I am using TFS 2015 for creating builds of application. I am able to create build template for web application as web application have both .sln and .proj.
But for Websites, I only have .sln file and no .proj.
How can I create Build definition in TFS 2015 for website having only .sln file?
As #Cece said, the answer is yes, you can run the MSBuild on the server without a .csproj.
I am assuming that your project is not running on the final version of the .Net Framework. In your case I suggest you to make this change
https://stackoverflow.com/a/42493822/819153
Then you should copy all the files from the PrecompiledWeb folder, and there you should find your .sln
Sometimes there are vb/cs projects that I have seen that they do not come with a project file, csproj or vbproject. They run with the .NET Framework 2.0. For those, you can create a build definition just to compile the .sln, but when you deploy the application, you need to copy the entire PrecompiledWeb folder to the IIS folder on your server. Try to add the task that has the option copy and publish and put all the changes to your server.
Check the privilege of the folder where you want to put the files, and be sure that the agent that is running the builds on the TFS has access READ/WRITE access to the server folder.
In your case, please check the .sln file, inside of it you should have a TargetPath, by default is PrecompiledWeb, but sometimes when you run the msbuild on the tfs you end with an error saying that the PrecompiledWeb can't be on the same tree of your solution, what you need to do then is putting a level up of your solution folder
Debug.AspNetCompiler.TargetPath = "..\..\PrecompiledWeb\YourProject"
Then on your CopyTask you need to change the CopyRoot directory, if you made any transformation before your build step to the webconfig, those transformations will be reflected on the PrecomiledWeb\YourProject. All the files in that folder should be deployed to the server folder path.
Lets say that you have this structure in your Branch
Branch/MyProject, then after you compile the source code on the TFS, your precompiled folder will be stored at the same level of your project on the agents folder. Please see the picture below to get the idea how to copy the files from the PrecompiledWeb.
The answer is Yes. You can create a build definition for a WebSite project by specifying the .sln file.
In my solution I have a basic ASP.NET MVC website and a Wix Project. To identify the files that need installed I'm using Heat (a Wix component) to index the build output. This is part of a post-build event. It works perfectly on my local machine when building in Visual Studio 2015.
My problem occurs when checked-in and the CI (TFS Build) builds it. The differences are:
The contents of the bin folder is placed directly in the build folder
The rest of the website is placed under a new _PublishedWebsites folder
This means many of the references get broken. For example when dropping the _PublishedWebsites folder into IIS breaks (as .net cannot locate the contents of Bin)
After much research on the subject, and many attempts to pass MSBuild parameters, I'm reaching the end of my efforts.
Is there a way for a build in TFS to leave file locations intact without copying and creating new folders?
If not what is the recommended way to get a deployment ready site (in a single folder) from TFS?
Adding a Copy Files task to copy bin folder to $(build.artifactstagingdirectory)\_PublishedWebsites, check the screenshot below:
I am having and issue with TFS 2015 doing a continuous integration build. I have added 3 projects to my Questionnaires solution which are meant to be shared code between other solutions as well. Therefore those projects each have their own folder structures under TFS not under Questionnaires.
When I go to do a checkin, TFS is getting the path wrong to one of the projects and therefore won't build. The path it is looking for is-
C:\Builds\1\Questionnaires\Questionnaires\src\Source2\Questionnaires\Dev\Questionnaires\Questionnaires.sln.metaproj: The project file "C:\Builds\1\Questionnaires\Questionnaires\src\Source2\Questionnaires\Dev\Questionnaires......\Common\Main\Common\Common.Utilities\Common.Utilities.csproj" was not found.
That should be the correct path as that is the way it is in TFS under it's own folder.
Where the code is actually ending up is:
C:\Builds\1\Questionnaires\Questionnaires\src\Source2\Common
the \Main\Common folder is missing.
You need to correct your workspace mapping under the "source settings" tab. This sets the folders that will be downloaded from source control to your build server's working folder for the build.
How do you delete an outstanding TFS team project root directory?
The team project, MyProblemProject, has been deleted from TFS, but my local file system still has the root directory.
If I delete my local directory, C:\Dev\MyProblemProject, Visual Studio flags the delete as a pending excluded change. But if I try and promote the delete change, I get the error ...
