vstest: `dotnet test` does not work for projects with custom output path

Moved from https://github.com/dotnet/cli/issues/5582 on behalf of @alecor191

Steps to reproduce

Use VS 2017 with .csproj and create a .NET Core test project using XUnit
Make sure to add XUnit runner package to project:

<PackageReference Include="xunit" Version="2.2.0-beta5-build3474" />
<PackageReference Include="xunit.runner.visualstudio" Version="2.2.0-beta5-build1225" />

Configure the .csproj to use a custom output path:

<BaseIntermediateOutputPath>..\..\artifacts\obj\$(MSBuildProjectName)\$(Configuration)\$(ProcessorArchitecture)\</BaseIntermediateOutputPath>
<OutputPath>..\..\artifacts\test\$(MSBuildProjectName)\$(Configuration)\$(ProcessorArchitecture)\</OutputPath>

Run the XUnit tests from VS2017 IDE
Run the XUnit tests using dotnet test

Expected behavior

Both VS2017 IDE and dotnet test should execute the XUnit tests in the test project.

Actual behavior

VS2017 IDE is able to execute the tests successfully. However, dotnet test fails with the following warning:

Warning: The path '[...]\artifacts\test\<test_project_name>\Debug\net461' specified in the 'TestAdapterPath' does not contain any test adapters, provide a valid path and try again.

Additional info

I noticed the following:

My guess is that the execution with dotnet test fails as I can’t find xunit.runner.visualstudio assemblies in the output path (xunit.runner.visualstudio.testadapter.dll is missing).
If I remove the custom output path settings (i.e. remove both <BaseIntermediateOutputPath> and <OutputPath> from the .csproj file, then dotnet test succeeds. In fact, I see in the default bin directory the files from xunit.runner.visualstudio package (xunit.runner.visualstudio.testadapter.dll).
Note that other NuGet package assemblies are properly copied to the custom output directory. I assume those are the dependencies that are also referenced in code; whereas the XUnit runner/testadapter assemblies are not referenced anywhere in the solution.

Environment data

dotnet --info output:

.NET Command Line Tools (1.0.0-rc3-004530)

Product Information: Version: 1.0.0-rc3-004530 Commit SHA-1 hash: 0de3338607

Runtime Environment: OS Name: Windows OS Version: 10.0.14393 OS Platform: Windows RID: win10-x64 Base Path: C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk\1.0.0-rc3-004530

About this issue

Original URL
State: closed
Created 7 years ago
Reactions: 5
Comments: 26 (15 by maintainers)

Most upvoted comments

@singhsarab At the time that I commented on this, I was working on our build process for Azure PowerShell related to using Azure DevOps. I had tried a lot of different ways to modify our build. Unfortunately, I didn’t even put enough context for myself to understand what I was referring to.

That said, I simply modified our test projects’ output folder. I ran our build and it worked appropriately. For now, I’d close this issue. If I get back to modifying our process and run into this again, I’d give more details.

MiYanni on Feb 27, 2019

@Faizan2304 Why was this closed? The OP reported this issue using the xunit runner. And, I’ve tried the latest preview, 2.4.0-beta.2.build4010, and this issue still exists. Is it an xunit issue or a general testrunner issue?

MiYanni on Aug 6, 2018

@alecor191 The issue is with msbuild and sdk and here is the solution of your problem https://github.com/dotnet/sdk/issues/980#issuecomment-285957284

You have to update your csproj similar like

<Project >
  <PropertyGroup>
	<BaseIntermediateOutputPath>..\..\artifacts\obj\$(MSBuildProjectName)\$(Configuration)\$(ProcessorArchitecture)\</BaseIntermediateOutputPath>
    <OutputPath>..\..\artifacts\test\$(MSBuildProjectName)\$(Configuration)\$(ProcessorArchitecture)\</OutputPath>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <Import Project="Sdk.props" Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk" />

  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>netcoreapp1.1</TargetFramework>
  </PropertyGroup>
  
  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk" Version="15.0.0" />
    <PackageReference Include="xunit" Version="2.2.0" />
    <PackageReference Include="xunit.runner.visualstudio" Version="2.2.0" />
  </ItemGroup>
  
  <Import Project="Sdk.targets" Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk" />
</Project>

Faizan2304 on Jul 12, 2017

Closing this issue since mono support is tracked in #679.

codito on Jul 11, 2017

This is actually not a test SDK issue. @alecor191 is actually hitting https://github.com/dotnet/sdk/issues/802. @livarcocc and I hit the same thing. That issue causes the targets included in the test SDK nuget packages to not get picked up, and thereby the Main method to not get generated [amongst other issues].

I think this is something that the in-box test components may be able to check for and provide some diagnosability, though I’m not sure if that’s necessary once https://github.com/dotnet/sdk/issues/802 is fixed. I’ll leave it to the team to decide once they have a chance to think through the issue.

TheRealPiotrP on Feb 8, 2017

@livarcocc and I hit this last week in the https://github.com/dotnet/sdk when trying to port their tests to dotnet test. This should be an easy fix, looking for places where $(OutputPath) and $(IntermediateOutputPath)'s values are being assumed and using the property instead. It may even be a nice issue to mark as up for grabs in case @alecor191 wants to take a shot at the fix 😃

TheRealPiotrP on Feb 6, 2017