How can we deploy from TFS to IIS on shared hostin

The documentation found here describes how to deploy to IIS, but the WinRM component requires local admin permissions. Obviously, this isn't going to be available on shared hosting with service providers such as GoDaddy. (We'll be excluding Azure targets for the purposes of this discussion.)

Visual Studio can do this very easily, simply by using an imported .publishsettings file. Doesn't it stand to reason that TFS should be able to do the same thing without needing the extra privileges?

...or are we simply out of luck when trying to use TFS to publish to non-Azure shared hosting configurations?

--EDIT--

I've been working on Patrick's suggested answer all day, and after countless combinations of configurations I'm still coming up empty. MSBuild does look like the way to go for this, yes, but I can't get it working on my TFS 2018.

The output from the Release task is below. As we can see, MSBuild refuses to publish the site to my local testing IIS.

The strange thing is that MSBuild publishes as expected when I run the command from the logs below from a command window on my local workstation (after adjusting for the relevant file paths, of course, and removing the /dl:CentralLogger switch).

One of the things I tried was to edit/delete files on the source/target, to try to force a sync. That didn't work either.

Does anyone see any indication why this isn't working?

Log

2018-02-27T04:48:38.4708105Z ##[section]Starting: Build solution $(System.DefaultWorkingDirectory)/Website/drop/Website.vbproj
2018-02-27T04:48:38.4938123Z ==============================================================================
2018-02-27T04:48:38.4938123Z Task         : Visual Studio Build
2018-02-27T04:48:38.4938123Z Description  : Build with MSBuild and set the Visual Studio version property
2018-02-27T04:48:38.4938123Z Version      : 1.120.0
2018-02-27T04:48:38.4938123Z Author       : Microsoft Corporation
2018-02-27T04:48:38.4938123Z Help         : [More Information](https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=613727)
2018-02-27T04:48:38.4938123Z ==============================================================================
2018-02-27T04:48:41.0024890Z ##[command]"D:\Agent\_work\_tasks\VSBuild_71a9a2d3-a98a-4caa-96ab-affca411ecda\1.120.0\ps_modules\MSBuildHelpers\vswhere.exe" -version [15.0,16.0) -latest -format json
2018-02-27T04:48:41.7115427Z ##[command]"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\MSBuild\15.0\Bin\msbuild.exe" "D:\Agent\_work\r5\a\Website\drop\Website.vbproj" /nologo /nr:false /dl:CentralLogger,"D:\Agent\_work\_tasks\VSBuild_71a9a2d3-a98a-4caa-96ab-affca411ecda\1.120.0\ps_modules\MSBuildHelpers\Microsoft.TeamFoundation.DistributedTask.MSBuild.Logger.dll";"RootDetailId=6e6502d0-9bea-46af-a5a7-9dac551b9e29|SolutionDir=D:\Agent\_work\r5\a\Website\drop"*ForwardingLogger,"D:\Agent\_work\_tasks\VSBuild_71a9a2d3-a98a-4caa-96ab-affca411ecda\1.120.0\ps_modules\MSBuildHelpers\Microsoft.TeamFoundation.DistributedTask.MSBuild.Logger.dll" /p:DeployOnBuild=true /p:AllowUntrustedCertificate=true /p:PublishProfile="D:\Agent\_work\r5\a\Website\drop\My Project\PublishProfiles\QA.pubxml" /p:Password=******** /p:platform="AnyCPU" /p:configuration="release" /p:VisualStudioVersion="15.0" /p:_MSDeployUserAgent="TFS_1c911c00-1ecd-4ca9-87b0-d8d34f8c59c4_release_2_24_24_1"
2018-02-27T04:48:42.3456044Z Build started 2/26/2018 7:48:42 PM.
2018-02-27T04:48:44.0457237Z Project "D:\Agent\_work\r5\a\Website\drop\Website.vbproj" on node 1 (default targets).
2018-02-27T04:48:44.0487239Z CoreResGen:
2018-02-27T04:48:44.0487239Z   No resources are out of date with respect to their source files. Skipping resource generation.
2018-02-27T04:48:44.2587401Z CoreCompile:
2018-02-27T04:48:44.2597397Z   C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\MSBuild\15.0\Bin\Roslyn\vbc.exe /noconfig /imports:Intexx,Intexx.Linq,Microsoft.VisualBasic,System,System.Collections,System.Collections.Generic,System.ComponentModel,System.Data,System.Data.Common,System.Data.Entity,System.Data.Entity.Migrations,System.Data.SqlClient,System.IO,System.Linq,System.Xml.Linq,System.Diagnostics,System.Collections.Specialized,System.Configuration,System.Text,System.Text.RegularExpressions,System.Web,System.Web.Caching,System.Web.SessionState,System.Web.Security,System.Web.Profile,System.Web.UI,System.Web.UI.WebControls,System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts,System.Web.UI.HtmlControls /optioncompare:Binary /optionexplicit+ /optionstrict:custom /nowarn:42016,41999,42017,42018,42019,42032,42036,42020,42021,42022 /optioninfer+ /nostdlib /rootnamespace:Website /sdkpath:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.7" /highentropyva+ /doc:obj\release\Website.xml /define:"CONFIG=\"release\",TRACE=-1,_MyType=\"Custom\",PLATFORM=\"AnyCPU\"" /reference:D:\Agent\_work\r5\a\Website\drop\bin\EntityFramework.dll,D:\Agent\_work\r5\a\Website\drop\bin\EntityFramework.SqlServer.dll,D:\Agent\_work\r5\a\Website\drop\bin\Intexx.Core.dll,D:\Agent\_work\r5\a\Website\drop\bin\itxcorlib.dll,"C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.7\System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations.dll","C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.7\System.Configuration.dll","C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.7\System.Core.dll","C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.7\System.Data.DataSetExtensions.dll","C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.7\System.Data.dll","C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.7\System.dll","C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.7\System.Drawing.dll","C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.7\System.EnterpriseServices.dll","C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.7\System.Web.ApplicationServices.dll","C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.7\System.Web.dll","C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.7\System.Web.DynamicData.dll","C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.7\System.Web.Entity.dll","C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.7\System.Web.Extensions.dll","C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.7\System.Web.Services.dll","C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.7\System.Xml.dll","C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.7\System.Xml.Linq.dll" /debug+ /debug:pdbonly /optimize+ /out:obj\release\Website.dll /ruleset:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\Team Tools\Static Analysis Tools\\Rule Sets\MinimumRecommendedRules.ruleset" /subsystemversion:6.00 /resource:obj\release\Website.Migrations._001.resources /resource:obj\release\Website.Resources.resources /target:library /utf8output App_Code\Enums.vb Bill.aspx.designer.vb Bill.aspx.vb Contact.aspx.designer.vb Contact.aspx.vb Default.aspx.designer.vb Default.aspx.vb Defects.aspx.designer.vb Defects.aspx.vb Donate.aspx.designer.vb Donate.aspx.vb Forum.aspx.designer.vb Forum.aspx.vb Jackson.aspx.designer.vb Jackson.aspx.vb Key.aspx.designer.vb Key.aspx.vb Laws.aspx.designer.vb Laws.aspx.vb Letters.aspx.designer.vb Letters.aspx.vb Losers.aspx.designer.vb Losers.aspx.vb Main.Master.designer.vb Main.Master.vb MenuItem.ascx.designer.vb MenuItem.ascx.vb Migrations\201802040108464_001.Designer.vb Migrations\201802040108464_001.vb Migrations\Configuration.vb Migrations\Defaults.vb Models\Db\Context.vb Models\Db\Loser.vb Models\Db\NewsItem.vb "My Project\AssemblyInfo.vb" "My Project\Application.Designer.vb" "My Project\MyExtensions\MyWebExtension.vb" "My Project\Resources.Designer.vb" "My Project\Settings.Designer.vb" News.aspx.designer.vb News.aspx.vb Oops.aspx.designer.vb Oops.aspx.vb Pocket.aspx.designer.vb Pocket.aspx.vb Seventeenth.aspx.designer.vb Seventeenth.aspx.vb States.aspx.designer.vb States.aspx.vb Store.aspx.designer.vb Store.aspx.vb "D:\Agent\_work\_temp\.NETFramework,Version=v4.7.AssemblyAttributes.vb"
2018-02-27T04:48:44.2917430Z   Using shared compilation with compiler from directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\MSBuild\15.0\Bin\Roslyn
2018-02-27T04:48:44.5307644Z   
2018-02-27T04:48:44.5357653Z _CopyFilesMarkedCopyLocal:
2018-02-27T04:48:44.5357653Z   Touching "D:\Agent\_work\r5\a\Website\drop\obj\release\Website.vbproj.CopyComplete".
2018-02-27T04:48:44.5567658Z CopyFilesToOutputDirectory:
2018-02-27T04:48:44.5577603Z   Copying file from "obj\release\Website.dll" to "bin\Website.dll".
2018-02-27T04:48:44.5587611Z   Website -> D:\Agent\_work\r5\a\Website\drop\bin\Website.dll
2018-02-27T04:48:44.5597611Z   Copying file from "obj\release\Website.pdb" to "bin\Website.pdb".
2018-02-27T04:48:44.5607636Z   Copying file from "obj\release\Website.xml" to "bin\Website.xml".
2018-02-27T04:48:44.5967639Z Done Building Project "D:\Agent\_work\r5\a\Website\drop\Website.vbproj" (default targets).
2018-02-27T04:48:44.6257666Z 
2018-02-27T04:48:44.6257666Z Build succeeded.
2018-02-27T04:48:44.6257666Z     0 Warning(s)
2018-02-27T04:48:44.6257666Z     0 Error(s)
2018-02-27T04:48:44.6257666Z 
2018-02-27T04:48:44.6257666Z Time Elapsed 00:00:02.29
2018-02-27T04:48:44.6868621Z ##[section]Finishing: Build solution $(System.DefaultWorkingDirectory)/Website/drop/Website.vbproj

