Lic MSBuild Task ★Server

The Lic task lives in Babel.Build.dll, the same assembly that provides the obfuscator’s Babel task. It builds a lic command line from its properties and items and runs lic.exe, so everything the Reference describes is available from a project file. Two things use it:

• Your own MSBuild projects, for example to issue a test license for the application under test, or to generate customer licenses from a build server.
• .lcproj project files, which lic --makeproject writes from a command line and lic --project runs again; see Project Files.

Registering the Task

Reference the task assembly with a UsingTask element that points to Babel.Build.dll. In the Babel zip packages it is in the MSBuild folder, so with BabelDir set to the folder where babel_net472_<version>.zip was extracted:

<UsingTask TaskName="Lic" AssemblyFile="$(BabelDir)\MSBuild\Babel.Build.dll" />

The task runs lic.exe from the folder set by LicDirectory. Without it, the task looks next to Babel.Build.dll and then in the folder named by the BABEL_INSTALL_DIRECTORY environment variable. Because lic.exe sits in the root of the extracted zip package, not in its MSBuild folder, set LicDirectory to that root, as the example below does.

A Complete Example

The project below generates a signed license for the built assembly after the build. Licensee, product, features, fields and restrictions are MSBuild items whose metadata become the key=value pairs of the corresponding switches:

<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
  <UsingTask TaskName="Lic" AssemblyFile="$(BabelDir)\MSBuild\Babel.Build.dll" />
 
  <PropertyGroup>
    <BabelDir>C:\Tools\babel_net472</BabelDir>
    <LicenseKeyFile>$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\keys\signing.pem</LicenseKeyFile>
    <LicenseOutputFile>$(OutDir)MyApp.licenses</LicenseOutputFile>
  </PropertyGroup>
 
  <ItemGroup>
    <Licensee Include="Contoso">
      <Id>C-1001</Id>
      <Company>Contoso Ltd</Company>
      <Email>info@contoso.com</Email>
    </Licensee>
    <Product Include="MyApp">
      <Id>MYAPP</Id>
      <Version>2.1</Version>
      <Url>https://contoso.example</Url>
    </Product>
    <Feature Include="Pro">
      <Data>1</Data>
    </Feature>
    <Field Include="Seats">
      <Value>25</Value>
    </Field>
    <Restriction Include="Trial">
      <TrialDays>30</TrialDays>
      <RunInstances>2</RunInstances>
    </Restriction>
    <Restriction Include="Hardware">
      <HardwareKey>GPHI6-128DI-6196C-KN5LV-BCDRE</HardwareKey>
    </Restriction>
  </ItemGroup>
 
  <Target Name="MakeLicense" AfterTargets="Build">
    <Lic LicDirectory="$(BabelDir)"
         InputFile="$(TargetPath)"
         OutputFile="$(LicenseOutputFile)"
         KeyFile="$(LicenseKeyFile)"
         Sign="rsa"
         ExpireDate="365"
         Encoding="utf-8"
         Licensee="@(Licensee)"
         Product="@(Product)"
         Features="@(Feature)"
         Fields="@(Field)"
         Restrictions="@(Restriction)" />
  </Target>
</Project>

This is equivalent to the command line:

lic MyApp.dll --keyfile keys\signing.pem --sign rsa --expiredate 365 --encoding utf-8 --licensee name=Contoso --licensee id=C-1001 --licensee company="Contoso Ltd" --licensee email=info@contoso.com --product name=MyApp --product id=MYAPP --product version=2.1 --product url=https://contoso.example --feature def=... --field def=... --trial days=30 --trial instances=2 --hardware key=GPHI6-128DI-6196C-KN5LV-BCDRE --output MyApp.licenses

Set ProvideCommandLineArgs="true" and read the CommandLineArgs output item to see the exact command line the task built.

Task Properties

Each property maps to the switch of the same meaning in the Reference. Scalar properties take a string; item properties take an item list.

Input and output

Keys and signature

License content

Restriction items

The Include value of a Restriction item selects the switch, case-insensitively, and the metadata supply its key=value pairs. Any other Include value is treated as a custom restriction name, passed to --restriction with each metadata as a pair; custom types need an extension assembly listed in Register.

Hardware identification

Tool and diagnostics

Project Files

An .lcproj file is an ordinary MSBuild project that registers the Lic task and calls it from a MakeLicense target, with the settings of one license generation. lic --makeproject writes one from the switches of the current command line, next to the output file unless a name is given, and still generates the license. lic --project reads such a file and runs it, applying any further switches on top, without invoking MSBuild; the file can also be built with msbuild or dotnet build on a machine where the task is registered.

lic MyApp.dll --keyfile keys.pem --sign --licensee name=Contoso --expiredate 365 --output MyApp.licenses --makeproject MyApp.lcproj
lic --project MyApp.lcproj --licensee name="Fabrikam" --output Fabrikam.licenses

The project file keeps a reproducible record of how a license was produced, and gives a customer-specific generation a single file you can version, review and rerun.