Introduction

From time to time, it is natural for us to deploy BizTalk solutions with Assembly dependencies.  Usually this is because we have created helper classes (for mapping, or querying) or perhaps it reuses some common logic shared between application suites.

Whatever the reason, it can be very handy to pick up all assemblies when we export the BizTalk Application from BizTalk Administration, when we use the Export MSI feature/wizard.

The Problem

The one drawback is that, since BizTalk requires assemblies to be GAC’d (that is, strong named and added to the Global Assembly Cache), it’s hard for a tool, like the export to MSI wizard, to know what are custom assemblies which the BizTalk assemblies rely on (that aren’t system or framework assemblies).

In other words, you need a way to call out the dependencies, so that the export wizard will package the entire application.  The alternative would be that you would have to ensure any custom dependencies are already deployed to your (new) target environment.

The Solution

As you might be aware, you can view a BizTalk application’s resources (assemblies) from within BizTalk Administrator.  What you may not know is that you can add “Resources” to this location.  In particular, you can add (or call out) dependency assemblies.

Just right click in the Resources view, and select Add->Resources..

A dialog pops up and allows you to browse for the required assemblie(s).  You have some options here, you can force the assemblies to overwrite, you can select if and when the chosen assemblie(s) are GAC’d (registered with the GAC), registered as COM components or made visible to COM components.

The dependencies tab allows you to quickly see if all the dependencies for a specific assembly are to be found.  This will help you check and ensure your solution has everything it needs.

When you decide to do an “Export to MSI”, you’ll notice that it now includes any dependency resource Assemblies which you have added to your application:

If the assembly you are adding has a dependency on another assembly that is not included in the application, the add operation will fail.

Great, but what if I want to automate this procedure as part of an automated deployment?

I’m glad you asked.  Naturally, you can script commands which will accomplish this task for you.  You could easily script this command, to be included in automated builds or deployments.

Note that, as a general rule, it is not advised to automatically register any assemblies in the Global Assembly Cache of a build machine/build server.

Steps to add assemblies from command line:

1. Open a command prompt as follows: Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
   
   Note: you may require elevated permissions to accomplish this, you’ll certainly need permissions to administer BizTalk Server as well. 

2. Type the following command, substituting the appropriate values, as described in the following table.

Command Syntax:

BTSTask AddResource [/ApplicationName:value] /Type:System.BizTalk:BizTalkAssembly [/Overwrite] /Source:value [/Destination:value] [/Options:GacOnAdd|GacOnInstall|GacOnImport] [/Server:value] [/Database:value]

Example:

BTSTask AddResource /ApplicationName:MyApplication
/Type:System.BizTalk:BizTalkAssembly /Overwrite
/Source:"C:\BizTalk Assemblies\MyOrchestration.dll"
/Destination:"C:\New BizTalk Assemblies\
MyOrchestration.dll " /Server:MyDatabaseServer
/Database:BizTalkMgmtDb

The following is a complete list of options lifted from MSDN, but they approximate what you can do via the BizTalk Administrator console.

Further Reading

How to Add a BizTalk Assembly to an Application
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa558703%28BTS.20%29.aspx

More on BizTalk Deployments
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/biztalkgeneral/thread/1e6cd3a9-42d1-42b8-911c-c3f7bdc35145/