Single Build with Multiple Artifacts

Question

I'm a little confused on the Azure Pipeline steps. My solutions has many projects and one UI project that contains both an ASP.Net-Core WebApi/MVC with Angular.

the Build Solution builds similar to the

steps:
- task: VSBuild@1
  displayName: 'Build solution'
  inputs:
    solution: '$(Parameters.solution)'
    msbuildArgs: '/p:DeployOnBuild=true 
      /p:WebPublishMethod=Package 
      /p:PackageAsSingleFile=true 
      /p:SkipInvalidConfigurations=true 
      /p:PackageLocation="$(build.artifactstagingdirectory)\\"'
    platform: '$(BuildPlatform)'
    configuration: '$(BuildConfiguration)'

The default Publish Artifact is:

steps:
- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
  displayName: 'Publish Artifact: drop'
  inputs:
    PathtoPublish: '$(build.artifactstagingdirectory)'
  condition: succeededOrFailed()

I'd like to do something with 2 artifacts (this doesn't work):

steps:
- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
  displayName: 'Publish Artifact: webapi'
  inputs:
    PathtoPublish: '$(build.artifactstagingdirectory)\\MVCProject\bin\$(BuildConfiguration)\netcorapp2.2'
    ArtifactName: webapi
  condition: succeededOrFailed()

steps:
- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
  displayName: 'Publish Artifact: angular'
  inputs:
    PathtoPublish: '$(build.artifactstagingdirectory)\\MVCProject\clientapp\dist'
    ArtifactName: angular
  condition: succeededOrFailed()

What am I missing / What the right/better way to do this. (moving angular out of the project does not solve this problem, and we aren't ready for that yet)

Answer 1

Here is my YAML for multiple artifacts from a single build.

pool:
  name: Hosted Windows 2019 with VS2019
  demands:
  - msbuild
  - visualstudio
  - vstest
  - npm

steps:
- task: NuGetToolInstaller@0
  displayName: 'Use NuGet 4.4.1'
  inputs:
    versionSpec: 4.4.1

- task: NuGetCommand@2
  displayName: 'NuGet restore'
  inputs:
    restoreSolution: '$(Parameters.solution)'

- task: VSBuild@1
  displayName: 'Build solution WebApi'
  inputs:
    solution: '$(Parameters.solution)'
    msbuildArgs: '/p:DeployOnBuild=true /p:WebPublishMethod=Package /p:PackageAsSingleFile=true /p:SkipInvalidConfigurations=true /p:PackageLocation="$(build.artifactstagingdirectory)\\"'
    platform: '$(BuildPlatform)'
    configuration: '$(BuildConfiguration)'
    msbuildArchitecture: x64

- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
  displayName: 'Publish Artifact: WebApi'
  inputs:
    PathtoPublish: '$(build.artifactstagingdirectory)'
    ArtifactName: 'dotnet-webapi'
  condition: succeededOrFailed()

- task: DeleteFiles@1
  displayName: 'Delete build.artifactstagingdirectory for Angular'
  inputs:
    SourceFolder: '$(build.artifactstagingdirectory)'
    Contents: '**'

- task: Npm@1
  displayName: 'npm install'
  inputs:
    workingDir: project/ClientApp
    verbose: false

- task: Npm@1
  displayName: 'npm run prod-build'
  inputs:
    command: custom
    workingDir: project/ClientApp
    verbose: false
    customCommand: 'run prod-build'

- task: Npm@1
  displayName: 'npm run dev-build'
  inputs:
    command: custom
    workingDir: project/ClientApp
    verbose: false
    customCommand: 'run prod-dev'
  enabled: false

- task: CopyFiles@2
  displayName: 'Copy Angular/Dist to build.artifactstagingdirectory'
  inputs:
    SourceFolder: project/ClientApp/dist/ClientApp
    Contents: |
     **
     !config.json
    TargetFolder: '$(build.artifactstagingdirectory)'

- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
  displayName: 'Publish Artifact: Angular'
  inputs:
    ArtifactName: angular

Answer 2

I managed to get Erik's approach working which is great.

I then wondered if I could simplify it so instead of deleting the content how about put each artifact in a sub folder of the $(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory) So by just appending /Api or /App I could create specific publish folders that I could then push onto the azure pipeline.

You can then have as many artifacts as you need :)

The important parts to take from this are that publishWebProjects needs to be set to false or it defaults to true and then ignores the projects line below, and the output path puts the content in a sub folder.

