Azure DevOps Pipeline not producing single file exe from Net Core 3.1 application

Question

I would like to automate my deployment. So far, I've been manualy publishing my Net Core 3.1 solution through Visual Studio 2019 with no problems. Hovewer, when I want to use Azure DevOps Pipeline, even though I received no errors, I always end up with hundreds of .dll files instead of one .exe file.

This is my Visual Studio configuration that works as intended:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!--
https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=208121. 
-->
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <DeleteExistingFiles>True</DeleteExistingFiles>
    <ExcludeApp_Data>False</ExcludeApp_Data>
    <LaunchSiteAfterPublish>True</LaunchSiteAfterPublish>
    <LastUsedBuildConfiguration>Release</LastUsedBuildConfiguration>
    <LastUsedPlatform>Any CPU</LastUsedPlatform>
    <PublishProvider>FileSystem</PublishProvider>
    <PublishUrl>C:\Users\Karel Křesťan\Desktop\apm-local</PublishUrl>
    <WebPublishMethod>FileSystem</WebPublishMethod>
    <SiteUrlToLaunchAfterPublish />
    <TargetFramework>netcoreapp3.1</TargetFramework>
    <RuntimeIdentifier>win-x64</RuntimeIdentifier>
    <PublishSingleFile>True</PublishSingleFile>
    <ProjectGuid>870788a8-f14a-4683-8395-6048e2c9aa1e</ProjectGuid>
    <SelfContained>true</SelfContained>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

As you can see, it's single file and self contained.

This is my yaml file on DevOps:

    trigger:
- master

pool:
  vmImage: 'windows-latest'

variables:
  solution: '**/*.sln'
  buildPlatform: 'Any CPU'
  buildConfiguration: 'Release'
  imageName: 'fine-project-manager'

steps:
- task: UseDotNet@2
  inputs:
    packageType: 'sdk'
    version: '3.1.107'

- task: MSBuild@1
  inputs:
    solution: '**/*.sln'
    msbuildArguments: '/t:restore;rebuild;publish /p:DeployOnBuild=True /p:DeployDefaultTarget=WebPublish /p:WebPublishMethod=FileSystem /p:SelfContained=true /p:Platform="Any CPU" /p:Configuration=Release /p:RuntimeIdentifier=win-x64'
    msbuildVersion: latest

- task: MSBuild@1
  inputs:
    solution: '**/*.sln'
    msbuildArguments: '/T:"ApmBackend" /t:publish /p:DeployOnBuild=True /p:DeployDefaultTarget=WebPublish /p:WebPublishMethod=FileSystem /p:SelfContained=true /p:Platform="Any CPU" /p:Configuration=Release /p:PackageAsSingleFile=true /p:RuntimeIdentifier=win-x64 /p:OutputPath=$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
    msbuildVersion: latest

- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
  inputs:
    PathtoPublish: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
    ArtifactName: 'publish'
    publishLocation: 'Container'

The pipeline works and publish application successfully, hovewer, it is not single file. Any idea what might cause the trouble?

Small note about the pipeline: I am using two MSBuilds, because I've not been able to find better workaround for problem with publishing single file applications from solution that has multiple projects.

When I try to publish the solution, I got following error for each .csproj file:

error NETSDK1099: Publishing to a single-file is only supported for executable applications.

That's why I am publishing whole solution first and then only ApmBackend.csproj, which is executible. Not very clean, but it works and I don't know any other fix.

Instead of using the MSBuild task, try using the DotNetCoreCLI task. 1st with command: restore, 2nd with command: buld, 3rd with command: publish and arguments: --self-contained true. — E13
– E13, Commented Aug 17, 2020 at 6:57
Yes, that's how I solved the problem in the end. Still no idea why MSBuild didn't work — Karel Křesťan
– Karel Křesťan, Commented Aug 17, 2020 at 13:15

Karel Křesťan · Accepted Answer · 2020-08-16 17:38:05Z

For anyone trying to produce single exe on azure in the future, this is yaml that actually works (I am positive there is a cleaner, more straightforward solution, but I wasn't able to find it):

# ASP.NET Core (.NET Framework)
# Build and test ASP.NET Core projects targeting the full .NET Framework.
# Add steps that publish symbols, save build artifacts, and more:
# https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/devops/pipelines/languages/dotnet-core

trigger:
- master

pool:
  vmImage: 'windows-latest'

variables:
  solution: '**/*.sln'
  buildPlatform: 'Any CPU'
  buildConfiguration: 'Release'
  imageName: 'fine-project-manager'

steps:
- task: UseDotNet@2
  inputs:
    packageType: 'sdk'
    version: '3.1.107'

- task: MSBuild@1
  inputs:
    solution: '**/*.sln'
    msbuildArguments: '/t:restore;rebuild;publish /p:DeployOnBuild=True /p:DeployDefaultTarget=WebPublish /p:WebPublishMethod=FileSystem /p:SelfContained=true /p:Platform="Any CPU" /p:Configuration=Release /p:RuntimeIdentifier=win-x64'
    msbuildVersion: latest

- task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
  inputs:
    command: 'publish'
    arguments: -c Release --runtime win-x64 /p:PublishSingleFile=true --self-contained --output $(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory) --no-dependencies
    projects: $(Build.SourcesDirectory)\ApmBackend\ApmBackend.csproj
    zipAfterPublish: false

- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
  inputs:
    PathtoPublish: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
    ArtifactName: 'publish'
    publishLocation: 'Container'

You of course have to replace ApmBackend.csproj with you own executable project

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