Why would a post-build step (xcopy) occasionally exit with code 2 in a TeamCity build?

Question

A few projects in my client's solution have a post-build event: xcopy the build output to a specific folder. This works fine when building locally. However, in TeamCity, I occasionally get

xcopy [...] exited with code 2

If I use regular copy, it exits with code 1. I expect this has something to do with file locks, although the specific files being copied are not the same, so perhaps just locking on the shared destination directory. I use /y to not prompt on overwriting files.

Why this fails in TeamCity but not locally?

I had similar issues but where related to simultaneously copying the same file in parallel. Could you double check that no file is copied twice? — Ignacio Soler Garcia, Oct 20 '11 at 11:36
Exit code 2 means `The user pressed CTRL+C to terminate xcopy`. Hehe. — Hans Passant, Oct 20 '11 at 11:39
@HansPassant I don't know why teamcity would want to press CTRL+C on me! :( — Tim Iles, Oct 20 '11 at 11:41
Yah, me neither. The other common convention is that the exit code equals the last Windows error or exception. Error 2 means "file not found". Which does of course make a lot more sense. — Hans Passant, Oct 20 '11 at 11:55
What is your TeamCity server/agent configuration? Are you checking out on the server or the agent? What user account is your agent running as? — Anthony Mastrean, Nov 16 '11 at 19:47
I hope there are still people watching this question: I'm also having exit code 2, but in a completely different context. From the comments below, I'd say that "exit code 2" means "waiting for user input" (which obviously is not possible during pre- or post-build events), is my analysis right or is there another general explanation for "exit code 2"? — Dominique, Jan 19 '18 at 08:20

score 153 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 19 '19 at 16:24

153

Even if you provide the /Y switch with xcopy, you'll still get an error when xcopy doesn't know if the thing you are copying is a file or a directory. This error will appear as "exited with code 2". When you run the same xcopy at a command prompt, you'll see that xcopy is asking for a response of file or directory.

To resolve this issue with an automated build, you can echo in a pre-defined response with a pipe.

To say the thing you are copying is a file, echo in F:

echo F|xcopy /y ...

To say the thing you are copying is a directory, echo in D:

echo D|xcopy /y ...

Sometimes the above can be resolved by simply using a copy command instead of xcopy:

copy /y ...

However, if there are non-existent directories leading up to the final file destination, then an "exited with code 1" will occur.

Remember: use the /C switch and xcopy with caution.

edited Feb 19 '19 at 16:24

kayess

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answered Feb 01 '13 at 00:43

Metro Smurf

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Thanks @Metro Smurf. I can't test whether this would have resolved my problem, but what you say sounds clever so I've marked it as the answer. Cheers! – Tim Iles Feb 07 '13 at 14:26
I was running into the exact same problem and ultimately ended up with piping in the response. Hopefully this will help someone else in the long run. – Metro Smurf Feb 07 '13 at 16:12
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"This does not work under localised versions of Windows, where the prompt words might be different. An alternative trick is to add an asterisk '*' to the end of the destination, then xcopy won't prompt for File/Directory. – Govert Jan 28 at 19:40" So, you can do the copy like this without echo D(which isn't reliable): XCOPY $(ProjectDir)..\scripts\* $(TargetDir)scripts\* /Y /R . Or do the copy like this without echo F: XCOPY D:\file.zip c:\renamedFile.zip* /Y /R – leetNightshade Jul 25 '13 at 15:54
@leetNightshade - will the `*` work with directories as well? Or is this just for files? – Metro Smurf Jul 26 '13 at 13:13
@MetroSmurf Hm, seems the formatting of my example failed, there's missing backslashes (must have thought I was trying to escape a symbol) and missing asterisk. But yes, it does work with directories and files. Here's the link to Govert's answer: http://stackoverflow.com/a/14022309/353094 – leetNightshade Jul 26 '13 at 14:15
Windows 10 Pro with Visual Studio 2017 professional @MetroSmurf suggestion worked i.e. to use the copy command instead. – Trevor Apr 28 '17 at 00:20

zOqvxf · Answer 2 · 2013-10-30T23:27:16.943

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I fixed the error code 2 by adding a \ at the end of my path, without it, xcopy will think that it is a file instead of a folder.

edited Oct 30 '13 at 23:27

answered Oct 13 '13 at 13:03

zOqvxf

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That's it. Worked just fine on Windows 7, Visual Studio 2013. Thanks a lot! – Charles Apr 24 '15 at 19:09

score 33 · Answer 3 · edited Jan 15 '13 at 16:38

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If you are using xcopy in a post build event use the /Y switch in addition to the /C.

/C           Continues copying even if errors occur.
/Y           Suppresses prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an existing file.

edited Jan 15 '13 at 16:38

RJFalconer

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answered Mar 12 '12 at 16:36

DavidS

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So simple! `/Y` suppresses the prompt! Why was this so hard to find? – SouthShoreAK May 08 '12 at 21:09
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/Y does suppress the overwrite prompt, but that is not the only reason for a code 2. RTFM won't tell you what does cause them. – MSalters Oct 14 '13 at 10:48

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 26 '13 at 03:46

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My fix for this issue was to go into the target bin folder, and ensure that the proper subfolder exists there. Once that subfolder was manually created, the build process completed successfully.

answered Apr 26 '13 at 03:46

boomer57

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score 2 · Answer 5 · edited Aug 14 '18 at 21:30

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Probably you using TeamCity with git. If yes, check that folders you want to copy are exists in git repository. Usually git aviod adding empty project folders to repository, so xcopy fails to find it and generates a error.

You can add some empty text file to empty folder, commit and see folder appears in repository.

edited Aug 14 '18 at 21:30

halfer

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answered Dec 30 '14 at 17:25

iliya

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score 2 · Answer 6 · edited Aug 14 '18 at 21:30

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copy fixed it for me. xcopy with /c /y did not work. I was getting an exit 4 so I went with xcopy, but turned out I needed quotes around ($TargetPath).

My script:

if $(ConfigurationName) == Debug copy "$(TargetPath)" "$(SolutionDir)\Folder\bin\Debug\$(TargetFileName)"

edited Aug 14 '18 at 21:30

halfer

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answered Jul 24 '18 at 14:15

Matt

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Why would a post-build step (xcopy) occasionally exit with code 2 in a TeamCity build?

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