How to build Visual Studio project templates with VSTS

Question

With Visual Studio 2017 it is very easy to create your own project templates: just Project > Export Template Wizard.

But how to create a VSTS build definition to do the same? I could not find any MSBuild functionality for this.

Do I have to use VSIX projects to create Visual Studio Project Templates?

Answer 1

There used to have a Project Template Generation Tool (Projectgen.exe) , but it doesn't support VS 2017.

Using VSIX projects to create Visual Studio Project Templates is a option, or you can check the powershell script in case PowerShell Script to Create Visual Studio Project Template Extension Zip Issue :

Set-StrictMode -Version Latest
$VerbosePreference = [System.Management.Automation.ActionPreference]::Continue

# Makes debugging from ISE easier.
if ($PSScriptRoot -eq "")
{
    $root = Split-Path -Parent $psISE.CurrentFile.FullPath
}
else
{
    $root = $PSScriptRoot
}

Set-Location $root

<#
Create a zip file with items under Path in the root of the zip file.
#>
function New-ZipFile([string]$Path, [string]$FileName)
{
    $zipExe = 'C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe'
    $currentLocation = Get-Location
    Set-Location $Path
    & $zipExe a -tzip $FileName * -r
    Set-Location $currentLocation
}

# Create temporary directories for the zip archives

"Extension", "Template" | % {New-Item (Join-Path $root $_) -ItemType Directory}

# Build up the contents of the template file

$templateContent = @'
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<VSTemplate Version="3.0.0" Type="Project" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/vstemplate/2005" xmlns:sdk="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/vstemplate-sdkextension/2010">
    <TemplateData>
        <Name>MyExtension</Name>
        <Description>MyExtension</Description>
        <Icon>MyExtension.ico</Icon>
        <ProjectType>CSharp</ProjectType>
        <ProjectSubType></ProjectSubType>
        <RequiredFrameworkVersion>2.0</RequiredFrameworkVersion>
        <SortOrder>1000</SortOrder>
        <TemplateID>61251892-9605-4816-846b-858352383c38</TemplateID>
        <CreateNewFolder>true</CreateNewFolder>
        <DefaultName>MyExtension</DefaultName>
        <ProvideDefaultName>true</ProvideDefaultName>
    </TemplateData>
    <TemplateContent>
        <Project File="MyExtension.csproj" ReplaceParameters="true"></Project>
    </TemplateContent>
</VSTemplate>
'@

# Save the template file

$templateContent | Out-File (Join-Path $root "Template\MyExtension.vstemplate") -Encoding "UTF8" #-NoNewline

