Build Automation in PowerShell

Invoke-Build is a build and test automation tool which invokes tasks defined in PowerShell v3.0+ scripts. It is similar to psake but arguably easier to use and more powerful. It is complete, bug free, well covered by tests.

In addition to basic task processing the engine supports

• Incremental tasks with effectively processed inputs and outputs.
• Persistent builds which can be resumed after interruptions.
• Parallel builds in separate workspaces with common stats.
• Batch invocation of tests composed as tasks.
• Ability to define new classes of tasks.

Invoke-Build v3.0.1+ is cross-platform with PowerShell Core.

Invoke-Build can be effectively used in VSCode and ISE.

Several PowerShell Team projects use Invoke-Build.

The package

The package includes the engine, helpers, and help:

• Invoke-Build.ps1 - invokes build scripts, this is the build engine
• Build-Checkpoint.ps1 - invokes persistent builds using the engine
• Build-Parallel.ps1 - invokes parallel builds using the engine
• Resolve-MSBuild.ps1 - finds the specified or latest MSBuild
• Show-TaskHelp.ps1 - shows task help, used on WhatIf calls
• about_InvokeBuild.help.txt - module help file
• Help.xml - content for Get-Help

Extra scripts, see PSGallery and the repository:

• Invoke-Build.ArgumentCompleters - completers for v5 native, TabExpansion2.ps1
• Invoke-TaskFromVSCode - invokes a task from a build script opened in VSCode
• Show-BuildGraph - shows task graph by Graphviz Viz.js or dot
• New-VSCodeTask - generates VSCode tasks bound to build script tasks
• Invoke-TaskFromISE - invokes a task from a script opened in ISE

And some more tools, see the repository:

• ib.cmd, ib.sh - cmd and bash helpers
• Build-JustTask.ps1 - invokes tasks without references
• Convert-psake.ps1 - converts psake build scripts
• Show-BuildTree.ps1 - shows task trees as text
• Show-BuildDgml.ps1 - shows task graph as DGML
• Show-BuildMermaid.ps1 - shows task graph by Mermaid

Install as module

Invoke-Build is published as PSGallery module InvokeBuild. You can install it by one of these commands:

Install-Module InvokeBuild

To install the module with Chocolatey, run the following command:

choco install invoke-build

NOTE: The Chocolatey package is maintained by its owner.

Install as scripts

Invoke-Build is also published as nuget.org/packages/Invoke-Build.

If you use scoop then invoke:

scoop install invoke-build

and you are done, scripts are downloaded and their directory is added to the path. You may need to start a new PowerShell session with the updated path.

Otherwise, download the package manually, rename it to zip, extract its tools and rename to InvokeBuild. Consider including this directory to the path for invoking scripts by names. Or copy to any PowerShell module directory in order to use it as module.

Install as dotnet tool

nuget.org/packages/ib provides Invoke-Build as the dotnet tool ib which may be installed as global or local.

To install the global tool:

dotnet tool install --global ib

To install the local tool:

dotnet new tool-manifest # once on setting up a repo with tools
dotnet tool install --local ib

See ib/README for more details about ib commands.

Getting help

If you use the module (known issue #2899) or the script is not in the path, use the full path help .../Invoke-Build.ps1 instead of help Invoke-Build.

In order to get help for the engine, invoke:

help Invoke-Build -full

In order to get help for internal commands:

. Invoke-Build
help task -full
help exec -full
...

See also online Invoke-Build Help

Online resources

• Basic Concepts Why build scripts may have advantages over normal scripts.
• Script Tutorial Take a look in order to get familiar with build scripts.
• Step by Step Tutorial From "Hello world" to featured scripts.
• Invoke-Build.template Create scripts by dotnet new ib.
• Examples Build scripts used in various projects.
• Tasks Samples, patterns, and various techniques.
• Design Notes Technical details for contributors.
• Invoke-Build Docs Full documentation.
• Invoke-Build Help Commands help.
• Release Notes

Questions, suggestions, and reports are welcome at discussions and issues.

Credits

• The project was inspired by psake, see Comparison with psake
• Some concepts came from MSBuild, see Comparison with MSBuild