Build Visual Studio project through the command line

Asked 14/4, 2011 at 21:13 Answered 19/6, 2023 at 3:22

c#build windows-server-2008 command cmd

I am running an ASP.NET website from a Windows Server 2008 installation, and I like to edit the pages through the command line since I ssh into the server.

I installed Vim on the server so that I can edit the files easily. If I edit HTML and CSS and .aspx pages, the updates are successful. But if I want to edit source code I would have to rebuild the project. Rebuilding the project recompiles everything nicely and updates the copy on the web. This is a development server so updates to everything is fine since no one sees this server.

How can I build the project through the command line to update the source code and build on the server?

The project is written in C# and the files are all in the wwwroot folder so no file moving needs to occur after a build.

Casa answered 14/4, 2011 at 21:13 Comment(0)

Create a .bat file called: Manual_MSBuild_ReleaseVersion.bat

Put this in the .bat file.

REM you'll have to find the "latest" version of where msbuild.exe resides on your machine.. here are some popular versions/locations
REM set msBuildDir=%WINDIR%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727
REM set msBuildDir=%WINDIR%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5
REM set msBuildDir=%WINDIR%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319
REM set msBuildDir=C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\12.0\Bin
set msBuildDir=C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\14.0\Bin

call "%msBuildDir%\msbuild.exe"  MySolution.sln /p:Configuration=Release /l:FileLogger,Microsoft.Build.Engine;logfile=Manual_MSBuild_ReleaseVersion_LOG.log
set msBuildDir=

You can build a .sln file or a .csproj file. MySolution.sln or MyProject.csproj

See How to: Use MSBuild to Create a Web Package for more information.

You can take it one step further:

rd .\BuildResults /S /Q
md .\BuildResults
rd .\MyProject\Bin\Release  /S /Q

REM you'll have to find the "latest" version of where msbuild.exe resides on your machine.. here are some popular versions/locations
REM set msBuildDir=%WINDIR%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727
REM set msBuildDir=%WINDIR%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5
REM set msBuildDir=%WINDIR%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319
REM set msBuildDir=C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\12.0\Bin
set msBuildDir=C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\14.0\Bin
call "%msBuildDir%\msbuild.exe"  MySolution.sln /p:Configuration=Release /l:FileLogger,Microsoft.Build.Engine;logfile=Manual_MSBuild_ReleaseVersion_LOG.log
set msBuildDir=

XCOPY .\MyProject\Bin\Release\*.* .\BuildResults\

That way, you remove a directory (just to make sure you get a super clean build), create it, build the solution/project and then copy the results of the build to the fresh directory.

Super fresh, every time. And if the build blows up, the \BuildResults directory is empty.

And a subtle little indicator, the datetime of the \BuildResults directory is the last time you built (or tried to build) the solution/project. Subtle, but sometimes helpful.

Aleras answered 14/4, 2011 at 21:18 Comment(10)

using Visual Studio Command Prompt, i was able to build my solution without creating .bat file. MSBuild "MySolution.sln" /P:Configuration=Debug – Gallopade 6/12, 2011 at 14:15

granadaCoder actually .bat file is awesome, therefore dont have to keep going to Visual Studio Command Prompt. also nice to have that log file. thanks – Gallopade 7/12, 2011 at 9:14

Once you start doing it this way, you usually don't go back. One time setup, repeatable results. – Aleras 8/12, 2011 at 21:36

lol if Build Blows up!!! watch out that build is very unstable... anyway thanks again for update. – Gallopade 9/12, 2011 at 14:28

another useful setting is /t:Clean,Build this will clean up and rebuild msbuild.exe MySolution.sln /t:Clean,Build – Gallopade 9/12, 2011 at 14:34

Nice find on the Clean and Build ! – Aleras 16/12, 2011 at 15:34

I get errors when building this way, but building in visual studio works fine. What gives? – Frescobaldi 16/2, 2017 at 16:53

Do you have nuget packages? If so, manually run a "nuget restore MySolution.sln" before building. You can get nuget.exe from dist.nuget.org/index.html. If its not nuget, then you need to look at the log file and figure out specific errors. And probably post a new question about specific errors. – Aleras 16/2, 2017 at 18:46

This is really great info, except that the "super clean" build part doesn't make sense. If you're building to the same bin/Release folder, but never deleting it, how does copying it to a different folder make it cleaner? – Anxious 1/6, 2017 at 21:24

I added RD .\MyProject\Bin\Release\ /S /Q to the answer to address that. Good point, thanks,. – Aleras 2/6, 2017 at 15:23

Maybe with this command:

  >> devenv myproject.sln /Build "Release|x86"

You can find devenv in "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe" path.

Airport answered 4/11, 2015 at 15:59 Comment(1)

Using Visual Studio Command Prompt (Developer Command Prompt) no need to look for the path of the devenv.exe – Montelongo 25/3, 2021 at 11:19

I used a modification of the answer by @granadaCoder above.

For .NET version 4.5 onwards, there is no corresponding build directory in

%WINDIR%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\

and using MSBuild for an older framework will not let you compile newer constructs like interpolated strings.

TO get around this, you'll need to install the latest MS Build Tools (2015 currently) and use MSBuild.exe in

%programfiles(x86)%\MSBuild\14.0\Bin

Slink answered 19/2, 2017 at 12:29 Comment(2)

Thanks for keeping the answer up to date........with the change in location for msbuild.exe. – Aleras 16/3, 2017 at 12:59

You also have to put %msBuildDir%\msbuild.exe in double quotes – Anxious 1/6, 2017 at 22:1

Install the .NET SDK and use the MsBuild.exe command line tool. It's what Visual Studio uses when you build a project or solution.

Venturesome answered 14/4, 2011 at 21:15 Comment(6)

Not necessarily. At least Visual Studio is able to build some project types that MSBuild cannot (setup projects, for example). You can call devenv to compile, though. – Charlinecharlock 14/4, 2011 at 22:7

I believe msbuild.exe comes with the ~~Framework~~ (only) install, not the ~SDK. See csharp411.com/where-to-find-msbuild-exe . It started to be included with 2.0 and on. Aka, the SDK install may be unnecessary. – Aleras 15/4, 2011 at 14:8

Joey is correct, msbuild.exe will build ~most applications. Here is an example I've run across where msbuild.exe will NOT work. The ".rulep" is a custom IBM application (project) type and must be built using devenv.exe ibm.com/developerworks/forums/… – Aleras 15/4, 2011 at 14:10

i installed the .net sdk but the environment variable is still not registering when I type msbuild or msbuild.exe in the cmd – Casa 17/4, 2011 at 3:2

Did you look at or try the .bat file solution listed later in this post? – Aleras 19/4, 2011 at 13:32

@Casa You might need to restart your shell. – Wellfixed 15/11, 2019 at 3:0

This is another option: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/tools/dotnet-build

I've tried this in 7.0 .net sdk.

G:\Other\Sonarr\src>dotnet --version
7.0.107
G:\Other\Sonarr\src>dotnet build
MSBuild version 17.4.4+8e9cb2952 for .NET
...
...
已成功生成。 In English, build successfully.

Code: https://github.com/Sonarr/Sonarr.git

Rael answered 19/6, 2023 at 3:22 Comment(0)

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