder.
• Copy result to output folder next to the rest of the output.

Nuget.exe has to be either in a fixed folder on your system and the buildserver (dirty solution) or included in your build (less dirty).

Buildscript:

Xcopy.exe /Y "$(TargetPath)" "$(ProjectDir)\Package\Lib" 
cd "$(ProjectDir)Package" 
"$(TargetDir)..\Buildscripts\Nuget.exe" pack MyPackage.nuspec xcopy /Y *.nupkg "$(TargetDir)" 

In order to use this, the only thing you have to take care of, is deciding where to checkin the nuget.exe. I made a buildscripts folder on the top level of my development tree.

Solution 3:

If you're in a TFS 2010 environment, the NuGetter project should solve the problem of creating nuget packages automatically. It creates one package for the entire build. It is in fact a TFS 2010 build workflow that does the job by calling nuget.exe with some arguments.