GitHub Actions for Windows

Some tips for Windows development and GitHub Actions

Be careful of calls that might end up needing user input! For example, make sure to run installers in a quiet/no prompt mode. The runner will wait for user feedback that won't come.
I've had mixed luck with more windows-centric GitHub Actions. Feel free to explore the Marketplace, but you may find it easier to just call out to shell or powershell.

By following some error messages, I figured out the "install path", at least at the moment, (see either the create-release-zip or build-and-test examples for more info on where this goes in the workflow yaml file).

          jobs:
            build:
              env:
                msbuild-path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin
                vstest-path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\Common7\IDE\Extensions\TestPlatform

It seems at some point the default shell for the "run" set command changed from cmd to powershell. If you're reading older examples, it may need a "shelL: cmd" added to the step if you're seeing syntax errors. For example:

      - name: Restore Nuget Packages
        run: "\"${{ env.msbuild-path }}\\MSBuild.exe\" -t:restore -p:RestorePackagesConfig=true -p:Configuration=Release ${{github.workspace }}\\exampleapp\\exampleapp.sln"
        shell: cmd

A probably dangerous move, but if there's stuff you want to do to a github repository / team /etc based on triggers in github, you can install and use the PowerShellForGitHub Powershell module and use a Personal Access Token (and probably SSO "signing" it) and set it up as a GitHub Secret. For more details, see the Powershll and Github section below

PowerShellForGitHub

The PowerShellForGitHub pages are pretty brief, but you can get a lot of information by using the Get-Help cmdlet. For example:

 Get-Help Set-GitHubAuthentication -ShowWindow

or just examples like

 Get-Help Set-GitHubAuthentication -Examples