Automate build, publish and releases

[gdeswardt]

As per #140 this change set automates the build, test, package, and publish process for our .NET project using
GitVersion to obtain the semantic version.

The CD pipeline is triggered when a new release branch is created in the format of release/v{MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH}. It will publish a pre-release package to NuGet first, and only on approval will it publish the final version, create a tag that matches the version number, and generate the GitHub release with release notes.

To ensure the version is calculated correctly, a tag was added to the previous commit that was released. The CD pipeline uses this tag to calculate the version number.

The implementation details include:

• Using the GitVersion plugin to obtain the semantic version
• Automating the build, test, package, and publish process
• Creating a tag on the previous commit that was released to ensure correct version calculation
• Publishing a pre-release package to NuGet first and only on approval publishing the final version, creating a tag that matches the version number, and generating the GitHub release with release notes
• Create a pull request to ensure that any changes that were committed to the release branch are also merged back into the master

This change set simplifies the release process and ensures that all our artifacts are versioned correctly, making it easier for other developers to understand and track what has changed in each release.

[gdeswardt]

CONFIG REQUIRED PRIOR TO MERGE

@TylerBrinks, this pull request includes changes to automate the build, test, package, and publish process for our GitHub project. I have implemented a release workflow with preview and release environments, allowing contributors to test and approve releases before they are published to NuGet.

The following configuration changes have to be applied for the workflows to be executed successfully:

• Add new environments for the repository called preview and release
• The preview environment Deployment branches should be set to Selected branches and allow the following branches feature/**, master, and release/**.
• An approver user/group needs to be set up for the release environment to ensure the workflow actions only publish the release version once an approver has approved the release.
• The release environment Deployment branches should be set to Selected branches and only allow the following branches release/**.
• A repository secret NUGET_API_KEY has been added to allow the workflow actions to automatically publish the preview and release packages to NuGet. This key can be generated from NuGet.
• GitHub token secrets permission needs to be updated to allow read and write permissions and allow GitHub actions to create and approve pull requests. These settings are under Actions > General > Workflow permissions. This is required to create the tags, pull requests, releases, and change logs.
• It is also advised to update the settings to automatically delete a branch after a pull request has been successfully merged.
• Also a tag should be created from the previously released commit so that the semantic version can be calculated correctly. Here is the script to create and push the tag.

git tag v4.1.4 4e0d475
git push origin v4.1.4

[TylerBrinks]

@gdeswardt I think everything is configured. Please let me know if anything was missed.

[gdeswardt]

@TylerBrinks please can you create a tag and push it to the remote repository to mark version 4.1.4 so that the GitVersion plugin can automatically calculate the semantic version during each build?

Here are the git commands for creating and pushing the tag

git tag v4.1.4 4e0d475
git push origin v4.1.4

[gdeswardt]

Thanks @TylerBrinks I have just accepted invitation to collaborate on this project. I will quickly push the tag and check the rest of the settings

[gdeswardt]

@TylerBrinks I have created a release branch and the pre-release version was published successfully to NuGet. Please can you review and if you are happy approve the release of version 4.2.0 on the workflow. This will automatically publish the release version to NuGet and get the release and changelog on the project, with a pull request that contains the changes that need to merge back into the master branch.

https://github.com/TylerBrinks/ExCSS/actions/runs/4645817008