Set content files to "copy local : always" in a nuget package

Question

I generate a nuget package from a project with this command in the post-build event. the variable %conf% is set to the right configuration (debug or release) and %1 is the project name (e.g. "MyCompany.MyProject").

nuget pack -Prop Configuration=%conf% "%1.csproj" -exclude *.sql -IncludeReferencedProjects

This package is for our own usage only, it will never be published on nuget. It ends in our private repository.

In the project, there is a file that is set to generate action : content and copy local : always. (My Visual Studio is in French, so I'm not 100% sure of the translation). Let's name it importantfile.xml.

In the generated package, I end up with this structure :

- content
    - importantfile.xml
- lib
    -net45 (.NetFramework,Version=v4.5)
        -MyCompany.MyProject.dll

Which is fine, I want importantfile.xml to be deployed in the package, because, well, this file is important!

When I install the package in another project, importantfile.xml is deployed at the root of the project. That's OK. But it is not set to copy local : always.

I need importantfile.xml to be copy local : always in this project where I install my package.

How can I achieve that?

Notes :

I can set copy local : always on the file just after installing the package, that's no big deal. I would live with it if later updates of the package would let this property as-is, which is not the case. When updating the package, copy local is reset to never (as stated here).

There's a nuspec file in the project's folder, here it is :

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<package >
  <metadata>
    <id>$id$</id>
    <version>$version$</version>
    <title>$title$</title>
    <authors>$author$</authors>
    <owners>$author$</owners>
    <requireLicenseAcceptance>false</requireLicenseAcceptance>
    <description>$description$</description>
    <copyright>Copyright 2014</copyright>
    <tags>some random tags</tags>
  </metadata>
</package>

Solution 1

You can use PowerShell and the Install.ps1 hook provided by NuGet.

See the documentation.

Via PowerShell you have to 'search' for the content element which includes your importantfile.xml in an attribute. When the script found it, it has to add <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory> as a child element.

    <Content Include="importantfile.xml">
      <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </Content>

You can find some PowerShell snippets here. Just take a look at the .ps1 files.

You could try the following (not tested). The file has to be named Install.ps1 and copied into the tools folder:

param($installPath, $toolsPath, $package, $project)

# Load project XML.
$doc = New-Object System.Xml.XmlDocument
$doc.Load($project.FullName)
$namespace = 'http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003'

# Find the node containing the file. The tag "Content" may be replace by "None" depending of the case, check your .csproj file.
$xmlNode = Select-Xml "//msb:Project/msb:ItemGroup/msb:Content[@Include='importantfile.xml']" $doc -Namespace @{msb = $namespace}


#check if the node exists.
if($xmlNode -ne $null)
{
    $nodeName = "CopyToOutputDirectory"

    #Check if the property already exists, just in case.
    $property = $xmlNode.Node.SelectSingleNode($nodeName)
    if($property -eq $null)
    {
        $property = $doc.CreateElement($nodeName, $namespace)
        $property.AppendChild($doc.CreateTextNode("Always"))
        $xmlNode.Node.AppendChild($property)

        # Save changes.
        $doc.Save($project.FullName)
    }
}

You should also check if everything is removed completely when uninstalling the package.

Note by Jonhhy5

When updating the package via update-package, Visual Studio warns that the project is modified "outside the environnment". That's caused by $doc.Save($project.FullName). If I click reload before the command is fully terminated, it sometimes causes errors. The trick is to leave the dialog there until the process finishes, and then reload the projects.

Solution 2

Instead of using a PowerShell script another approach is to use an MSBuild targets or props file with the same name as the package id:

<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
  <ItemGroup>
    <None Include="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)importantfile.xml">
      <Link>importantfile.xml</Link>
      <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </None>
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

In the nuspec file then, instead of adding the required files to the Content directory, add them to the Build directory along with the targets file.

• Build
  • importantfile.xml
  • MyPackage.targets
• lib
  • net45
    • MyAssembly.dll

If you require different content for different architectures then you can add architecture folders under Build also each with their own targets file.

Benefits to using a targets file over the PowerShell script with NuGet Content directory:

• required content files aren't shown in the project in Visual Studio
• content files are linked to rather than copied into the directory of each project which references the NuGet package (preventing there being multiple copies and keeping behaviour the same as for assemblies / libraries from NuGet packages)
• PowerShell scripts only work in Visual Studio and aren't run when NuGet is run from the commandline (build servers, other IDEs and other OS), this approach will work everywhere
• PowerShell install scripts are not supported in NuGet 3.x project.json system.

Solution 3

I know you guys got a working solution to this but it didn't work for me so I'm going to share what I pulled out of the NLog.config NuGet package install.ps1 (github source here).

NOTE: this is not my code, this is the content of the install.ps1 from the NLog.config nuget package just sharing the knowledge.

It seems a little more straight forward to me and just hoping to help others that will likely stumble upon this.

