Release automation for .NET projects using gitlab pipelines

This article can be used as a quick reference for setting up code release pipeline for .net based projects. Gitlab pipelines is used here , but the solution can be generalised for other CI/CD automation tools available in market

Set Up a Gitlab Runner Machine

Gitlab runner is a build agent where all the build operations happen . If you are using gitlab.com for your git repositories , then configuring a runner in your VPC is a valid candidate for security sustenance

1. Launch a windows server ( 2016 base server AWS AMI )
2. 2. Verify .NET installation ( 4.6 is installed by default in this AMI )
3. 3. Download and Install nuget in C:\buildtools. Add it to system path

4. Configure the gitlab runner ( follow https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/install/windows.html )

5. Download binary to C:\gitlab

6. Go to Group settings and fetch runner registration token to be used in next steps

NOTE: It is a good practice to register a common group runner for all the projects in a group .

7. Register the runner with gitlab.com

PS C:\gitlab> .\gitlab-runner-windows-amd4.exe register
Runtime platform arch=amd4 os=windows pid=2076 revision=1b659122 version=12.8.0
Please enter the gitlab-ci coordinator URL (e.g. https://gitlab.com/):
https://gitlab.com/
Please enter the gitlab-ci token for this runner:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Please enter the gitlab-ci description for this runner:
[EC2AMAZ-59OR3D8]: WIN-CI-SERVER
Please enter the gitlab-ci tags for this runner (comma separated):
WIN-CI-SERVER,WIN_CI_SERVER
Registering runner… succeeded runner=D5fhWHEa
Please enter the executor: docker, docker-windows, docker-ssh, parallels, shell, ssh, virtualbox, docker+machine, docker-ssh+machine, kubernetes, custom:
shell
Runner registered successfully. Feel free to start it, but if it’s running already the config should be automatically reloaded!

Setup the gitlab runner as a service

PS C:\gitlab> .\gitlab-runner-windows-amd4.exe install
PS C:\gitlab> .\gitlab-runner-windows-amd4.exe start
PS C:\gitlab> .\gitlab-runner-windows-amd4.exe status

Verify Runner status on gitlab.com ( Group > Settings > CICD > Runners )

8. Install Git on this server from here.

9. Download build tools from https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/?q=build+tools

NOTE: Installing build tools requires reboot

NOTE: Make sure to restart gitlab runner service after all the utilities are added to system path. Else changes will not be picked up by the service

Configure Application Servers

Application servers also need to be configured to support remote deployment via msdeploy command . This link can be referenced as an in-depth guide .

1. Use Microsoft Web platform installer to download and install Deploy tools 2.1: https://www.microsoft.com/web/downloads/platform.aspx
2. 2. Windows Server 2008 supports Web Deploy Publishing using Remote Agent. This requires user credentials with Administrative privileges .Follow this link for setup.
3. 3. Windows Server 2016 supports Web Deploy Publishing using Web Deploy Handler. This is more secure approach as compared to Remote agent .Follow this link for setup.

Configure gitlab pipelines

GItlab pipelines is now ready to use registered runner for build and deployment actions.

Gitlab CICD environment variables should be used to securely inject sensitive information in pipeline.

This is a sample yaml file which can be placed in project root directory

	stages:
	– build
	– deploy
	build:
	only:
	– master
	stage: “build“
	tags:
	– WIN-CI-SERVER
	script:
	– nuget restore
	– msbuild “.\dotnet-project\dotnet-project.csproj” “-p:Configuration=Release;Outdir=.\Build;DeployOnBuild=true;DeployTarget=Package”
	artifacts:
	paths:
	– .\dotnet-project\Build\_PublishedWebsites\dotnet-project_Package\
	deploy:
	only:
	– master
	stage: “deploy“
	when: manual
	tags:
	– WIN-CI-SERVER
	script:
	– .\dotnet-project\Build\_PublishedWebsites\dotnet-project_Package\dotnet-project.deploy.cmd /Y /M:http://172.31.1.224/MSDeployAgentService /U:$env:CI_USER_NAME /P:$env:CI_USER_PASSWORD -allowUntrusted “-setParam:name=’IIS Web Application Name’,value=’sample web site'”
	– curl http://172.31.1.224

view rawgitlab.yaml hosted with by GitHub

/Y can be replaced while manually testing deploy command. It runs the deploy command with -whatif flag which executed the deploy command in dry run mode/M represents the machine address where site has to be deployed .
http://172.31.1.224/MSDeployAgentService : Address when when remote agent is used
http://172.31.1.224:8172/msdeploy.axd : Address when Web deploy handler is used

NOTE: notice the username and password injection in deploy script . both are CICD environment variables added in project settings and password is masked to avoid exposing value in build logs