F# How to implement parameterized CI – execution loop using FAKE - f#

Question

The question is mostly about step #3.
I need to implement the following loop in F#:
Load some input parameters from database. If input parameters specify that the loop should be terminated, then quit. This is straightforward, thanks to type providers.
Run a model generator, which generates a single F# source file, call it ModelData.fs. The generation is based on input parameters and some random values. This may take up to several hours. I already have that.
Compile the project. I can hard code a call to MSBuild, but that does not feel right.
Copy executables into some temporary folder, let’s say <SomeTempData>\<SomeModelName>.
Asynchronously run the executable from the output location of the previous step. The execution time is usually between several hours to several days. Each process runs in a single thread because this is the most efficient way to do it in this case. I tried the parallel version, but it did not beat the single threaded one.
Catch when the execution finishes. This seems straightforward: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.diagnostics.process.exited?view=netframework-4.7.2 . The running process is responsible for storing useful results, if any. This event can be handled by F# MailBoxProcessor.
Repeat from the beginning. Because execution is async, monitor the number of running tasks to ensure that it does not exceed some allowed number. Again, MailBoxProcessor will do that with ease.
The whole thing will run on Windows, so there is no need to maintain multiple platforms. Just NET Framework (let’s say 4.7.2 as of this date) will do fine.
This seems like a very straightforward CI-like exercise and F# FAKE seemed as a proper solution. Unfortunately, none of the provided scarce examples worked (even with reasonable tweaks) and the bugs were cryptic. However, the worst part was that the compiling feature did not work at all. The provided example: http://fake.build/fake-gettingstarted.html#Compiling-the-application cannot be run at all and even after accounting for something like that: https://github.com/fsharp/FAKE/issues/1579 : it still silently choses not to compile the project. I’d appreciate any advice.
Here is the code that I was trying to run. It is based on the references above:
#r #"C:\GitHub\ClmFSharp\Clm\packages\FAKE.5.8.4\tools\FakeLib.dll"
#r #"C:\GitHub\ClmFSharp\Clm\packages\FAKE.5.8.4\tools\System.Reactive.dll"
open System.IO
open Fake.DotNet
open Fake.Core
open Fake.IO
open Fake.IO.Globbing.Operators
let execContext = Fake.Core.Context.FakeExecutionContext.Create false "build.fsx" []
Fake.Core.Context.setExecutionContext (Fake.Core.Context.RuntimeContext.Fake execContext)
// Properties
let buildDir = #"C:\Temp\WTF\"
// Targets
Target.create "Clean" (fun _ ->
Shell.cleanDir buildDir
)
Target.create "BuildApp" (fun _ ->
!! #"..\SolverRunner\SolverRunner.fsproj"
|> MSBuild.runRelease id buildDir "Build"
|> Trace.logItems "AppBuild-Output: "
)
Target.create "Default" (fun _ ->
Trace.trace "Hello World from FAKE"
)
open Fake.Core.TargetOperators
"Clean"
==> "BuildApp"
==> "Default"
Target.runOrDefault "Default"
The problem is that it does not build the project at all but no error messages are produced! This is the output when running it in FSI:
run Default
Building project with version: LocalBuild
Shortened DependencyGraph for Target Default:
<== Default
<== BuildApp
<== Clean
The running order is:
Group - 1
- Clean
Group - 2
- BuildApp
Group - 3
- Default
Starting target 'Clean'
Finished (Success) 'Clean' in 00:00:00.0098793
Starting target 'BuildApp'
Finished (Success) 'BuildApp' in 00:00:00.0259223
Starting target 'Default'
Hello World from FAKE
Finished (Success) 'Default' in 00:00:00.0004329
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Build Time Report
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Target Duration
------ --------
Clean 00:00:00.0025260
BuildApp 00:00:00.0258713
Default 00:00:00.0003934
Total: 00:00:00.2985910
Status: Ok
---------------------------------------------------------------------