How to structure the checkout/build of two sources: one not held in a repo (base source code), and one held in a repo (built on top/added to/modified)?

Created February 22, 2023 18:45

Our development and build environment incorporates the use of two different networks:

1st network: "unsecure"-- used to develop and build essentially the entire program, which is then used for testing and training purposes.

2nd network: "secure"-- used to develop and build on top of the unsecure source, creating the final version of the application that includes access to restricted assets/functionality.

To move the code from the unsecure network to the secure network, we request a code migration, which achieves moving the unsecure source to a shared directory on the secure network.

Once the code is migrated to the secure side, it is no longer version controlled/held in a repo, and will be accessed from a location on the shared drive, to then be moved into the working directory of the TeamCity build process, and ultimately combined with the additional secure code held in its own repo.

I have emulated the folder hierarchy on the secure side repo and included the files that differ, but am wondering the best way to get the unsecure source that is not version controlled included with the repo that is version controlled during the TeamCity build process. Can this be done easily using TeamCity using VCS checkouts and checkout rules, or should I script it myself? If the latter, could I first move the transferred files of non-version-controlled source to the build directory that corresponds to the specific build configuration, then let VCS checkout the repo with the additional/differing files, culminating in a restructured source that is ready to proceed with build commands?

1 comment

Anatoly Cherenkov

Created February 23, 2023 15:32

Hi! TeamCity VCS checkout will only check out the files that are in a repo corresponding to a VCS root attached to the build configuration. So you will need to script copying the unversioned files if you need them in the checkout directory. Copying them into the checkout directory before the checkout is recommended, even though technically, it should be possible. If you do that, you might need to want to disable the clean checkout on branch change. In case of a Git VCS root that is done in the VCS root settings: Clean policy > Never. However, a better way of doing would be after the checkout. To achieve that, you can leave the default Clean policy in the VCS root settings and simply add on Command Line build step before all other steps. You can copy the needed files within the new step. It will be executed after the checkout from the VCS.

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