Run a script step

Octopus also allows you to run standalone scripts as part of your deployment process. You can run a script on the Octopus Server, on workers or across the deployment targets in tags. You can run scripts contained in a package, in a git repository, or ad-hoc scripts you’ve saved as part of the step.

You can use all of the features we provide for custom scripts, like variables, passing parameters, publishing output variables, and collecting artifacts.

Choosing where the script will run

When adding a script you choose where the script will run, and in which context the script will run.

The options will vary based on the infrastructure that’s available to you. For instance, if you do not have any workers configured you will see the following options:

• Run on the Octopus Server
• Run on the Octopus Server on behalf of each deployment target
• Run on each deployment target (default)

If you do have workers configured you will see the following options:

• Run once on a worker
• Run on a worker on behalf of each deployment target
• Run on each deployment target (default)

If you choose to run the step on a worker, you will also need to select which worker pool Octopus should use for the step.

Choosing the right combination of Target and Roles enables some really interesting scenarios. See below for some common examples:

Choosing where to source the script

You may also select the source of the script, either:

• An ad-hoc or inline script, saved as part of the step itself, or
• A script file in a git repository, or
• A script file inside a package (shown below).

Passing parameters to scripts

When you call external scripts (sourced from a file inside a package or git repository) you can pass parameters to your script. This means you can write “vanilla” scripts that are unaware of Octopus, and test them in your local development environment. Read about passing parameters to scripts.

Referencing packages

In addition to being able to source the custom script from a package, it is often desirable to reference other packages. Scenarios where this can be useful include:

• Executing a utility contained in a package
• Deploying a package in a manner for which there is no built-in steps available; for example pushing a package to a Content-Management-System
• Performing tasks which require multiple packages. For example:
  • Executing NuGet.exe to push another package (e.g. Acme.Web)
  • Referencing multiple container images and performing docker compose

Package references can be added regardless of whether the script is sourced inline, from a git repository or from a package.

Package reference fields

When adding a package reference, you must supply:

Package ID

The ID of the package to be referenced, or a variable-expression.

Feed

The feed the package is sourced from, or a variable-expression.

Name

A unique identifier for the package-reference. In general the Package ID is a good choice for the name. The reasons the Package ID may not be suitable as the name include:

• The Package-ID may be bound to a variable-expression (e.g. #{Acme.Package.Id}). Some of the places the name is used are not suitable for variable-expressions.
• In rare situations it may be desirable to reference multiple versions of the same package. In this case they would need to be given different names.

Extract

Whether the package should be extracted. See below for information on the package file locations. This will not be displayed for certain package-types (i.e. container images). This may also be bound to a variable-expression.

Accessing package references from a custom script

Having added one or more package references, it’s reasonable to assume you wish to do something with them in your custom script.

Package variables

Package-references contribute variables which can be used just as any other variable. These variables are (assuming a package-reference named Acme):

The following PowerShell script example shows how to find the extracted path for a referenced package named Acme:

$ExtractedPath = $OctopusParameters["Octopus.Action.Package[Acme].ExtractedPath"]
Write-Host "PWD: $PWD"
Write-Host "ExtractedPath: $ExtractedPath"

Package files

If the package reference was configured to be extracted, then the package will be extracted to a sub-directory in the working-directory of the script. This directory will be named the same as the package-reference. For example, a package reference named Acme would be extracted to directory similar to C:\Octopus\Work\20180821060923-7117-31\Acme (this is obviously a Windows directory; a script executing on a Linux target may have a path such as /home/ubuntu/.octopus/Work/20180821062148-7121-35/Acme).

If the package reference was not configured to be extracted, then the un-extracted package file will be placed in the working directory. The file will be named as the package reference name, with the same extension as the original package file. For example, for a package reference named Acme, which resolved to a zip package, the file would be copied to a path such as C:\Octopus\Work\20180821060923-7117-31\Acme.zip (for Linux: /home/ubuntu/.octopus/Work/20180821062148-7121-35/Acme.zip).

These locations were designed to be convenient for use from custom scripts, as the relative path can be predicted, e.g. ./Acme or ./Acme.zip. If the absolute path is required the variables above may be used.

Older versions

Scripts sourced from your Projects Git Repository was added in Octopus 2024.1. In Octopus versions prior, the Git Repository source is not available.

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Page updated on Tuesday, August 27, 2024