MSTest.exe not finding app.config

Question

I'm currently trying to run MSTest.exe from NCover, but I believe the question could apply generally to running MSTest.exe from the command line.

If I have the "/noisolation" argument, then MSTest.exe appears to find and use the app.config as expected. Without it, NCover doesn't capture any coverage information. From my research so far, it seems NCover needs /noisolation. So the question is how to get my *.config files to work when that argument is passed.

My NCover settings are:

Application to Profile
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE\MSTest.exe

Working Folder
C:\Documents and Settings\MyProfile\My Documents\Visual Studio 2008\Projects\XYZ\XYZ.CoreTest\bin\Debug

Application arguments
/noisolation /testcontainer:"C:\Documents and Settings\MyProfile\My Documents\Visual Studio 2008\Projects\XYZ\XYZ.CoreTest\bin\Debug\XYZ.CoreTest.dll"

Update: I added a trace showing that my config is (not surprisingly) trying to read from "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE\MSTest.exe.Config".

Update 2: If at all possible, I don't want to edit MSTest.exe.Config. That just isn't terribly portable.

Answer 1

From Craig Stuntz in a comment at link text

How to do this with MSTest.

1. In Solution Explorer, right-click the Solution (not the Project).

2. Click Add, New Item

3. In Categories, select Test Run Configuration

4. Now choose the Test Run Configuration item and add it to your project

5. In Solution Explorer, double-click the Test Run Configuration you just created

6. Click the Deployment item

7. Add your config file as a deployed file (or deploy the entire folder which contains it, if appropriate)

This took me a little while to figure out, but I'm in a similar situation and it does work for me.

Answer 2

In visual studio, mark the App.config file to property to CopyAlways. (right click on file, choose properties to get to the property panel)