How can I include the PDB files into a Package ZIP file using Visual Studio 2012 and MSdeploy

Question

I need to be able to include the PDB files into the ZIP file that gets created when I run the "Publish" command in Visual Studio to create the MSDeploy package.

I can see the PDB files in the folder but they don't make it into the ZIP file

Is there some configuration setting that I need to set?

Yes I am aware this is not standard practice!

Answer 1

I got it working by doing this in the project file for the web project

<ItemGroup>
  <_CustomFilesPdb Include="$(OutDir)\SEEK.*.pdb" Exclude="$(OutDir)\*Tests*.pdb" />
  <FilesForPackagingFromProject Include="%(_CustomFilesPdb.Identity)">
    <DestinationRelativePath>bin\%(RecursiveDir)%(Filename)%(Extension)</DestinationRelativePath>
  </FilesForPackagingFromProject>
</ItemGroup>