TFS 2017 CI with Gulp - node.js

I have just set up a TFS 2017 server and am trying to go through the CI tutorial at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/vsts/build-release/apps/nodejs/build-gulp?tabs=vsts but am having trouble on the Gulp task. I am getting the error "Not found node: null". I am using an ubuntu agent with the most recent versions of node, npm, and gulp installed. All the tasks are configured exactly as described in the tutorial.

The error usually means you have an environment issue , such as node couldn't captured by TFS build agent.
For the Default agent queue:
VSTS: Select Hosted VS2017. This is how you can use our pool of agents that have the software you need to build your app.
TFS: Select a queue that includes a Windows build agent.
Source Link
If you are working with linux build agent, you need to use windows build agent instead of ubuntu(linux build) agent.
If you are working with windows agent, make sure the node, npm, and gulp installed before TFS build agent configured, otherwise the new capability will not captured.
You need to reconfigure the build agent or restart VSO agent service. Besides make sure your working directory of Gulp task is getting set properly.

I ended up uninstalling and reinstalling nodejs and npm. I believe the problem was that TFS did not sense the node.js and npm capabilities because I originally installed them using nvm, so the second time around I installed using apt packages and everything worked fine.

Related

Update TFS2017 task to latest version

I am working on a build to run a powershell script on a remote machine, using the VSTS task :
I currently am using TFS2017 on premise, and this is version 1 of that task.
There is a version 3 available on github here :
https://github.com/Microsoft/azure-pipelines-tasks/tree/master/Tasks/PowerShellOnTargetMachinesV3
I am having an issue with this task failing, and I have read elsewhere that this version has a fix for my issue, so I want to update it if possible.
I tried a few ways to do this, but I cannot work out what I am supposed to be doing. You would think there would be an update button in TFS!
Well, there is, but it requests that you provide a .VISX file. Which the repo in GIT does not have.
I've tried running the steps in this other post:
How to update the built-in Microsoft task library in TFS 2017?
But running the command "npm run package -- --version " doesn't generate the VISX.
I tried running :
npm run package --PowerShellOnTargetMachinesV3 --version 3.1.3
That responds with the output:
5.6.0
Which I am not sure what to do with!
I have seen another post that says I need to use the tfs-cli?
I'm very confused.
Any help is appreciated!
Since you are working on TFS on-premise, the task version will not auto update. You need to manually install "PowerShell on Target Machines" task version 3.0
You just need to download the source code and package it as an extension, finally upload and install your extension. There are some steps updated:
Get the package tool (tfx-cli)
You can install or update the TFS Cross Platform Command Line Interface (tfx-cli) using npm, a component of Node.js, from your command line.
npm i -g tfx-cli
Package your extension in a .vsix file
tfx extension create --manifest-globs vss-extension.json
More details please refer this official tutorial: Package, publish extensions.

How to install dependent binaries on Azure App Service with Linux?

I have a spring boot application that I am running on Azure App Service (Linux). My application has a dependency on a binary and needs it to be present on the system. How do I install it on my App service?
I tried the following two options:
Did ssh via Kudu and installed the package ($ apk add package). But the changes are not persisted beyond /home. The dependencies were installed in other folders and when the app service was re-deployed all those dependencies were gone
Used the post deployment hook to run the command "$ apk add package" to install once the deployment finishes. This script is run as can be seen from the custom log statements but still i do not see the installed package. Even when is use apt-get it says "unable to lock administration directory"
Using a statically compiled binary is not an option for me since that has its own issues.
Thanks
For the Tomcat, Java SE and WildFly apps on App Service Linux, you can create a file at /home/startup.sh and use it to initialize the container in any way you want (Example: you can install the required packages using this script).
App Service Linux checks for the presence of /home/startup.sh at the time of startup. If it exists, it is executed. This provides web app developers with an extension point which can be used to perform necessary customization during startup, like installing necessary packages during container startup.
I think this is a common problem with Linux on Azure.
I recommend having a step back and consider one of the following options.
Run your application in a container that has all the dependencies
you are looking for.
Run your application on Linux VM IaaS instead
of Azure App Service (Linux),PaaS.
Run your application on Windows OS PaaS and add extension for your dependency.(Most likely you won't run into this problem when using Windows OS)
While I understand that none of them might be acceptable by you, but I have not found a solution for that problem in those specific circumstances.

