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:

Answer 1

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>

Answer 2

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.