title: How to build setup project from .vdproj in Azure DevOps?
body: <p>I have recently upgraded some of our windows application to VS2019 and created the setup project using VSInstallerProject extension in VS2019 . What I noticed is setup is not getting created when the Release pipeline is run , but I need the msi (or exe) files here so I can use the same to install on app server .</p>
  <p>I have made changes in my pipeline and added a  task : 'DutchWorkz - Build VS Installer(s)' in the release pipeline .
  I have attached the logs of the error I am getting at this task in Azure Devops below  .
  Build is getting failed at this task  .</p>
  <p>Can anyone guide me on what the issue here is and how can I resolve it ?
  Also , I want to create the setup projects/msi in VS2019 , but I don't see Vs2019 option in this task,
  how can I use this task in VS2019 version  .I have Vs2019 installed on agent server .</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/3PBxW.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/3PBxW.png" alt="agent server" /></a></p>
  <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/5HG1b.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/5HG1b.png" alt="build definition" /></a></p>
  <pre><code>2020-09-21T20:04:43.3394997Z ##[section]Starting: Create .msi file(s) from VS Installer project(s).
  2020-09-21T20:04:43.3539534Z ==============================================================================
  2020-09-21T20:04:43.3539958Z Task         : DutchWorkz - Build VS Installer(s)
  2020-09-21T20:04:43.3540023Z Description  : Build .msi file(s) from VS Installer project(s).
  2020-09-21T20:04:43.3540076Z Version      : 1.2.4
  2020-09-21T20:04:43.3540129Z Author       : DutchWorkz B.V.
  2020-09-21T20:04:43.3540201Z Help         : &lt;b&gt;BuildVsInstaller v1.2.4&lt;/b&gt;, DutchWorkz B.V. (Robin Paardekam)&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Visual Studio Installer projects are not supported by MSBUILD, so a regular build will not generate your installer files (.msi). Use this build-task to build the .msi file(s) for your project by running devenv on the buildagent directly. &lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Dependencies:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Dep1: when using VisualStudio 2017, this task will only function properly if you installed it in the default C:\Program Files (x86)\ location.
  2020-09-21T20:04:43.3540311Z ==============================================================================
  2020-09-21T20:05:07.5667900Z DEBUG: Aggregated: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\Common7\IDE\devenv.com
  2020-09-21T20:05:07.5714835Z Now running (C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\Common7\IDE\devenv.com) with Arguments (&quot;D:\VSTS Agent Folder\SO\6\s\SOApplications.sln&quot; /Build &quot;release|any cpu&quot; /Project &quot;D:\VSTS Agent Folder\SO\6\s\App_Tool_Installer\App_Tool_Installer.vdproj&quot; /Out &quot;D:\VSTS Agent Folder\SO\6\b\BuildInstaller_Log_20200921200507.txt&quot;)
  2020-09-21T20:05:15.0213322Z Done running DevEnv process. Success = False.
  2020-09-21T20:05:15.0238151Z ##[error]Unable to process command '##vso[task.addattachment type=Distributedtask.Core.Summary;name=Installer project errors;]D:\VSTS Agent Folder\SO\6\b\BuildInstaller_Log_20200921200507.txt' successfully. Please reference documentation (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=817296)
  2020-09-21T20:05:15.0239574Z ##[error]Cannot upload task attachment file, attachment file location is not specified or attachment file not exist on disk
  2020-09-21T20:05:15.1116369Z Attachment added: Log file for Installer generation.
  2020-09-21T20:05:15.1928578Z ##[error]An error occurred while running DevEnv! Please review logfile BuildInstaller_Log_20200921200507.txt
  2020-09-21T20:05:15.2720322Z ##[section]Finishing: Create .msi file(s) from VS Installer project(s).
  </code></pre>
  <p>I have tried using devenv command line too  , inorder to build the setup project .I have tried it with both the vs2017 (professional) and vs 2019(enterprise) and I am getting issue in both  .While issue with 2017 is about license , I am not able to figure out what's causing the issue for 2019 . Please let me know if you have any thoughts on what could possibly be causing this issue and how can this be resolved  . The goal is offcourse to build the setup project with azure devops pipeline and use the generated msi file for installation on app server  .
  Thanks in advance .</p>
  <p>Here's the screenshot for new build and issue :
  <a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/ul88p.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/ul88p.png" alt="new build def" /></a>
  <a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/dYeFO.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/dYeFO.png" alt="issue with 2019" /></a>
  <a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/5U1Ee.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/5U1Ee.png" alt="issue with 2017" /></a></p>
  <p>Build agent server has Vs installer already installed  , pls see if this is okay :
  <a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/unwOQ.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/unwOQ.png" alt="vsinstaller" /></a></p>
  <p>Please check the new logs from 'command line task' below :</p>
  <pre><code>2020-09-26T16:04:39.7854210Z ##[debug]Evaluating condition for step: 'Command Line Script'
  2020-09-26T16:04:39.7856182Z ##[debug]Evaluating: succeeded()
  2020-09-26T16:04:39.7856654Z ##[debug]Evaluating succeeded:
  2020-09-26T16:04:39.7857594Z ##[debug]=&gt; True
  2020-09-26T16:04:39.7858101Z ##[debug]Result: True
  2020-09-26T16:04:39.7858600Z ##[section]Starting: Command Line Script
  2020-09-26T16:04:39.8082090Z ==============================================================================
  2020-09-26T16:04:39.8082357Z Task         : Command line
  2020-09-26T16:04:39.8082602Z Description  : Run a command line script using Bash on Linux and macOS and cmd.exe on Windows
  2020-09-26T16:04:39.8082847Z Version      : 2.164.2
  2020-09-26T16:04:39.8083025Z Author       : Microsoft Corporation
  2020-09-26T16:04:39.8083274Z Help         : https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/devops/pipelines/tasks/utility/command-line
  2020-09-26T16:04:39.8084133Z ==============================================================================
  2020-09-26T16:04:39.8097829Z ##[debug]tf vc resolvePath $\CDM\Dev /loginType:OAuth /login:.,*** /noprompt
  2020-09-26T16:04:40.1991127Z ##[debug]D:\VSTSAgent\sn\30\s
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.0198149Z ##[debug]VstsTaskSdk 0.9.0 commit 6c48b16164b9a1c9548776ad2062dad5cd543352
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.1044331Z ##[debug]Entering D:\VSTSAgent\sn\_tasks\CmdLine_d9bafed4-0b18-4f58-968d-86655b4d2ce9\2.164.2\cmdline.ps1.
