With DotNet (Core/Standrad) how do I the project version at build time?

Question

I'm able to set the project version by adding the tag to the .csproj file, but I'd like to change that value programatically inside the pipeline.

I hacked together a script to do accomplish that, but it feels sloppy.

That's got to be a way to do this through the CLI, but I'm just not finding it.

Is there a command similar to this that I'm overlooking?

dotnet build -project-version 1.2.3

If no command exists, what have you done to set the project build version in your pipelines?

Answer 1

i use the following in my pipeline.

dotnet build -p:VersionPrefix="$(buildNumber)" -p:VersionSuffix="$(buildPipline)"

and in my csproj file i have

 <PropertyGroup>
    ...
    <VersionPrefix>1.0.1</VersionPrefix>
    <VersionSuffix>local</VersionSuffix>
  </PropertyGroup>

to get the version number in code, i use the following

public static string Version => System.Reflection.Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().GetCustomAttribute<System.Reflection.AssemblyInformationalVersionAttribute>().InformationalVersion;

if you're using azure pipelines, you can add a powershell script, which declares the version based on the date & time.

 Write-Host "Generating Build Number"
$baseDate = [datetime]"01/01/2019"
$currentDate = [System.TimeZoneInfo]::ConvertTimeBySystemTimeZoneId((Get-Date), 'Eastern Standard Time')
$interval = NEW-TIMESPAN –Start $baseDate –End $currentDate
$days = $interval.Days
$hour = $currentDate.ToString("HH")
$minute = $currentDate.ToString("mm")

$version = "1.0.$days.$hour$minute"
$version_npm = "1.$days.$($currentDate.ToString("Hmm"))"
if($currentDate.ToString("HH") -eq "00")
{
    $version_npm = "1.$days.25$($currentDate.ToString("mm"))"
}
Write-Host "Version: $version"
Write-Host "npm Version: $version_npm"

Write-Host "##vso[task.setvariable variable=buildNumber]$version"
Write-Host "##vso[task.setvariable variable=buildNumber_npm]$version_npm"

Answer 2

I found the easiest way to do this is using environment variables in the .csproj file like this:

  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(APPVERSION)' != ''">
    <InformationalVersion>$(APPVERSION)</InformationalVersion>
  </PropertyGroup>

And then set the environment variables in your build server.

Answer 3

You may try Assembly Info extension, which can update project AssemblyInfo files and .Net Core / .Net Standard project files .csproj. For detailed instructions on how to configure the extension please see the following link:

https://github.com/BMuuN/vsts-assemblyinfo-task/wiki/Versioning