Have to build 2 solutions, one per project - visual-studio-2012

Question

We have to build two solutions central on a TFS Server. One solution is a framework, the other includes services, which should be build separately per project in order to deploy them later via script.
In addition the framework assemblies are copied to a (base) project within the framework solution. All projects of the second solution referring to this 'base' project.
My problem is, that I have no idea, how to configure the solutions, project and builds, to behave the request illustrated above.
Please help.
Note: I don't want to put each service project into an msi in order to install it. I just want to deploy the Service out of a central drop-folder on the TFS server.

Answer 1

Team Build can build multiple solutions in the Build Process Template. Just click the [...] button behind the Projects to Build and add both solutions.
TFS redirects the output directory of your projects, which will probably break your script that copies the output from A to the "base project" of B. In order to turn of this redirection set the Output location to AsConfigured.
Now TFS won't know how to copy your output to the Binaries folder, which serves as the source for the copy to droplocation action. To solve that you'll need to write a powershell script and configure this as a post-build script.
The process to create a drop script is clearly documented on MSDN and a sample script is available from CodePlex.
##-----------------------------------------------------------------------
## <copyright file="GatherItemsForDrop.ps1">(c) http://TfsBuildExtensions.codeplex.com/. This source is subject to the Microsoft Permissive License. See http://www.microsoft.com/resources/sharedsource/licensingbasics/sharedsourcelicenses.mspx. All other rights reserved.</copyright>
##-----------------------------------------------------------------------
# Copy the binaries to the bin directory
# so that the build server can drop them
# to the staging location specified on the Build Defaults tab
#
# See
# http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb778394(v=vs.120).aspx
# http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd647547(v=vs.120).aspx#scripts
# Enable -Verbose option
[CmdletBinding()]
# Disable parameter
# Convenience option so you can debug this script or disable it in
# your build definition without having to remove it from
# the 'Post-build script path' build process parameter.
param([switch]$Disable)
if ($PSBoundParameters.ContainsKey('Disable'))
{
Write-Verbose "Script disabled; no actions will be taken on the files."
}
# This script copies the basic file types for managed code projects.
# You can change this list to meet your needs.
$FileTypes = $("*.exe","*.dll","*.exe.config","*.pdb")
# Specify the sub-folders to include
$SourceSubFolders = $("*bin*","*obj*")
# If this script is not running on a build server, remind user to
# set environment variables so that this script can be debugged
if(-not $Env:TF_BUILD -and -not ($Env:TF_BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY -and $Env:TF_BUILD_BINARIESDIRECTORY))
{
Write-Error "You must set the following environment variables"
Write-Error "to test this script interactively."
Write-Host '$Env:TF_BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY - For example, enter something like:'
Write-Host '$Env:TF_BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY = "C:\code\FabrikamTFVC\HelloWorld"'
Write-Host '$Env:TF_BUILD_BINARIESDIRECTORY - For example, enter something like:'
Write-Host '$Env:TF_BUILD_BINARIESDIRECTORY = "C:\code\bin"'
exit 1
}
# Make sure path to source code directory is available
if (-not $Env:TF_BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY)
{
Write-Error ("TF_BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY environment variable is missing.")
exit 1
}
elseif (-not (Test-Path $Env:TF_BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY))
{
Write-Error "TF_BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY does not exist: $Env:TF_BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY"
exit 1
}
Write-Verbose "TF_BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY: $Env:TF_BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY"
# Make sure path to binary output directory is available
if (-not $Env:TF_BUILD_BINARIESDIRECTORY)
{
Write-Error ("TF_BUILD_BINARIESDIRECTORY environment variable is missing.")
exit 1
}
if ([IO.File]::Exists($Env:TF_BUILD_BINARIESDIRECTORY))
{
Write-Error "Cannot create output directory."
Write-Error "File with name $Env:TF_BUILD_BINARIESDIRECTORY already exists."
exit 1
}
Write-Verbose "TF_BUILD_BINARIESDIRECTORY: $Env:TF_BUILD_BINARIESDIRECTORY"
# Tell user what script is about to do
Write-Verbose "Will look for and then gather "
Write-Verbose "$FileTypes files from"
Write-Verbose "$Env:TF_BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY and copy them to "
Write-Verbose $Env:TF_BUILD_BINARIESDIRECTORY
# Find the files
$files = gci $Env:TF_BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY -recurse -include $SourceSubFolders |
?{ $_.PSIsContainer } |
foreach { gci -Path $_.FullName -Recurse -include $FileTypes }
if($files)
{
Write-Verbose "Found $($files.count) files:"
foreach ($file in $files) {
Write-Verbose $file.FullName
}
}
else
{
Write-Warning "Found no files."
}
# If binary output directory exists, make sure it is empty
# If it does not exist, create one
# (this happens when 'Clean workspace' build process parameter is set to True)
if ([IO.Directory]::Exists($Env:TF_BUILD_BINARIESDIRECTORY))
{
$DeletePath = $Env:TF_BUILD_BINARIESDIRECTORY + "\*"
Write-Verbose "$Env:TF_BUILD_BINARIESDIRECTORY exists."
if(-not $Disable)
{
Write-Verbose "Ready to delete $DeletePath"
Remove-Item $DeletePath -recurse
Write-Verbose "Files deleted."
}
}
else
{
Write-Verbose "$Env:TF_BUILD_BINARIESDIRECTORY does not exist."
if(-not $Disable)
{
Write-Verbose "Ready to create it."
[IO.Directory]::CreateDirectory($Env:TF_BUILD_BINARIESDIRECTORY) | Out-Null
Write-Verbose "Directory created."
}
}
# Copy the binaries
Write-Verbose "Ready to copy files."
if(-not $Disable)
{
foreach ($file in $files)
{
Copy $file $Env:TF_BUILD_BINARIESDIRECTORY
}
Write-Verbose "Files copied."
}
A better solution would probably be to have 2 separate builds where the first build publishes the dependencies of the second project as a NuGet package. The Microsoft ALM Rangers have delivered a guide that explains how to set that up.

Answer 2

One option is to host your own nuget feed: http://docs.nuget.org/create/hosting-your-own-nuget-feeds
By hosting your own feed, you can execute custom build activities within your build process which updates your feed.
See this documentation for custom tfs build activities: http://nakedalm.com/creating-a-custom-activity-for-team-foundation-build/
See this documentation for adding powershell to your build process: http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/archive/2014/04/21/powershell-and-tfs-the-basics-and-beyond.aspx
By hosting your own nuget feed, you have the ability to have your consuming solution leverage your private nugget feed and packages to deal with dependency management and versions. By leveraging the custom build activities you have the ability to update your nuget feed via .net or powershell. You also can automate the deployment via your powershell scripts.