TF101069: Unsupported pend change attempted on team project $/MyProblemProject. Use the Project Creation Wizard in Team Explorer to create a project or the Team Project deletion tool to delete one
Tried using tfsdeleteproject but it gives a TF200016 The project does not exist
So how can I delete the local directory and not have Visual Studio see it as a delete change?
... and why does VS still think the directory is in TFS, as I can't see the MyProblemProject?
It's possible you didn't completely delete your project in TFS server.
Then your local directory still have some source control bindings. This is why VS still detected the changes.
However, there is a workaround for this situation -- remove the bindings of your local mapping folder. Change Bindings on TFS project
If it still doesn't work, sometimes, the binding info is cached. Try to delete TFS cache by going into default C:\ {User Profile Folder}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Team Foundation\5.0\Cache and VS cache in appdata folder.
Moreover, we usually delete team project in TFS through below two ways:
Delete it in TFS Administration Console
Use tfs command
TfsDeleteProject /collection:https://xxx.8080/tfs/DefaultCollection MyProject
When creating a new build in Team Foundation Server, I get the following error when attempting to run the new build:
The path
C:\Build\ProductReleases\FullBuildv5.4.2x\Sources
is already mapped to workspace
BuildServer_23.
I am unable to see a workspace by that name in the workspaces dialog.
Use the command line utility TF - Team Foundation Version Control Tool (tf).
You can get a list of all workspaces by bringing up a Visual Studio Command Prompt then changing to your workspace folder and issuing the following commands:
C:\YourWorkspaceFolder>tf workspaces /owner:*
You should see your problem workspace in the list as well as it's owner.
You can delete the workspace with the following command:
C:\YourWorkspaceFolder>tf workspace /delete /server:BUILDSERVER WORKSPACENAME;OWNERNAME
Just delete the contents of the following folder(s):
C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Team Foundation\3.0\Cache
Where UserName is actual or current user, and 3.0 is the version number.
I had a similar issue and to remove the workspace that was causing me a problem, I logged into another machine with TFS client installed and performed the following:
On the File menu, point to Source Control, Advanced, and then click
Workspaces....
In the Manage Workspaces dialog box, tick the Show remote packages checkbox.
Under the Name column, select the workspace that you want to remove, and then click Remove.
In
the Confirmation dialog box, click OK.
I received this error, which was caused by having two build definitions that pointed to the same source. The issue was that I used a static build directory in the Build Agent.
This forum post describes my issue and resolution exactly:
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/tfsbuild/thread/60a4138a-9b28-4c46-bdf4-f9775ce43c3e/
We had the same problem but deleting the workspace's from the TFS server did not work.
(I should mention that I grabbed my colleagues VM that was already set up with his credentials.)
For me this worked:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/buckh/archive/2006/09/12/path-is-already-mapped-in-workspace.aspx
I just went into the : ...\Local Settings\Application Data\ made a search for VersionControl.config, opened up the folder that contained this file and deleted all of it's contents.
Previous to that I tried manually editing the file but it continued with the same error message.
I hope this helps.
For some reason I was having trouble deleting the workspace from the command-line utility. Luckily I found Team Foundation Sidekicks 2010 (from this post) which is free and provides a GUI for viewing and deleting TFS workspaces, and many more useful TFS features.
I had a similar problem with Visual Studio 2010 complaining about an already-mapped-workspace, but instead of deleting the entire workspace, I used the following from the Visual Studio Command Prompt: "tf workspace PROBLEM_WORKSPACE_NAME". This brought up an "Edit Workspace" dialog. From there I was able to remove the path in question from the "Working Folders" list, which got rid of the error.
the rest was fairly easy.
Simply go to this folder:
C:\Users{UserName}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Team Foundation\4\Cache
and delete all that's in the folder.
I was getting an exception telling me that the file was already mapped in another workspace:
"The path {File Path} is already mapped in workspace {Workspace Name}."
This workspace was deleted beofre.
With the help of friend of mine I found out that TFS save workspace info under the user local settings dir. We found a file named:
VersionControl.config under {User Documents and Settings dir}\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Team Foundation\1.0\Cache.
