And, without storing nuget.exe in your project’s source control.

NuGet 1.6 is out and with it is a new update to Visual Studio that will update your solution and projects with some extra code and even the NuGet.exe application so that your build process will dynamically download the required NuGet packages.  Rightly so, this is in response to the request that NuGet packages not be stored in source control as they just take up space since they are always available via download.

I understand the approach that was taken (including a .targets file as well as the nuget.exe as well as updating the **proj files) however, I think all of that is unnecessary clutter if your build process can handle it alone.

So, I looked at the NuGet commands and updated the standard TFS 2010 build template to manage this additional step automatically.  With this new template, there is no need to update your solution or projects or include NuGet.exe in your project source.

The only thing you really need to change in your project source control is remove the “packages” folder from source control.  That folder will automatically be created during the build.

Even if you already have custom build templates, you should be able to copy the NuGet restore section over since it is all contained in a single sequence.

The one thing this solution does not do is download the packages locally on your dev machine.  So, if you are getting a solution from source control for the first time, you won’t get all of the references you need since the packages folder isn’t in TFS.  That is easily fixed with a simple PowerShell script that you can run locally to set you up.  All of this is provided below.

The solution:

The Template:

Download the “NuGetRestoreTemplate.xaml” template and add it to source control.  This can be anywhere -  it doesn’t need to be part of your Team Project, it just needs to be in a location where your build can access it.

NuGet.exe:

You have 3 options here.

1. The easiest and least intrusive your build machine is to add NuGet.exe to source control.  Like the template, this does not need to be in your Team Project.  Just put it in a location where your build can access it.  You then tell the build definition where it exists in source control.  This approach makes updating NuGet.exe easy since it’s all done through source control.  You never have to get on the build machine which in some environments is next to impossible.
2. Put it on your build server and remember the exact file path.  You can tell the build definition exactly where to look for it.
3. Put it on your build server and add that folder to your PATH environment variable.  If you do this, then you will leave the location blank in the build definition.  It will be found automatically.  One note here: if you do this, you may have to reboot your machine so the build process realizes the right path.

One suggestion for the template and the NuGet.exe location in source control:  Create a general Team Project that will house all of your build goodies such as custom templates, custom activities and support applications.  I generally create a “BuildActivities” project and put everything in there.  You just need to give everyone read access to it.

To follow along with this recommendation, I created a “BuildActivities” Team Project.  In it I have a “BuildProcessTemplates” folder where I keep all of the generally available build templates.  I have a “NuGet” folder where I keep the “NuGet.exe” application.  I also have subfolders in here for previous releases (just in case).  I also have a folder called “Custom Activities” for all of the custom activities that my templates require.  Note: the template I created for the solution I am describing does not require any custom activities.  I just included that suggestion for completeness.

Creating the Build Definition

Creating the build definition is pretty straight forward.

1. When you get to the Process, click “New…” next to your “Build process file:”.
2. Click “Select an existing XAML file”
3. Click “Browse” and navigate to where you placed the template in source control
4. Click “OK”

The “NuGet Restore/Install” section will appear in the build process parameters

Enter the location of the NuGet.exe file.  In this example I placed it in source control but you can just as easily enter the full path on the build machine if that’s where you placed it.  Leave this blank if you put NuGet.exe on the build machine and in the “Path”.

Next, you can add the locations of where to look for the NuGet packages during download.  You can enter multiples here – just delimit with a semi-colon “;”.  If you leave this blank, NuGet will attempt to look at “%AppData%\NuGet\NuGet.config” for NuGet repositories.   Keep in mind that if you leave the parameter blank and expect the build machine to look in the config file, that location is account specific.  The ID of the build process will need to have that file available.

In my example, I included a local network share I set up as a gallery as well as the official NuGet Gallery.

The “Additional Install Arguments” is there if you want to include other parameters like “-Prerelease” or “-ExcludeVersion”.  Note: include the “-“ before each parameter.

That’s it.  You can now remove the “packages” folder from source control and do a build.

Of course, and as always, I would recommend testing this first on a sample app within your environment just to see how it works.

When you run the build, you will see in your log file something similar to this:

This shows that the build process has dynamically downloaded all of the required NuGet packages.

