MSDeploy with Declare and Set parameter files

One of the most undocumented parts of MSDeploy is the declare and set parameter xml files you can use to encapsulate the parameters declaration and setting rather than having them clogging up the command line call to MSDeploy.

So firstly, here is how to include them when packaging and deploying:

msdeploy.exe" -verb:sync -source:apphostconfig="default web site/application” -dest:archivedir="C:\packages\application" -declareParamFile="C:\source\application\deployment\declareParamsFile.xml"

msdeploy.exe" -verb:sync -dest:apphostconfig="default web site/application” -source:archivedir="C:\packages\application" -setParamFile="C:\source\application\deployment\setParamsFile.xml"

You can verify that the parameters were correctly generated when the package was generated by examining the parameters file in the package folder.

The format of the declareParamFile is exactly the same as the parameter file that is generated in the package when you specify them manually in the command line – e.g. below is the content of the declareParamsFile.xml file.

<parameters>
<parameter name="enabledProtocols" defaultValue="http,net.pipe">
<parameterEntry kind="DeploymentObjectAttribute" scope="application" match="application/@enabledProtocols" />
</parameter>
<parameter name="applicationPool" defaultValue="synctest">
<parameterEntry kind="DeploymentObjectAttribute" scope="application" match="application/@applicationPool" />
</parameter>
<parameter name="providerServiceAddress" >
<parameterEntry kind="XmlFile" scope="web.config" match="//configuration/system.serviceModel/client/endpoint[@name='NetNamedPipeBinding_ProviderCustomerDetails']/@address" />
</parameter>
<parameter name="physicalPathLocation" description="Physical path where files for this Web application will be deployed." defaultValue="E:\Install\Services\ExampleService\" tags="PhysicalPath">
<parameterEntry kind="DestinationVirtualDirectory" scope="Default\ Web\ Site/iag\.application\.services\.exampleservice/" match="" />
</parameter>

Parameters are defined using various kind types. The common type is DeploymentObjectAttribute which allows you to configure the values within the archive.xml file using an XPath expression to determine where the update should be made. The archive.xml file is generated when the package is created and defines configuration for the deployment – e.g. if a website was packaged using the AppHostConfig provider, then it will contain the setting for which AppPool to use when the site is deployed. Create a deployment package, then open the archive.xml to better understand what this means. For a list of parameter kinds available see here http://64.4.11.252/en-us/library/dd569084(WS.10).aspx.

Once the deployment package is created, the parameter file generated within the package will contain the parameters specified in the declareParamFile.

Below is an example of the setParamfile and the format that should be used. Note that the name of the setParameter elements is the same name as their corresponding declaration in the declareParamFile example above.

<parameters>
<setParameter name="enabledProtocols" value="http, net.pipe"/>
<setParameter name="applicationPool" value="ServiceNameAppPool"/>
<setParameter name="providerServiceAddress" value="net.pipe://server/servicename/endpoint.svc"/>
<setParameter name="physicalPathLocation" value="C:\Services\ServiceName\"/>
</parameters>

When performing the deployment to the destination web server, to include the setParamFile file use the –setParamFile switch in the command line – e.g. setParamFile="C:\source\application\deployment\setParamsFile.xml"

Probably my favourite parameter kind is XmlFile (providerServiceAddress) which allows you to specify a xml file (which would typically be the web.config when deploying web applications) to be updated when the deployment is executed. You specifiy a XPath expression to indicate where you want to update the file. This is great when moving through different environments as the web.config usually contains environment specific settings.