microsoft/vstest-build-test

Building and Testing vstest

Pre-Build: Environment Setup

Before building, verify the .dotnet toolchain matches the current OS. The repo bootstraps its own .NET SDK into .dotnet/.

Detect OS vs .dotnet Mismatch

Run this check before every first build in a session:

# Determine current OS
OS=$(uname -s)   # "Linux", "Darwin" (macOS), or contains "MINGW"/"MSYS" (Windows/Git Bash)

if [ -d ".dotnet" ]; then
  if [ "$OS" = "Linux" ] || [ "$OS" = "Darwin" ]; then
    # On Linux/macOS the dotnet binary must be an ELF/Mach-O executable, not .exe
    if [ -f ".dotnet/dotnet.exe" ] && [ ! -f ".dotnet/dotnet" ]; then
      echo "MISMATCH: .dotnet contains Windows binaries but OS is $OS"
      rm -rf .dotnet .packages artifacts
      echo "Cleaned .dotnet, .packages, and artifacts for fresh bootstrap"
    fi
  else
    # On Windows the dotnet binary should be dotnet.exe
    if [ -f ".dotnet/dotnet" ] && [ ! -f ".dotnet/dotnet.exe" ]; then
      echo "MISMATCH: .dotnet contains Linux/macOS binaries but OS is Windows"
      rm -rf .dotnet .packages artifacts
      echo "Cleaned .dotnet, .packages, and artifacts for fresh bootstrap"
    fi
  fi
fi

After cleanup (or if .dotnet doesn't exist), the build script automatically downloads the correct SDK version from global.json.

Build

Platform Commands

| Action | Windows | Linux / macOS | |---|---|---| | Restore + Build | ./build.cmd | ./build.sh | | Restore only | ./restore.cmd | ./restore.sh | | Build + Pack | ./build.cmd -pack | ./build.sh --pack | | Release config | ./build.cmd -c Release -pack | ./build.sh -c Release --pack | | Single project | ./build.cmd -project <csproj> | ./build.sh --projects <csproj> |

Full Build (Recommended)

For projects with many cross-project dependencies (e.g., HtmlLogger, TrxLogger, vstest.console):

# Linux / macOS
./build.sh --pack

# Windows
./build.cmd -pack

This produces NuGet packages under artifacts/packages/Debug/Shipping/.

Single Project Build

For isolated projects with few dependencies:

# Linux / macOS
./build.sh --projects <path-to-csproj>

# Windows
./build.cmd -project <path-to-csproj>

Warning: This does NOT work for projects like HtmlLogger that have many transitive dependencies. Use --pack / -pack instead.

Test

Unit Tests (Default)

# Linux / macOS
./test.sh

# Windows
./test.cmd

Specific Test Assembly

Use -p to filter by assembly name pattern:

# Linux / macOS
./test.sh -p htmllogger       # HTML logger tests
./test.sh -p trxlogger        # TRX logger tests
./test.sh -p datacollector    # Data collector tests
./test.sh -p smoke            # Smoke tests

# Windows (-p is ambiguous in PowerShell; use -projects)
./test.cmd -projects htmllogger
./test.cmd -projects smoke

Specific Test by Name

# Windows
./test.cmd -bl -c release /p:TestRunnerAdditionalArguments="'--filter TestName'" -Integration

# Linux / macOS
./test.sh -bl -c release /p:TestRunnerAdditionalArguments="'--filter TestName'" --integrationTest

Manual Validation with vstest.console

After building with --pack / -pack, validate vstest.console changes by unzipping the built package:

1. Locate the package: artifacts/packages/Debug/Shipping/Microsoft.TestPlatform.<version>-dev.nupkg
2. Unzip it (.nupkg files are ZIP archives)
3. Run the local vstest.console against a test project

Alternative: Direct Artifact Paths

• xplat (netcoreapp): artifacts/<Configuration>/netcoreapp1.0/vstest.console.dll
• Windows desktop: artifacts/<Configuration>/net46/win7-x64/vstest.console.exe

Test Categories

| Category | Speed | What it tests | Filter | |---|---|---|---| | Unit tests | Fast | Individual units | ./test.sh / ./test.cmd (default) | | Smoke tests | Slow | P0 end-to-end scenarios | -p smoke | | Acceptance tests | Slowest | Extensive coverage | --integrationTest / -Integration flag |

Troubleshooting

• OS mismatch errors: If you see SDK load failures, run the mismatch detection script above to clean and re-bootstrap.
• If build fails asking for .NET 4.6 targeting pack, install it from Microsoft Downloads
• Enable verbose diagnostics: see docs/diagnose.md
• For debugging, add Debugger.Launch at process entry points (testhost.exe, vstest.console.exe)