Resources:

NuGet Restore/Install/Update:

Here’s the templates and PowerShell Script:

• NuGetRestoreTemplate.XAML
• NuGetRestore.ps1
• NuGetRestoreUpdateTemplate.xaml

The 2nd template I’ve provided will do the same “restore” process but will also update to the latest version of the NuGet packages rather that just the versions listed in the projects.  It is called NuGetRestoreUpdateTemplate.xaml.  Note: it may or may not break your code to use the update template depending on the version of the package that is downloaded.  See the NuGet documentation for more details.  You can include the “-safe” option in the build definition to avoid the breakage.

The PowerShell script will restore all of the NuGet packages locally if you are not storing the “packages” folder in source control:  NuGetRestore.ps1

My Other TFS Build Template Projects:

TfsVersioning Automated Assembly Versioning on CodePlex

NuGetter Automated NuGet Package Generation on CodePlex

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Show Notes

Ian Randall – @kiwipom

Ian Randall has been involved in software since the mid 80′s, and professionally since 1997. He’s written code in Basic, C, C++ and more recently in C# with WinForms and WPF. He has been at Datacom Systems Ltd in Auckland for over 5 years. He’s been a BA, QA, PM and TL but didn’t like any of them, and is happy now being ‘Software Developer’ He blogs (semi)regularly on http://xaml.geek.nz and is co-creator of codemania

Ben Gracewood – @nzben

Ben is a recovering manager, a coder at Intergen, and a hardened veteran cat herder (aka conference organiser).

Resources

Links mentioned during the show:

CodeMania – A Conference for Developers

Sponsors

ThatConference is a brand new conference coming to the Kalahari Resort in the Wisconsin Dells on August 13th, 14th, 15th of 2012. This is a conference is founded by Developers who want to create the conference they’ve always want to go to and for a price that’s easy to justify to your boss. First and foremost this is a developer’s conference. 3 days of any technology and nothing but code. You can find more at ThatConference.com.

WebSite Hosting is provided by Applied Innovations.

Music

ReMix.NIN.com, and http://www.podcastthemes.com/

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Show Notes

Accolade Systems

Accolade Systems is a startup based in Northbrook, Illinois. Accolade supports small and mid size businesses and they are experts in creating mobile applications. They are currently in the process of creating an automotive infotainment system as well as event planning and management system. They are also experts in VoIP technologies and have installed VoIP servers and phone systems for ISPs in Chicago. In the past members of the Accolade team have built and installed servers for local Chicago businesses as well as NGOs all over the world.

Min Maung

In his "spare" time, Min Maung is a skilled, cross-platform mobile developer, aggressive hackathon competitor and presenter. Enamored with the Window Phone UI, Min co-created the first Metro UI launcher for Android, featured on Engadget. He’s soon to publish “check in”, an Eventbrite driven application and currently developing several Windows phone applications . When he’s not coding, he’s building robots. Monday through Friday, you’ll find Min at a leading, privately-held payroll and HR sofware solutions company, cranking out .Net code and writing apps in ASP.Net, Silverlight, and other .Net solutions.

Lwin Maung

Lwin Maung is a developer and principal at Accolade Systems, a Chicagoland IT consulting startup. He is a developer of mobile applications. He also secures servers, enable VOIP and SIP solutions, and designs networks for small businesses. In his free time, Lwin plays with microcontrollers. Lwin teamed up with his brother, Min, to win several hackathons. Together, they’ve developed multiple cross-platform mobile apps.

Links Mentioned

• Arduino : www.arduino.cc
• Netduino: www.netduino.com
• Sparkfun: www.sparkfun.com
• Digikey: www.digikey.com
• Local Store in Chicagoland : www.trossenrobotics.com
• Chemicals: www.mgchemicals.com
• http://yourduino.com/
• Spark Fun: http://www.sparkfun.com/
• ServoCity: http://www.servocity.com/index.html
• All About Circuits: http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/

Books Mentioned

• Getting Started with the Internet of Things
• Make: Electronics

Sponsors

ThatConference is a brand new conference coming to the Kalahari Resort in the Wisconsin Dells on August 13th, 14th, 15th of 2012. This is a conference is founded by Developers who want to create the conference they’ve always want to go to and for a price that’s easy to justify to your boss. First and foremost this is a developer’s conference. 3 days of any technology and nothing but code. You can find more at ThatConference.com.