# Build up the contents of the proj file

$projContent = @'
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
    <Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\$(MSBuildToolsVersion)\Microsoft.Common.props" Condition="Exists('$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\$(MSBuildToolsVersion)\Microsoft.Common.props')" />
    <PropertyGroup>
    <Configuration Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == '' ">Debug</Configuration>
    <Platform Condition=" '$(Platform)' == '' ">AnyCPU</Platform>
    <ProductVersion>
    </ProductVersion>
    <SchemaVersion>2.0</SchemaVersion>
    <ProjectGuid>{403C08FA-9E44-4A8A-A757-1662142E1334}</ProjectGuid>
    <ProjectTypeGuids>{349c5851-65df-11da-9384-00065b846f21};{fae04ec0-301f-11d3-bf4b-00c04f79efbc}</ProjectTypeGuids>
    <OutputType>Library</OutputType>
    <AppDesignerFolder>Properties</AppDesignerFolder>
    <RootNamespace>$safeprojectname$</RootNamespace>
    <AssemblyName>$safeprojectname$</AssemblyName>
    <TargetFrameworkVersion>v4.5</TargetFrameworkVersion>
    <UseIISExpress>false</UseIISExpress>
    <IISExpressSSLPort />
    <IISExpressAnonymousAuthentication />
    <IISExpressWindowsAuthentication />
    <IISExpressUseClassicPipelineMode />
    </PropertyGroup>
    <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Debug|AnyCPU' ">
    <DebugSymbols>true</DebugSymbols>
    <DebugType>full</DebugType>
    <Optimize>false</Optimize>
    <OutputPath>bin\</OutputPath>
    <DefineConstants>DEBUG;TRACE</DefineConstants>
    <ErrorReport>prompt</ErrorReport>
    <WarningLevel>4</WarningLevel>
    </PropertyGroup>
    <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Release|AnyCPU' ">
    <DebugType>pdbonly</DebugType>
    <Optimize>true</Optimize>
    <OutputPath>bin\</OutputPath>
    <DefineConstants>TRACE</DefineConstants>
    <ErrorReport>prompt</ErrorReport>
    <WarningLevel>4</WarningLevel>
    </PropertyGroup>
    <ItemGroup>
    <Reference Include="Microsoft.CSharp" />
    <Reference Include="System.ServiceModel" />
    <Reference Include="System.Transactions" />
    <Reference Include="System.Web.DynamicData" />
    <Reference Include="System.Web.Entity" />
    <Reference Include="System.Web.ApplicationServices" />
    <Reference Include="System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations" />
    <Reference Include="System" />
    <Reference Include="System.Data" />
    <Reference Include="System.Core" />
    <Reference Include="System.Data.DataSetExtensions" />
    <Reference Include="System.Web.Extensions" />
    <Reference Include="System.Xml.Linq" />
    <Reference Include="System.Drawing" />
    <Reference Include="System.Web" />
    <Reference Include="System.Xml" />
    <Reference Include="System.Configuration" />
    <Reference Include="System.Web.Services" />
    <Reference Include="System.EnterpriseServices" />
    </ItemGroup>
    <PropertyGroup>
    <VisualStudioVersion Condition="'$(VisualStudioVersion)' == ''">10.0</VisualStudioVersion>
    <VSToolsPath Condition="'$(VSToolsPath)' == ''">$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v$(VisualStudioVersion)</VSToolsPath>
    </PropertyGroup>
    <Import Project="$(MSBuildBinPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
    <Import Project="$(VSToolsPath)\WebApplications\Microsoft.WebApplication.targets" Condition="'$(VSToolsPath)' != ''" />
    <Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v10.0\WebApplications\Microsoft.WebApplication.targets" Condition="false" />
    <ProjectExtensions>
    <VisualStudio>
        <FlavorProperties GUID="{349c5851-65df-11da-9384-00065b846f21}">
        <WebProjectProperties>
            <UseIIS>False</UseIIS>
            <AutoAssignPort>True</AutoAssignPort>
            <DevelopmentServerPort>58060</DevelopmentServerPort>
            <DevelopmentServerVPath>/</DevelopmentServerVPath>
            <IISUrl>
            </IISUrl>
            <NTLMAuthentication>False</NTLMAuthentication>
            <UseCustomServer>True</UseCustomServer>
            <CustomServerUrl>http://localhost/</CustomServerUrl>
            <SaveServerSettingsInUserFile>False</SaveServerSettingsInUserFile>
        </WebProjectProperties>
        </FlavorProperties>
    </VisualStudio>
    </ProjectExtensions>
    <!-- To modify your build process, add your task inside one of the targets below and uncomment it. 
        Other similar extension points exist, see Microsoft.Common.targets.
    <Target Name="BeforeBuild">
    </Target>
    <Target Name="AfterBuild">
    </Target>
    -->
</Project>
'@

# Save the proj file

$projContent | Out-File (Join-Path $root "Template\MyExtension.csproj") -Encoding "UTF8" #-NoNewline

# Create the template zip file

New-Item (Join-Path $root "Extension\ProjectTemplates\CSharp\Web\1033") -ItemType Directory
New-ZipFile (Join-Path $root "Template") (Join-Path $root "Extension\ProjectTemplates\CSharp\Web\1033\MyExtension.zip")

# Create a content types xml file (an error will be thrown if this does not exist)

$conentTypesContent = @'
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><Types xmlns="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/content-types"><Default Extension="vsixmanifest" ContentType="text/xml" /><Default Extension="zip" ContentType="application/zip" /></Types>
'@

# Save the content types file

$conentTypesContent | Out-File -literalPath (Join-Path $root "Extension\[Content_Types].xml") -Encoding "UTF8" #-NoNewline

# Now create an extension manifest for the visual studio template

$extensionContent = @'
<PackageManifest Version="2.0.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/vsx-schema/2011">
    <Metadata>
        <Identity Id="MyExtension - 1" Version="0.1.0" Language="en-US" Publisher="MyExtension.net Ltd" />
        <DisplayName>MyExtension Project Template</DisplayName>
        <Description xml:space="preserve">MyExtension Project Template Extension</Description>
    </Metadata>
    <Installation>
        <InstallationTarget Id="Microsoft.VisualStudio.Community" Version="[14.0]" />
    </Installation>
    <Dependencies>
        <Dependency Id="Microsoft.Framework.NDP" DisplayName="Microsoft .NET Framework" Version="[4.5,)" />
    </Dependencies>
    <Assets>
        <Asset Type="Microsoft.VisualStudio.ProjectTemplate" Path="ProjectTemplates" />
    </Assets>
</PackageManifest>
'@

# Save the extension file

$extensionContent | Out-File (Join-Path $root "Extension\extension.vsixmanifest") -Encoding "UTF8" #-NoNewline

# Create the extension zip file

New-ZipFile (Join-Path $root "Extension") (Join-Path $root "MyExtension.vsix")

# Delete the temporary directories
"Extension", "Template" | % {Remove-Item (Join-Path $root $_) -Recurse -Force}