Copy files to output directory using csproj dotnetcore

So my issue is pretty simple. I have some files that I want to be copied to the build output directory whether it is a debug build or a release publish. All of the information I can find is about the old json config approach. Anyone have an example using the csproj with dotnetcore?

Assuming you have an `assets` folder in your root directory. You can name it as you want. This is just an example:

**your-project.csproj**

```xml
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
<ItemGroup>
<AssetsSourceFiles Include="assets/**/*.*"/>
</ItemGroup>

<Target Name="CopyCustomContent" AfterTargets="AfterBuild">
<Copy SourceFiles="@(AssetsSourceFiles)" DestinationFolder="$(OutDir)" SkipUnchangedFiles="true" />
</Target>
</Project>
```

this copies only the content of the `assets` folder to the output root without wrapping it into the `assets` folder. But if you want to copy with the folder itself, you can use the following code:

```xml
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
<ItemGroup>
<Content Include="assets\**\*.*">
<CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
</Content>
</ItemGroup>
</Project>
```

There's quite a few ways to achieve your goals, depending on what your needs are.

The easiest approach is setting the metadata (`CopyToOutputDirectory` / `CopyToPublishDirectory`) items conditionally (assuming `.txt` being a `None` item instead of `Content`, if it doesn't work, try `<Content>` instead):

<!-- language: lang-xml -->

<ItemGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)' == 'Debug'">
<None Update="foo.txt" CopyToOutputDirectory="PreserveNewest" />
</ItemGroup>

If more control is required, the most versatile approach is to add custom targets that hook into the build process in the csproj file:

<!-- language: lang-xml -->

<Target Name="CopyCustomContent" AfterTargets="AfterBuild">
<Copy SourceFiles="foo.txt" DestinationFolder="$(OutDir)" />
</Target>
<Target Name="CopyCustomContentOnPublish" AfterTargets="Publish">
<Copy SourceFiles="foo.txt" DestinationFolder="$(PublishDir)" />
</Target>

This copies a file to the respective directories. For more options for the `<Copy>` task, see [its documentation][1]. To limit this to certain configurations, you can use a `Condition` attribute:

<!-- language: lang-xml -->

<Target … Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == 'Release' ">

This `Condition` attribute can be applied both on the `<Target>` element or on task elements like `<Copy>`.


[1]:

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While this helped me get my issue sorted, it didn't work for all files in a sub-directory. I also used `Content Include` rather than `Content Update`.

<!-- language: lang-xml -->

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

<PropertyGroup>
<OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
<TargetFramework>netcoreapp2.1</TargetFramework>
</PropertyGroup>

<ItemGroup>
<Content Include="layouts\*.*">
<CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
</Content>
</ItemGroup>

</Project>

Place this in your .csproj file, replacing nlog.config with the desired file path. Then simply save it and build your project:

<!-- language: lang-xml -->

<ItemGroup>
<Content Update="Nlog.config">
<CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
</Content>
</ItemGroup>

I had the requirement for a selection of HTML templates to be consumable both client-side and server-side (Handlebars js)

<!-- language: lang-xml -->

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Web">

<PropertyGroup>
<TargetFramework>netcoreapp2.0</TargetFramework>
</PropertyGroup>

<ItemGroup>
<Content Update="wwwroot\html-templates\**\*.*">
<CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
</Content>
</ItemGroup>

</Project>