 # This need to be false in order for the specific project to be published
 publishWebProjects: False
 projects: '**/DevOpsApp.csproj'
 arguments: '--configuration $(BuildConfiguration) --output $(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/App'

and pathtoPublish need to then point to the sub folder

pathtoPublish: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/App'

Full example file below

# ASP.NET Core
# Build and test ASP.NET Core projects targeting .NET Core.
# Add steps that run tests, create a NuGet package, deploy, and more:
# https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/devops/pipelines/languages/dotnet-core

trigger:
- develop

pool:
  vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'

variables:
    buildConfiguration: 'Release'
    versionNumber: 1.0.0

name: $(versionNumber)-wip-$(Rev:r)

#----------------------------------------------------------
# Web API Build and Artifact
#----------------------------------------------------------

steps:
- task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
  displayName: 'Build'
  inputs:
    command: 'build'
    projects: '**/DevOpsApi.csproj'
    arguments: '--configuration $(buildConfiguration)'

- task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
  inputs:
    command: 'test'
    projects: '**/*Tests.csproj'
    arguments: '--configuration $(buildConfiguration)'
    testRunTitle: 'Unit Tests'

# Publish the artifact
- task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
  inputs:
    command: 'publish'
    # This need to be false in order for the specific project to be published
    publishWebProjects: False
    projects: '**/DevOpsApi.csproj'
    arguments: '--configuration $(BuildConfiguration) --output $(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/Api'
    zipAfterPublish: True

# Publish the artifact for the pipelines to use
- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
  displayName: 'Publishing WebAPI Artifact'
  inputs:
    pathtoPublish: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/Api' 
    artifactName: 'TestWebApi-Wip'

#----------------------------------------------------------
# Web APP Build and Artifact
#----------------------------------------------------------

- task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
  displayName: 'Build'
  inputs:
    command: 'build'
    projects: '**/DevOpsApp.csproj'
    arguments: '--configuration $(buildConfiguration)'

# Publish the artifact
- task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
  inputs:
    command: 'publish'
    # This need to be false in order for the specific project to be published
    publishWebProjects: False
    projects: '**/DevOpsApp.csproj'
    arguments: '--configuration $(BuildConfiguration) --output $(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/App'
    zipAfterPublish: True

# Publish the artifact for the pipelines to use
- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
  displayName: 'Publishing WebAPP Artifact'
  inputs:
    pathtoPublish: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/App' 
    artifactName: 'TestWebApp-Wip'

Answer 3

Can I suggest building and publishing the artefacts in separate jobs? That would mean that each job is simpler (no need to specify an artefact subfolder), and might give you some speed-up by running them in parallel. Something like this:

jobs:
  - job: web_api
    displayName: Web API Build and Artifact
    steps:
      - checkout: self

      - task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
        displayName: 'Build'
        inputs:
          command: 'build'
          projects: '**/DevOpsApi.csproj'
          arguments: '--configuration $(buildConfiguration)'
      
      - task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
        inputs:
          command: 'test'
          projects: '**/*Tests.csproj'
          arguments: '--configuration $(buildConfiguration)'
          testRunTitle: 'Unit Tests'
      
      # Publish the artifact
      - task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
        inputs:
          command: 'publish'
          # This need to be false in order for the specific project to be published
          publishWebProjects: False
          projects: '**/DevOpsApi.csproj'
          arguments: '--configuration $(BuildConfiguration) --output $(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
          zipAfterPublish: True
      
      # Publish the artifact for the pipelines to use
      - task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
        displayName: 'Publishing WebAPI Artifact'
        inputs:
          pathtoPublish: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)' 
          artifactName: 'TestWebApi-Wip'
  
  - job: web_app
    displayName: Web APP Build and Artifact
    dependsOn: []
    steps:
      - checkout: self

      - task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
        displayName: 'Build'
        inputs:
          command: 'build'
          projects: '**/DevOpsApp.csproj'
          arguments: '--configuration $(buildConfiguration)'
      
      # Publish the artifact
      - task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
        inputs:
          command: 'publish'
          # This need to be false in order for the specific project to be published
          publishWebProjects: False
          projects: '**/DevOpsApp.csproj'
          arguments: '--configuration $(BuildConfiguration) --output $(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
          zipAfterPublish: True
      
      # Publish the artifact for the pipelines to use
      - task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
        displayName: 'Publishing WebAPP Artifact'
        inputs:
          pathtoPublish: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)' 
          artifactName: 'TestWebApp-Wip'

Also: if each job tends to have a similar set of tasks, you could refactor them into a template to keep the pipeline code terser.