QA.pubxml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!--
This file is used by the publish/package process of your Web project. You can customize the behavior of this process
by editing this MSBuild file. In order to learn more about this please visit https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=208121. 
-->
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <WebPublishMethod>MSDeploy</WebPublishMethod>
    <LastUsedBuildConfiguration>Release</LastUsedBuildConfiguration>
    <LastUsedPlatform>Any CPU</LastUsedPlatform>
    <SiteUrlToLaunchAfterPublish>http://www.website.local</SiteUrlToLaunchAfterPublish>
    <LaunchSiteAfterPublish>False</LaunchSiteAfterPublish>
    <ExcludeApp_Data>False</ExcludeApp_Data>
    <MSDeployServiceURL>https://server3:8172/msdeploy.axd</MSDeployServiceURL>
    <DeployIisAppPath>website</DeployIisAppPath>
    <RemoteSitePhysicalPath />
    <SkipExtraFilesOnServer>False</SkipExtraFilesOnServer>
    <MSDeployPublishMethod>WMSVC</MSDeployPublishMethod>
    <EnableMSDeployBackup>True</EnableMSDeployBackup>
    <UserName>DOMAIN\User</UserName>
    <_SavePWD>True</_SavePWD>
    <PublishDatabaseSettings>
      <Objects xmlns="">
        <ObjectGroup Name="Website.Db.Context" Order="1" Enabled="False">
          <Destination Path="" />
          <Object Type="DbCodeFirst">
            <Source Path="DBMigration" DbContext="Website.Db.Context, Website" MigrationConfiguration="Website.Migrations.Configuration, Website" />
          </Object>
        </ObjectGroup>
        <ObjectGroup Name="Website.My.MySettings.DbConnectionString" Order="2" Enabled="False">
          <Destination Path="" />
          <Object Type="DbDacFx">
            <PreSource Path="Data Source=(local);Initial Catalog=Website;Integrated Security=False;Persist Security Info=False;User ID=username;Password=password" includeData="False" />
            <Source Path="$(IntermediateOutputPath)AutoScripts\Website.My.MySettings.DbConnectionString_IncrementalSchemaOnly.dacpac" dacpacAction="Deploy" />
          </Object>
          <UpdateFrom Type="Web.Config">
            <Source MatchValue="Data Source=(local);Initial Catalog=Website;Integrated Security=False;Persist Security Info=False;User ID=username;Password=password" MatchAttributes="$(UpdateFromConnectionStringAttributes)" />
          </UpdateFrom>
        </ObjectGroup>
      </Objects>
    </PublishDatabaseSettings>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <MSDeployParameterValue Include="$(DeployParameterPrefix)Website.Db.Context-Web.config Connection String" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <_ConnectionStringsToInsert Include="Website.Db.Context" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

回答1:

Unlike Azure, setting up a continuous deployment from VSTS/TFS to these priced hosting servers do not have a built-in solution.

And this is bidirectional issue, TFS also greet other platform provide their official extension as a 3-party task in Marketplace. You could submit a uservoice in their site.

As a workaround, TFS is also using MSBuild in the build agent to perform build. .publishsettings also related to Azure. If you could use Web Deploy with GoDaddy locally through Visual Studio. It' should also be able to do this in TFS.

Take a look at this tutorial, using below MSBuild Argument:

/p:DeployOnBuild=true /p:PublishProfile="sitename.com - Web Deploy.pubxml" /p:AllowUntrustedCertificate=true /p:UserName="uname" /p:Password="password" /p:VisualStudioVersion=14.0

More details please refer this tutorial: HOW TO SETUP VSTS CONTINUOUS DEPLOYMENT FOR GODADDY

But according to this discussion, seems even directly using Visual Studio Web Deploy to handle with the GoDaddy is also not so stability. If you get same issue, you may deal with their support.

回答2:

It turned out that I didn't have the full VS toolset installed on the server. I'd only installed the bare minimum, as I didn't need anything more than the VSTest capability.

So I updated and installed Web and Desktop this time, and the deployment sailed right through.

Credits to Microsoft Support Services for helping me with this.