How to call MSBuild from C#

Question

Is there a better way to call MSBuild from C#/.NET than shelling out to the msbuild.exe? If yes, how?

Answer 1

Yes, add a reference to Microsoft.Build.Engine and use the Engine class.

PS: Take care to reference the right version. There are 2.0 and 3.5 assemblies and you'll have to make sure that everyone gets the right one.

Answer 2

For a .NET 2.0-specific version, you can use the following:

Engine engine = new Engine();
engine.BinPath = System.Environment.GetFolderPath(System.Environment.SpecialFolder.System)
    + @"\..\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727";

FileLogger logger = new FileLogger();
logger.Parameters = @"logfile=C:\temp\test.msbuild.log";
engine.RegisterLogger(logger);

string[] tasks = new string[] { "MyTask" };
BuildPropertyGroup props = new BuildPropertyGroup();
props.SetProperty("parm1","hello Build!");

try
{
  // Call task MyTask with the parm1 property set
  bool success = engine.BuildProjectFile(@"C:\temp\test.msbuild",tasks,props);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
  // your error handler
}
finally
{
 engine.UnregisterAllLoggers();
 engine.UnloadAllProjects();
}

Answer 3

If you use Microsoft.Build.Engine.Engine, you'll get a warning: This class has been deprecated. Please use Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.ProjectCollection from the Microsoft.Build assembly instead.

Now, the proper way to run MSBuild from C# looks like this:

public sealed class MsBuildRunner
{

    public bool Run(FileInfo msbuildFile, string[] targets = null, IDictionary<string, string> properties = null, LoggerVerbosity loggerVerbosity = LoggerVerbosity.Detailed)
    {
        if (!msbuildFile.Exists) throw new ArgumentException("msbuildFile does not exist");

        if (targets == null)
        {
            targets = new string[] {};
        }
        if (properties == null)
        {
            properties = new Dictionary<string, string>();
        }

        Console.Out.WriteLine("Running {0} targets: {1} properties: {2}, cwd: {3}",
                              msbuildFile.FullName,
                              string.Join(",", targets),
                              string.Join(",", properties),
                              Environment.CurrentDirectory);
        var project = new Project(msbuildFile.FullName, properties, "4.0");
        return project.Build(targets, new ILogger[] { new ConsoleLogger(loggerVerbosity) });
    }

}