WebSite Hosting is provided by Applied Innovations.

Music

ReMix.NIN.com, and http://www.podcastthemes.com/

Play Now

Show Notes

Drifting Creatives:

Drifting Creatives is a two-person design team with a focus in badassery. We design user-friendly websites, develop beautiful and memorable brands and if you can print it, we can design it. We began this journey by designing our way across the country; connecting & learning from creatives around the US and sharing what we learned with students. We lived and designed from the road for five months. Our travels were published in two magazines. We spoke at a design conference in Nashville, TN. Students asked us to come to their universities to share our story. We did. And it was awesome.

We started our company in an unconventional way and continue to strive to be a bit different in everything we do. So yeah, we’re not your normal design firm, but you don’t want us to be. We are Martin Hooper and Gavin Braman, just a couple of warriors, tryin’ to make it big.

Gavin Braman

I’m a 20-somethin’ image maker and adventurer. My name is Gavin Braman and I co-own Drifting Creatives. During the day I stare at my computer screen until magical unicorns whisper ideas into my ears. Once I have an idea, I teleport into my laptop, slap around some pixels with my two-handed battle axe and usually I emerge victorious.

When I’m not making websites or logos for clients, I might be drawing monsters. Imagine Hairy Friends is something I started and work on when I’m feeling exceptionally inspired. I’m a huge fan of monster-related art. Love artists like, Alex Pardee, Jeff Soto, Nicholas Di Genova and I would assume this obsession stems from my on-and-off addiction to computer games. #nerd

I also dabble in photography. I shoot photos of beautiful models in strange and weird locations, like abandoned hotels. Every shoot is an epic adventure and the entire process is very inspiring in both my design work and art.

Once I’ve exhausted all creative resources, I go rock climbing. I’m a huge fan of all board-sports too, though snowboarding and wakeboarding are at the top of the list. Some items on my bucket list are to go deep-water soloing in Thailand, go snowboarding and see one of my designs or monsters on someone’s snowboard, learn to kayak, make Drifting Creatives successful enough that we can hire a personal masseuse and to one day have a beard as awesome as Martin Hooper, my business partner.

Martin Hooper

I grew up in the small town of Henderson, Texas. I grew up in an artistic family and discovered my passion for design in high school. After high school, I completed my Bachelor of Visual Studies at Texas A&M University. 

I enjoy the winter, great beers, and good people. My mother tells me I’m a blast to hang out with. I’m married to a wonderful Australian woman, and we have a pseudo-child in our black labrodoodle named “Cache”.  I like to do a lot stereotypical designer things like take photos with Instagram, ride my bike, and pretend to like crappy music. I’ve been able to work with a ton of talented people in the past few years, and I can’t wait to work with more amazing people in the future. I believe that design is an organic, team-driven process, and I believe a well designed T-shirt could one day save the world. Wanna grab a beer?

Brandon Satrom

Brandon is a web evangelist for Microsoft, based in Austin, TX. A unapologetic lover of the web, Brandon loves to talk about HTML, JavaScript, CSS, Open Source and whatever new shiny tool or technology has distracted him from that other thing he was working on (like CoffeeScript). Brandon loves writing and speaking and loves hanging out with and learning from other passionate developers.

http://www.userinexperience.com

@BrandonSatrom

Resources

Links mentioned during the show:

• CSS Media Queries
• The *EPIC* HTML5.tx conference
• Drifting Creatives

As for the site redesign, that will start soon. Make sure to check out Clark as he will blog not only about the site refresh but the transformation to adopting HTML5.

Sponsors

ThatConference is a brand new conference coming to the Kalahari Resort in the Wisconsin Dells on August 13th, 14th, 15th of 2012. This is a conference is founded by Developers who want to create the conference they’ve always want to go to and for a price that’s easy to justify to your boss. First and foremost this is a developer’s conference. 3 days of any technology and nothing but code. You can find more at ThatConference.com.

WebSite Hosting is provided by Applied Innovations.

Music

ReMix.NIN.com, and http://www.podcastthemes.com/