Versioning your database packages (.dacpac) with the new Build Agent

If you’re interested in versioning your database packages with the new build agent here is an easy way to get started.  I started off with the following PowerShell example of a build script from the Visual Studio product groups’ build docs for versioning C# and VB projects and made a few tweaks to update the relevant XML elements of the .sqlproj files.

update .sqlproj file XML attributes: DacVersion, DacDescription

I’ve put the file and the changes into GitHub so you are welcome to use and if you have any improvements to the script just submit a pull request.

update .sqlproj files

Here is the PowerShell script I added as a build step to my Build Definition in VSTS

ApplyVersioningToAssemblies.ps1

The build number format string I’m using is defined on the General tab

$(BuildDefinitionName) $(MajorVersion).$(MinorVersion).$(date:yy)$(DayOfYear)$(rev:.rr)

MajorVersion and MinorVersion are variables defined on the variables tab

Happy Versioning!