NodeJS App Deployment via Azure DevOps 32bit issue

i am using Azure DevOps Build & Release to build my node.js react app that uses node-sass. So the Build is using the Node.js Tool Installer to specify the node.js version and then runs the npm install command. It all runs with a hosted agent that requires node.js and npm. The azure app service which runs the application is a default windows site.
After that i want to deploy it via Azure DevOps Release. I am using the Task "App Service Deploy" to deploy it. If i don't specify a deployment method it uses "Run from Package" and everything is fine. (Except that i cannot make changes in the root folder, but thats the concept of the run from package). If i change it to deploy via "Zip Deploy" i get the following error:
Error: Missing binding
D:\local\Temp\zipdeploy\extracted\node_modules\node-sass\vendor\win32-ia32-57\binding.node
Node Sass could not find a binding for your current environment:
Windows 32-bit with Node.js 8.x Found bindings for the following
environments: Windows 64-bit with Node.js 8.x
So i got this one already in my dev environment, but there i could get a simple workaround - install and use the 32bit version of node.js and then deploy it to azure (via VS Code extension). Now it is not possible to use 32bit nodejs in the Azure DevOps Build task as i saw as a limitation of the windows app services in azure.
How can i get Azure DevOps to use 32 bit when using npm install? Is the only possible way to switch to a linux app service (which runs 64bit) in azure?
Thanks!

How to set Node.js and NPM version numbers in a hosted VSO Build Agent?

In Visual Studio Online you can now set build dependencies on the General tab of a build definition.
But.. is there a way to set the version of Node.js and NPM?
It seems like a hosted build agent is currently using Node.js v0.12.7 and NPM v2.11.3 but I need Node.js v4.2+ and NPM v3.3+. Is there a way to enforce it?
P.S.: On-premise VSO build agent is not an option.
There is now a Node Tool installer available. The link to software inventory shared by Daniel was very helpful, and I discovered the installer digging into the Node specs for Hosted VS2017 agent.
Finds or downloads and caches the specified version of Node.js and adds it to the PATH
Try adding a Node Tool installer step before your node/npm steps.
It seems like there's a lot of misunderstanding as to what "demands" are. A build with a specific demand does not change what software is available on the build agent. A "demand" is simply a method of a build task expressing what requirements it has, so it can run on an agent that has the desired demands satisfied (these are the build agent's "capabilities").
This list of software is what's on the hosted build agent. If it's not there, and you can't install it via npm or the like, then you're out of luck.

Set version Info does not exist error after installing MSBuild Extension Pack for DotNetNuke module creation

The PC at work finally kicked the bucket and I needed to install MSBuild Extension Pack on my new PC so that I could continue creating DNN modules for my website. For whatever reason after I install it, I am getting the same error as if it is not installed
Set version Info does not exist in project c:\users\...
Here is what I have tried:
Uninstalling and reinstalling
Restarting computer and VS several times
Starting new project and trying to build it (gives same error)
Looking online for documentation and/or videos on how to install this properly (no luck)
My current version of windows is win7 x64 and the version of DotNetNuke that I am creating modules on is DNN 6.2.5. The version of MSBuild I have installed is 3.5.14 and 4.0.11. I am using VisualStudio 2012.
Did I miss a step in installation? Should I have used Community tasks?
After several restarts (and several rinse and repeat of the above 'tried' list), I installed MSBuild.Community.Tasks.v1.4.0.00.msi. After installing this my module template was able to build the project without error. Unfortunately, due to lack of documentation I do not know if you need both the extension pack AND community tasks in order for this to work, only that community was necessary in this case. For this reason I will leave the extension pack installed for now.

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