How do you integrate ivy with MSbuild

Question

What approach has worked well for you combining IVY + msbuild?

Our goal is to integrate IVY into the C#/C++ build process for dependency resolution and publishing.

Answer 1

Most build technologies can use libraries found in a local directory. I'd suggest using the command-line ivy program to populate this, at the start of your build:

java -jar ivy.jar -ivy ivy.xml -settings ivysettings.xml -retrieve "lib/[conf]/[artifact].[ext]"

Your dependencies are listed in a standard ivy file called ivy.xml. The protocol, location and layout of your remote repository is described in ivysettings.xml

The advantage of this approach (as opposed to switching to Gradle, etc) is that you're not trying to replace your existing build tool. Ivy is solely concerned with managing dependencies.

Answer 2

My team has been using Ivy for .NET for a couple of years very successfully. I know several more that give it a vote of confidence. Use it standalone. Wrap calls into msbuild tasks. No need to use Ant integration.