Troubleshooting Package Validation Warnings and Errors

(Optional) You can create a batch file if you want to run a set of commands together for your startup task. The file that you create to run a startup task must not include a byte order mark. To avoid this issue, you can either create your file to run your startup task using notepad, or make sure that you save a file that you create in Visual Studio with encoding. To save a file in Visual Studio with encoding, use the following steps:

1. To save a file in Visual Studio with encoding, make sure that the file is displayed in the Visual Studio editor window. On the menu bar choose File, Save <Filename> As.

   The Save File As dialog is displayed.

2. To save the file with encoding, choose the drop-down arrow on the Save button and choose Save with Encoding.

   The Advanced Save Options dialog box is displayed.

3. In the Encoding list choose Unicode (UTF-8 with signature) – Codepage 65001 and then choose the OK button.

To add a folder for your startup task, create a folder in the project for the role that needs a startup task. For example, if it is a web role project called WebRole1 that requires that you install a Windows Installer file add a folder called Startup in this web role project.

To add the files to this folder, open the shortcut menu for the folder and choose Add, Existing Item. Choose the files that are required for the startup task including any batch files and then choose the Add button.

The files are displayed in Solution Explorer below the folder that you created.

To include these files in your service package but not attempt to build these files, open the shortcut menu for each file and choose Properties. In the Properties view, in the Build Action dropdown list choose None and in the Copy to Output Directory dropdown list choose Copy if newer.

To add the startup task to your role, open the shortcut menu for the service definition file ServiceDefinition.csdef and choose Open. Add the following XML statements to the role element that requires this startup task. This command assumes that you created a folder for your startup tasks called Startup and that this batch file or command requires elevated privileges. The command can be a .exe file, a batch file, a .msi file or any valid command line statement.

<Startup>
   <Task commandLine="startup\<command>" executionContext="elevated" taskType="simple" />
</Startup>

Here is an example of the webrole element in a service definition file with a startup task added:

<WebRole name="WebRole1">
    <Sites>
      <Site name="Web">
        <Bindings>
          <Binding name="Endpoint1" endpointName="Endpoint1" />
        </Bindings>
      </Site>
    </Sites>
    <Endpoints>
      <InputEndpoint name="Endpoint1" protocol="http" port="80" />
    </Endpoints>
    <Imports>
      <Import moduleName="Diagnostics" />
      <Import moduleName="RemoteAccess" />
      <Import moduleName="RemoteForwarder" />
    </Imports>
    <Startup>
      <Task commandLine="startup\StartUpTask.cmd" executionContext="elevated" />
    </Startup>
</WebRole>

To verify that the startup task runs, publish your Windows Azure application. If necessary, you can create a remote desktop connection for the virtual machine for your role when you publish your application. Then you can connect to the virtual machine and verify that the startup tasks ran correctly. For more information about how to use remote desktop with Windows Azure roles, see Using Remote Desktop with Windows Azure Roles.

If you are using Visual Studio Service Pack 1 to publish your Windows Azure application, use the following steps to add references to the assemblies and include them in the service package:

1. Open the shortcut menu for the MVC project and choose Add Deployable Dependencies.

   The Add Deployable Dependencies dialog box is displayed.

2. Select the ASP.NET MVC check box and choose the OK button.

   The assemblies will now be added when you create a service package. Then the assemblies will be installed on the virtual machine for this web role when the service package is deployed.

If you are not using Visual Studio Service Pack 1 to publish your Windows Azure application, you can perform one of the following tasks to make sure that your Windows Azure application runs correctly when it is deployed in Windows Azure:

1. Add references to the following assemblies to your web role project, and then set the Copy Local property to True:

   • Microsoft.Web.Infrastructure
     
     
   • System.Web.Helpers
     
     
   • System.Web.Mvc
     
     
   • System.Web.Razor
     
     
   • System.Web.WebPages
     
     
   • System.Web.WebPages.Deployment
     
     
   • System.Web.WebPages.Razor
     
     

   Note
   For more information about how to add a reference for an assembly to a web role project, see Include Files in the Service Package.

2. Add a startup task to your web role to install the MVC3 assemblies. Create a folder in your project called startup. Then add the file AspNetMVC3Setup.exe to this folder. Finally add this XML to the service definition file within the web role element:

   XML

   Copy

   
   <Startup>
      <Task commandLine="startup\AspNetMVC3Setup.exe /q /log mvc3_install.htm" executionContext="elevated" />
   </Startup>
   
   

   Note
   Read a blog entry about adding a startup task for MVC3 assemblies. For more information about startup tasks, see the previous section: Create a startup task for a role.

If you receive this warning message for an MVC2 project, the reference for the System.Web.Mvc assembly should already be added to the web role project. To include this assembly in the service package, open the shortcut menu for this assembly and choose Properties.

The Properties window is displayed.

In the Copy Local list choose True.