How to use MSBuild extension's Zip task?

Question

I decided to use MSBuild Extension's Zip task to compress some of my source code at every build.

However, this not works:

<UsingTask TaskName="MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Compression.Zip" AssemblyFile="MSBuild.ExtensionPack.dll" />
<Target Name="AfterBuild">
    <CallTarget Targets="ZipSourceFiles" />
</Target>
<Target Name="ZipSourceFiles" Condition="'$(ConfigTransform)'=='ImRunningOnTheServer'">
    <MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Compression.Zip TaskAction="Create" CompressFiles="c:\source.txt" ZipFileName="C:\target.zip"/>
</Target>

I got the following error message:

The "MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Compression.Zip" task was not found. Check the following: 1.) The name of the task in the project file is the same as the name of the task class. 2.) The task class is "public" and implements the Microsoft.Build.Framework.ITask interface. 3.) The task is correctly declared with in the project file, or in the *.tasks files located in the "c:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319" directory.

I don't know what causes this error? Any idea?

Answer 1

Example for MSBuild Community Tasks:

<Import Project="lib\MSBuildCommunityTasks\MSBuild.Community.Tasks.Targets" />

<Target Name="Zip">
        <CreateItem Include="YourSourceFolder\*.*" >
                <Output ItemName="ZipFiles" TaskParameter="Include"/>
        </CreateItem>
        <Zip ZipFileName="YourZipFile.zip" WorkingDirectory="YourSourceFolder" Files="@(ZipFiles)" />
</Target>

If you need more examples, here is a complete working MSBuild file from one of my projects.

Answer 2

Here's an alternative to MSBuild Community Tasks. If you're using .net 4.5.1, you can embed the System.IO.Compression functions in a UsingTask. This example uses ZipFile.CreateFromDirectory.

<Target Name="Build">
  <ZipDir
    ZipFileName="MyZipFileName.zip"
    DirectoryName="MyDirectory"
  />
</Target>

<UsingTask TaskName="ZipDir" TaskFactory="CodeTaskFactory" AssemblyFile="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.Build.Tasks.v12.0.dll">
  <ParameterGroup>
    <ZipFileName ParameterType="System.String" Required="true" />
    <DirectoryName ParameterType="System.String" Required="true" />
  </ParameterGroup>
  <Task>
    <Reference Include="System.IO.Compression.FileSystem" />
    <Using Namespace="System.IO.Compression" />
    <Code Type="Fragment" Language="cs"><![CDATA[
      try
      {
        Log.LogMessage(string.Format("Zipping Directory {0} to {1}", DirectoryName, ZipFileName));
        ZipFile.CreateFromDirectory( DirectoryName, ZipFileName );
        return true;
      }
      catch(Exception ex)
      {
        Log.LogErrorFromException(ex);
        return false;
      }
    ]]></Code>
  </Task>
</UsingTask>