Description

The DelayedBuildTask is a custom build task for Team Foundation Build that notifies a list of e-mail recipients when a build has been queued and provides a link (within the e-mail message) that can be clicked to cancel the build before it starts (based on a delay).

What is the DelayedBuildTask?

One of the great features of Team Foundation Server is its ability to automate the build process. You queue a new build (whether it's a continuous integration build, scheduled build, or an on-demand build) and, assuming another build for the same project isn't already building, the build will start. In most cases, this is the desired outcome. However, there are some cases when you would like to give other members of the project team a chance to cancel the build before it starts (e.g. if they are currently in the midst of testing a hard-to-reproduce defect).

This is where the DelayedBuildTask comes in. This custom build task allows you to configure your build so that it will send out an e-mail message to a list of recipients that a build has just been queued. The e-mail message has a link within it that, when clicked, will cancel the build. The custom build task will then wait a predetermined amount of time (the default is 5 minutes) and, if the build has not been cancelled, will then continue on with the build.

Using the DelayedBuildTask

Using the DelayedBuildTask involves the following steps:

1. Installing and configuring the custom build task on your build server.
2. Installing and configuring a simple web application within IIS (this hosts a simple ASPX page used to cancel the build).
3. Importing the build task's .targets file within your build script.
4. Overriding the desired build target to invoke the custom build task.

See Installing DelayedBuildTask for the full installation instructions.

Also, see DelayedBuildTask Properties for a list of properties that can be passed into the DelayedBuildTask.