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.1126277Z ##[debug]Loading resource strings from: D:\VSTSAgent\sn\_tasks\CmdLine_d9bafed4-0b18-4f58-968d-86655b4d2ce9\2.164.2\task.json
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.1272687Z ##[debug]Loaded 6 strings.
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.1306950Z ##[debug]SYSTEM_CULTURE: 'en-US'
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.1325343Z ##[debug]Loading resource strings from: D:\VSTSAgent\sn\_tasks\CmdLine_d9bafed4-0b18-4f58-968d-86655b4d2ce9\2.164.2\Strings\resources.resjson\en-US\resources.resjson
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.1467074Z ##[debug]Loaded 6 strings.
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.1670941Z ##[debug]INPUT_FAILONSTDERR: 'false'
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.1696717Z ##[debug] Converted to bool: False
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.1718695Z ##[debug]INPUT_SCRIPT: '&quot;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\Common7\IDE\devenv&quot; &quot;D:\VSTSAgent\sn\30\s\st.sn.ComponentManagement.sln&quot; /build release'
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.1739155Z ##[debug]INPUT_WORKINGDIRECTORY: 'D:\VSTSAgent\sn\30\s'
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.1861366Z ##[debug]Asserting container path exists: 'D:\VSTSAgent\sn\30\s'
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.1900763Z Generating script.
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.1963727Z Script contents:
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.1969048Z &quot;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\Common7\IDE\devenv&quot; &quot;D:\VSTSAgent\sn\30\s\st.sn.ComponentManagement.sln&quot; /build release
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.2078510Z ##[debug]AGENT_VERSION: '2.173.0'
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.2148233Z ##[debug]AGENT_TEMPDIRECTORY: 'D:\VSTSAgent\sn\_temp'
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.2166134Z ##[debug]Asserting container path exists: 'D:\VSTSAgent\sn\_temp'
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.2329780Z ##[debug]Asserting leaf path exists: 'C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe'
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.2337995Z ========================== Starting Command Output ===========================
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.2446509Z ##[debug]Entering Invoke-VstsTool.
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.2539207Z ##[debug] Arguments: '/D /E:ON /V:OFF /S /C &quot;CALL &quot;D:\VSTSAgent\sn\_temp\442cb1cb-a43b-4d2a-b036-4f16ab588410.cmd&quot;&quot;'
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.2553937Z ##[debug] FileName: 'C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe'
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.2568488Z ##[debug] WorkingDirectory: 'D:\VSTSAgent\sn\30\s'
  2020-09-26T16:04:41.2608339Z ##[command]&quot;C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe&quot; /D /E:ON /V:OFF /S /C &quot;CALL &quot;D:\VSTSAgent\sn\_temp\442cb1cb-a43b-4d2a-b036-4f16ab588410.cmd&quot;&quot;
  2020-09-26T16:04:47.9474432Z 
  2020-09-26T16:04:47.9514773Z Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 Version 16.7.3.
  2020-09-26T16:04:47.9656002Z Copyright (C) Microsoft Corp. All rights reserved.
  2020-09-26T16:04:47.9656269Z 
  2020-09-26T16:04:47.9656416Z The license for Visual Studio expires in 19 days.
  2020-09-26T16:04:47.9656554Z 
  2020-09-26T16:04:47.9657872Z Some errors occurred during migration. For more information, see the migration report:
  2020-09-26T16:04:47.9658144Z D:\VSTSAgent\sn\30\s\UpgradeLog2.htm
  2020-09-26T16:04:50.0902169Z 1&gt;------ Build started: Project: st.sn.ComponentManagement, Configuration: Release x86 ------
  2020-09-26T16:04:52.8763939Z ========== Build: 1 succeeded, 0 failed, 6 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========
  2020-09-26T16:04:53.4375608Z ##[debug]Exit code: 0
  2020-09-26T16:04:53.4417000Z ##[debug]Leaving Invoke-VstsTool.
  2020-09-26T16:04:53.4426510Z ##[debug]Leaving D:\VSTSAgent\sn\_tasks\CmdLine_d9bafed4-0b18-4f58-968d-86655b4d2ce9\2.164.2\cmdline.ps1.
  2020-09-26T16:04:53.5245394Z ##[section]Finishing: Command Line Script
  </code></pre>
  <p>Here's the additional error log :</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/N0Y49.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/N0Y49.png" alt="additional log" /></a></p>
  <p>EVEN though the command line task passed , the .vdproj setup project didn't get updated or build . I can see that from timestamp , all other projects getting updated as usual .</p>