MSDeploy Not Found using Release Management Task

  • Article

Scenario:

Setup TFS Agent to use built in account Network Service as the identity to conduct actions on server. Using Web Deploy to update the web site using a batch file and Web Deploy package with the following syntax:

msdeploy -verb:sync -source:Package=C:\_Agent\LatestDeployments\FarmDemo\LatestPackage\DemoWebFormsApp.zip -dest:Auto -disableLink:AppPoolExtension

Error Encountered:

2018-04-24T22:09:42.6711726Z 'msdeploy' is not recognized as an internal or external command,

2018-04-24T22:09:42.6711726Z operable program or batch file.

2018-04-24T22:09:42.6711726Z c:\_Agents\Agent_1\_work\r1\a>msdeploy -verb:sync -source:contentPath=C:\_Deployments\OnlineServices\LatestDeploy -dest:contentPath="Default Web Site/OnlineServices"

2018-04-24T22:09:43.6711838Z ##[error]Process completed with exit code 1.

2018-04-24T22:09:43.6711838Z ##[section]Finishing: Run script C:\_Deployments\OnlineServices\OnlineServices_Update.cmd

Problem:

The path to MSDeploy was set after the build agent was installed and the Path variable was cached with the location of MSDeploy not in the path.

Resolution:

Restart the build agent service and the new path variable is picked up.