This file contains all the local mapping of TFS. Probably when you use the Map method and don't use:
public void DeleteMapping(WorkingFolder mapping); before deleting the workspace the mapping information is not removed from this file which is used by TFS to check if you've alreay mapped a specific path.
To resolve this problem delete all the keys from the config file. Don't delete the file because you'll get it again from the server cache.
Here is what I did (well what I do):
Using TFS Sidekicks clear out the user and server filters so they are blank. This will let you get all workspaces.
Check the build error for the workspace name. In the OPs case it is BuildServer_23. It is different in my environment but basically just match up the error name with the one in the tfs sidekick list.
Click the red x to delete the workspace.
Viola!
If applicable, you can also clone the build definition and change its name. This workded for me.
I tried all the following solutions such as :
Use sidekicks to delete WS.
Use tf commands to delete remote server workspaces.
Delete the TFS cache folder.
The following worked for me:
tf workspaces /remove:*
If you don't have permissions on the server to delete other people's workspaces, you can just change the name of the build definition. TFS will create a new workspace and map it to "C:\Build\ProductReleases\new build name here\Sources".
While trying to 'Get latest version' of a project which I had previously mapped to a local directory and then deleted, I saw this same error message.
First I tried the SideKick tool and then the Visual Studio 2010 command prompt, both of which told me I had no workspaces mapped.
Next I searched for 'VersionControl.config' within c:/users/myuser/appdata, and deleted the 4 references it found.
I re-opened Visual Studio and I was able to re-map the project, no more error!
Simplest way to do this is to go to your AppData and delete the TFS cache (depending on the version 3.0 or 4.0)
C:\Users{UserName}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Team Foundation\3.0\Cache
or
C:\Users{UserName}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Team Foundation\4.0\Cache
TDN's solution worked for me when I was having the same issue. The Build server created workspaces under my account. Checking this box allowed me to see and delete them.
I got same issue in Visual Studio 2017 and TFS 2017. DefaultCollection must be mapped first to you local path. Somehow this step was skipped and I got only MyFirstProject mapped.
All you need to do is:
- 1. Go to your TFS web page and remove the project from the server.
- 2. Remove the project from your local "Worksapces"
- 3. Go to "Manage Connections" which will refresh your Home page in TeamExplorer.
- 4. You will get Configuration page which will allow you to setup root path to your DefaultCollection.
- 5. You should get message that it been done successfully. Now you can create your project.
It's important to map root of your collection to your workspace first and then map a new project.
My issue was related to using multiple accounts. This is how I was able to switch accounts.
Open Team Explorer
From the big drop down menu near the top of the pane...
Navigate to:
Projects and my Teams>Manage Connections
Navigate to:
Manage Connections>Connect to Team Project
Use the "Switch User" link to switch accounts.
Now the workspace names will match the chosen account.
I couldn't get any other solution to work.
I had a new account created and the old account no longer had permissions (both on same machine).
I tried:
1) Deleting the workspace (couldn't see in VS with or without remote workspaces checked)
2) Deleting from the command line
3) New owner command
4) Deleting the cache
So I simply opened VS as admin and mapped to a different folder.
Deleting the workspace and cache was not sufficient for me.
I had to also restart the "Visual Studio Team Foundation Build Service Host" service.
Go to the Source Control Explorer
In the toolbar there is a dropdown list of Workspaces.
Click the dropdown and go to workspaces.
Remove the unwanted workspace.
Map to your local.
I changed
Build Definition -> Workspace -> Build Agent Folder
from
c:\some\path
to
$(SourceDir)
and it fixed the issue.
I had this issue with this with Azure DevOps automated builds in an on-prem TFS build agent. Removing the workspace using TFS Sidekicks did not work. And tf.exe could not even find the workspace to delete it.
This solution should work for TFS 2017, TFS 2018, Azure DevOps, and possibly other versions:
Take note of the workspace GUID in the error message.
On the machine where the build is taking place, navigate to: %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Team Foundation\ (where %USERPROFILE% belongs to the user that triggered the build).
Search for and remove all instances of the workspace GUID under that directory. There will likely be a folder in a 'cache' directory, as well as entries in 'LocationServerMap.xml' and 'LocalItemExclusions.config'. Remove them all.
That worked in my circumstance.
Simply delete the workspace:
workspace /delete "the-workspace-name"