You can find the accepted int values for BuildAction here and the accepted values for CopyToOutputDirectory here.

if the link breaks again

Fields prjBuildActionCompile 1
The file is compiled.

prjBuildActionContent 2
The file is included in the Content project output group (see Deploying Applications, Services, and Components)

prjBuildActionEmbeddedResource 3
The file is included in the main generated assembly or in a satellite assembly as a resource.

prjBuildActionNone 0
No action is taken.

param($installPath, $toolsPath, $package, $project)

$configItem = $project.ProjectItems.Item("NLog.config")

# set 'Copy To Output Directory' to 'Copy if newer'
$copyToOutput = $configItem.Properties.Item("CopyToOutputDirectory")

# Copy Always Always copyToOutput.Value = 1
# Copy if Newer copyToOutput.Value = 2  
$copyToOutput.Value = 2

# set 'Build Action' to 'Content'
$buildAction = $configItem.Properties.Item("BuildAction")
$buildAction.Value = 2

Solution 4

I have made this which copies files from my build folder to the output folder (bin/debug or bin/release). Works like a charm for me.

Nuspec file:

<package>
  <files>
    <file src="\bin\Release\*.dll" target="lib" />
    <file src="\bin\Release\x64\*.dll" target="build\x64" />
    <file src="\bin\Release\x86\*.dll" target="build\x86" />
    <file src="MyProject.targets" target="build\" />    
  </files>
</package>

MyProject.targets

<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
  <ItemGroup>
    <NativeLibs Include="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)**\*.dll" />
    <None Include="@(NativeLibs)">
      <Link>%(RecursiveDir)%(FileName)%(Extension)</Link>
      <CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </None>
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

View more solutions

Comments

[Johnny5]

I have seen this documentation, I found it to be very incomplete. That's what I was trying to do, although your code is much cleaner than mine.

[timmkrause]

Really? What are you missing?

[Johnny5]

You mean missing in the doc? Well, the least would have been to document the variables that are initiated by param($installPath, $toolsPath, $package, $project). The case in the question is a simplified one, it would be nice if I could search $package for the content files, but there's nothing about what provides this variable.

[timmkrause]

True story. But finding the content file via Select-Xml doesn't make you happy?

[Johnny5]

Yes, you're on the way to make me happy ;-) Can I test if the node is found with if ($xmlNode -ne $null)? Or maybe it will return an empty array in that case?

[timmkrause]

I'll check that. To test it you can also $doc.Load("a/path/to/a.csproj"). The only thing is that $property.AppendChild doesn't work because it's not found. I don't know why but it works in a NuGet package context.

[Johnny5]

let us continue this discussion in chat

[Rhyous]

You deserve a shout out! Added.

[Peuczynski]

This is much, much better solution than the accepted answer.

[TinyRacoon]

I like this solution more too. Simpler and crisper.

[Maurício]

I like this solution, and use it in my scenario. However, one thing to be aware - if you are expecting that the user might want to modify importantfile.xml, then this solution isn't best for you - the file lives only in the packages folder. However, if you are not expecting the user to modify this file, then this is a great solution :)

[tofutim]

what if there are framework dependencies, like importantfile.xml goes to net45, but importantfile_ios.xml goes to ios

[kjbartel]

@tofutim you can put them in framework folders under Build just like lib.

[kjbartel]

@tofutim And you'll need a different targets file in each of those folders.

[JobaDiniz]

How can I change the .targets to include all files/subfolder of a folder, eg driver driver\images driver\keymaps driver\keymaps\file1.sh driver\keymaps\file2.sh and so forth... There are several files, and creating a Include and <Link> for each one seems too much

[Joe]

I couldn't get this to work in VS2013 with Nuget 2.12.0.817 until I renamed the target file to match the package id. This naming convention is stated in the Nuget 2.5 release notes docs.nuget.org/ndocs/release-notes/nuget-2.5

[Farrukh Waheed]

This worked for me. Joe's point is handled by using Nuget Explorer to add the .target file and it worked accordingly..

[Sam Rueby]

Note that in V3, Install.ps1 (and Uninstall.ps1) support has been removed. Init.ps1 is still supported.

[dcp]

@kjbartel - "required content files aren't shown in the project in Visual Studio" - I found that it still included the build\importantfile.xml in the target project when I installed the nuget package. Any idea why? Still, this is a really good answer though!

[kjbartel]

@dcp ASP.Net Core project I'm guessing? New project structure in VS seems to do things differently with what files are shown and hidden.

[dcp]

@kjbartel - No, it's just regular a .Net class library project.

[Pratt Hinds]

Thanks! This is the targets content I used to copy all the build files maintaining directory structure: <Project xmlns="schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003"> <ItemGroup> <None Include="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)**"> <Link>%(RecursiveDir)%(Filename)%(Extension)</Link> <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory> </None> </ItemGroup> </Project>

[Sal]

Please note that param($installPath, $toolsPath, $package) should be used for Init.ps1

[Sal]

If you're having trouble understanding what exactly needs to be done (like I was) please see this other answer I found that has step by step instructions (based off this answer):