How get exec task output with msbuild

Question

I'm trying to get simple output by exec task with msbuild:

<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
  <Target Name="Test">
    <Exec Command="echo test output">
      <Output TaskParameter="Outputs" ItemName="Test1" />
    </Exec>
    <Exec Command="echo test output">
      <Output TaskParameter="Outputs" PropertyName="Test2" />
    </Exec>
    <Message Text="----------------------------------------"/>
    <Message Text="@(Test1)"/>
    <Message Text="----------------------------------------"/>
    <Message Text="$(Test2)"/>
    <Message Text="----------------------------------------"/>
  </Target>
</Project>

But get next output:

  echo test output
  test output
  echo test output
  test output
  ----------------------------------------
  ----------------------------------------
  ----------------------------------------

How can I get output by my script?

Answer 1

Good news everyone! You can now capture output from <Exec> as of .NET 4.5.

Like this:

<Exec ... ConsoleToMSBuild="true">
  <Output TaskParameter="ConsoleOutput" PropertyName="OutputOfExec" />
</Exec>

Simply:

• Add ConsoleToMsBuild="true" to your <Exec> tag
• Capture the output using the ConsoleOutput parameter in an <Output> tag

Finally!

Documentation here