Deployer

A deployer CLI that uses MSBuild to build and deploy .NET projects or robocopy to deploy HTML/JavaScript projects.

Supports

Simple XML configuration
Multiple deployment environments per project
Multiple deployment strategies (for .NET and for HTML/JavaScript apps)
Web.config transformations
Backing up files before deployment (using xcopy)
Purging directories before deployment
Confirmation (displaying info) before deployment

Syntax

Usage: Deployer.exe -e [ENVIRONMENT] -f [FILE] [OPTIONS]

OPTIONS:

-e     Deployment environment
-f     Project config file
-p     Purge directory
-b     Backup files before deployment
-force Run without confirmation
-cd    Work with projects relative to the current directory
-v     Version info

Configuration

Example settings.xml file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<settings>
	<msbuild>C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319</msbuild>
	<backup>C:\Backup</backup>
	<projects>
		<live>C:\Projects\LIVE</live>
		<staging>C:\Projects\STAGING</staging>
		<test>C:\Projects\TEST</test>
	</projects>
</settings>

Example Project.xml file for a .NET project:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<project>
	<name>Project.csproj</name>
	<path>Relative\Path\To\Project</path>
    <type>net</type>
	<environment>
		<live>
			<path>\\server\C$\inetpub\wwwroot\LIVE</path>
			<profile>Release</profile>
		</live>
		<staging>
			<path>\\server\C$\inetpub\wwwroot\STAGING</path>
			<profile>Staging</profile>
		</staging>
		<test>
			<path>\\server\C$\inetpub\wwwroot\TEST</path>
			<profile>Debug</profile>
		</test>
	</environment>
</project>

Example Project.xml file for a pure HTML/JavaScript project:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<project>
	<name>Project</name>
	<path>Relative\Path\To\Project</path>
    <type>html</type>
	<environment>
		<live>
			<path>\\server\C$\inetpub\wwwroot\LIVE</path>
		</live>
		<staging>
			<path>\\server\C$\inetpub\wwwroot\STAGING</path>
		</staging>
		<test>
			<path>\\server\C$\inetpub\wwwroot\TEST</path>
		</test>
	</environment>
</project>

Usage

Deployer.exe -e live -f Project.xml -p -b

Would:

Read Project.xml configuration file
Display confirmation with information about process
Backup \\server\C$\inetpub\wwwroot\LIVE to C:\Backup\Project\live-010614
Build Project.csproj (if type is net)
Deploy live environment to \\server\C$\inetpub\wwwroot\LIVE along with:
Purging directory
Transforming Web.config using Release profile (if type is net)

Confirmation example:

Deployment information:
-------------------------------------
Environment:    live
Project path:   C:\Projects\LIVE\Relative\Path\To\Project
Project file:   Project.csproj
Deploy path:    \\server\C$\inetpub\wwwroot\LIVE
Deploy profile: Debug
Purge dir:      Yes
Backup files:   Yes
Backup path:    C:\Backup\Project\live-010614
-------------------------------------
Continue? (Y/N)

Multiple deployment environments

It's also possible to deploy to multiple environments in one go. You simply specify environments seperated by a comma ,

Example:

Deployer.exe -e live,staging -f Project.xml -p -b

Multiple deployment strategies

It's also possible to deploy using different deployment strategies. Supported strategies are .NET/C# (net) and pure HTML/JavaScript apps (html).

The .NET strategy uses MSBuild. The HTML strategy uses robocopy.

Integration with CI like TeamCity

It's also possible to integrate with TeamCity. Just create a simple Command Line build configuration. You will need to keep the executable and configuration files on the build server. Deployer will automatically return the same status code MSBuild returns, so if the build and deployment fails, the process will be marked as failed.

Introducing -cd so TeamCity can call Deployer from any directory and always work with projects relative to the current directory (./). This means you can both use Deployer in its own directory, specifying base paths for projects in settings.xml and with TeamCity's work/ directory.

Also when integrating with TeamCity (or any other CI), remember always to use -force argument, to run the process without confirmation.

Changelog

###v1.1

Two different deployment strategies (.NET or HTML/JS apps)
Replaced xcopy with robocopy, both for backup and JS/HTML deployment
Code clean up (structure & namespaces)

###v1.0.2

Exits appropriately (status code 1) when there is an exception thrown (so TeamCity will fail when there is an error).

###v1.0.1

Confirmation is now default. Use -force to run without confirmation.
Settings file -s is no longer an option.
Added option -cd to run project file from current directory (./)

gaui / Deployer