VSTS build Copy Files task copies full path to destination

Question

I'm using a Copy Files task in a VSTS build to copy the results of a VS project (bin\Release folder) to a subfolder in the staging directory.

What I expect is that the contents of the bin folder should be in the staging\bin folder:

drop\bin\

but instead it copies the full path to the the destination. So my binaries are all in

drop\bin\src\MySolution\MyProject\bin\Release\

Is there a way to copy just the files in my release folder to the staging folder without copying the full path?

score 17 · Accepted Answer · answered May 09 '17 at 22:17

So it turns out I just needed to change my source directory to the folder where the binaries were.

NOTE This only works because I know exactly where the desired files are. If you find this and you're trying to copy from multiple directories, you have a couple options:

Multiple Copy Files tasks

Just deal with the extra directories.

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 28 '19 at 16:58

5

Advanced => check Flatten Folders or flattenFolders: true in the YAML file.

I'm guessing this option didn't exist back then.

answered Mar 28 '19 at 16:58

josetr

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What if I don't want to flatten? – Dims Apr 27 '21 at 10:26
@Dims Then you can set it to false. – Zimano Jan 24 '23 at 10:28
@Zimano but I still need to copy the tree – Dims Jan 24 '23 at 22:31

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 11 '18 at 13:41

2

Worthwhile to mention it helps if you use BuildConfiguration variable so it doesn't break when you use a different build config:

answered Sep 11 '18 at 13:41

dwp4ge

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VSTS build Copy Files task copies full path to destination

3 Answers3

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