msbuildversioning

Specify assembly version number as a command line argument in MSBuild

I would like to be able to specify the version number for all assemblies to be generated during a build as a MSBuild command argument like this:

MSBuild.exe /p:version=5.4.3.0

I have looked over AssemblyInfoTask but it does not seem to me like a good solution in this case.

Solution

  • I use the AssemblyInfo task from MSBuild Community Tasks (latest release 2017) as you describe in your comment all the time.

      <!-- update standard assembly attribute in all projects -->
  <Target Name="BeforeBuild" >
    <Message Text="Updating AssemblyInfo to Version $(VersionNumber)"></Message>
    <Message Text="Writing to AssemblyInfo files in $(SolutionRoot)"></Message>
    <AssemblyInfo AssemblyInfoFiles="@(AssemblyInfoFiles)" 
                  AssemblyCopyright="$(AssemblyCopyright)" 
                  AssemblyVersion="$(VersionNumber)"
                  AssemblyFileVersion="$(VersionNumber)"
                  >
    </AssemblyInfo>
  </Target>

    The VersionNumber value is passed from outside the MSBuild project file exactly as you describe:

      MSBuild <project_file> /p:VersionNumber=<value>;...

    We use the BeforeBuild target to ensure the AssemblyInfo.cs files all get worked on before the build starts. Is this not what you want?