Copy all files and folders using msbuild

Question

Just wondering if someone could help me with some msbuild scripts that I am trying to write. What I would like to do is copy all the files and sub folders from a folder to

Answer 1

This is the example that worked:

<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">

   <ItemGroup>
      <MySourceFiles Include="c:\MySourceTree\**\*.*"/>
   </ItemGroup>

   <Target Name="CopyFiles">
      <Copy
        SourceFiles="@(MySourceFiles)"
        DestinationFiles="@(MySourceFiles->'c:\MyDestinationTree\%(RecursiveDir)%(Filename)%(Extension)')"
       />
    </Target>

</Project>

source: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/3e54c37h.aspx

Answer 2

The best way to recursively copy files from one directory to another using MSBuild is using Copy task with SourceFiles and DestinationFiles as parameters. For example - To copy all files from build directory to back up directory will be

<PropertyGroup>
<BuildDirectory Condition="'$(BuildDirectory)' == ''">Build</BuildDirectory>
<BackupDirectory Condition="'$(BackupDiretory)' == ''">Backup</BackupDirectory>
</PropertyGroup>

<ItemGroup>
<AllFiles Include="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)/$(BuildDirectory)/**/*.*" />
</ItemGroup>

<Target Name="Backup">
<Exec Command="if not exist $(BackupDirectory) md $(BackupDirectory)" />
<Copy SourceFiles="@(AllFiles)" DestinationFiles="@(AllFiles-> 
'$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)/$(BackupDirectory)/%(RecursiveDir)/%(Filename)% 
(Extension)')" />
</Target>

Now in above Copy command all source directories are traversed and files are copied to destination directory.

Answer 3

Personally I have made use of CopyFolder which is part of the SDC Tasks Library.

http://sdctasks.codeplex.com/

Answer 4

This is copy task i used in my own project, it was working perfectly for me that copies folder with sub folders to destination successfully:

<ItemGroup >
<MyProjectSource Include="$(OutputRoot)/MySource/**/*.*" />
</ItemGroup>

<Target Name="AfterCopy" AfterTargets="WebPublish">
<Copy SourceFiles="@(MyProjectSource)" 
 OverwriteReadOnlyFiles="true" DestinationFolder="$(PublishFolder)api/% (RecursiveDir)"/>

In my case i copied a project's publish folder to another destination folder, i think it is similiar with your case.