The GitHub Workflow file is raising an error on the source for deploying to a Windows server

[rfalanga]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Workflow Deployment

Discussion Details

My GitHub Workflow is raising an error when it tries to deploy to a Windows Server for my hosting company. Here is a code snippet of what's involved:

        $sourcePath = "$PWD\deploy"
        $destSite = "Default Web Site/mywebsite.com"
        $computerName = "https://myhostingcompany/msdeploy.axd"
        
        $msdeployArgs = @(
          "-verb:sync",
          "-source:contentPath=`"$sourcePath`"",
          "-dest:contentPath=`"$destPath`",computerName=`"$computerName`",username=`"$env:DEPLOY_USER`",password=`"$env:DEPLOY_PASS`",authType=Basic",
          "-allowUntrusted",
          "-enableRule:AppOffline",
          "-verbose"
        )

        & $env:MSDEPLOY_PATH @msdeployArgs

The error that is raised is:

Starting deployment...
Error: Unrecognized argument '"-source:contentPath="D:\a\WSSW\WSSW\deploy""'. All arguments must begin with "-".

The definition I am using for source is what GitHub Copilot suggested. Anyway, I don't see what's wrong and the "-" looks to me like it is correct. So, what is wrong?

[mcdev7777]

The problem is likely the way the arguments are being quoted before they are passed to msdeploy.

msdeploy.exe is receiving the source argument as:

"-source:contentPath="D:\a\WSSW\WSSW\deploy""

Because the argument starts with a double quote instead of -, MSDeploy reports:

All arguments must begin with "-"

When using a PowerShell argument array, you usually do not need to wrap the whole argument in escaped quotes. Try building the arguments like this:

$sourcePath = Join-Path $PWD "deploy"
$computerName = "https://myhostingcompany/msdeploy.axd"
$destPath = "Default Web Site/mywebsite.com"

$msdeployArgs = @(
"-verb:sync"
"-source:contentPath=$sourcePath"
"-dest:contentPath=$destPath,computerName=$computerName,username=$env:DEPLOY_USER,password=$env:DEPLOY_PASS,authType=Basic"
"-allowUntrusted"
"-enableRule:AppOffline"
"-verbose"
)

& $env:MSDEPLOY_PATH @msdeployArgs

Also, in your snippet you define $destSite, but the deploy argument uses $destPath. Make sure the variable names match, otherwise the destination path may be empty.

[Ixester]

The error is caused by the argument being passed with extra quotes. msdeploy.exe expects each argument to start directly with -, but PowerShell is passing a string that begins with a quote ("-source:...), so msdeploy rejects it.

Try removing the escaped quotes around the contentPath values, for example:

$msdeployArgs = @(
    "-verb:sync"
    "-source:contentPath=$sourcePath"
    "-dest:contentPath=$destPath,computerName=$computerName,username=$env:DEPLOY_USER,password=$env:DEPLOY_PASS,authType=Basic"
    "-allowUntrusted"
    "-enableRule:AppOffline"
    "-verbose"
)

[ourstorycomic]

When PowerShell sees escaped double quotes (like "$sourcePath") inside an array element, its native command parser tries to "protect" those inner quotes by wrapping the entire argument in outer double quotes before handing it to msdeploy.exe.

Instead of MSDeploy receiving this:
-source:contentPath="D:\a\WSSW\WSSW\deploy"

PowerShell forces it to receive this:
"-source:contentPath="D:\a\WSSW\WSSW\deploy""

MSDeploy's custom parser looks at the very first character, sees a " instead of a -, and immediately throws the exact error you are seeing.

The Bonus Bug: Copilot's Typo
If you look closely at your variable definitions, you defined $destSite. However, in the $msdeployArgs array, Copilot hallucinated the variable name and wrote $destPath. If you fix the quoting issue without fixing this, MSDeploy will immediately fail again with an empty path error.

The Solution
Because MSDeploy's strict parser is notoriously hostile to PowerShell arrays, the most reliable industry workaround is to build the arguments as a single string and execute the command via cmd.exe. This forces the string to be evaluated exactly as you wrote it, bypassing PowerShell's aggressive quoting rules.

Here is your refactored GitHub Workflow snippet:

PowerShell
$sourcePath = "$PWD\deploy"
$destSite = "Default Web Site/mywebsite.com"
$computerName = "https://myhostingcompany/msdeploy.axd"

1. Build the arguments as a single string.

2. Notice that $destPath has been corrected to $destSite here!

$msdeployArgs = "-verb:sync -source:contentPath="$sourcePath" -dest:contentPath="$destSite",computerName="$computerName",username="$env:DEPLOY_USER",password="$env:DEPLOY_PASS",authType=Basic -allowUntrusted -enableRule:AppOffline -verbose"

3. Execute via cmd.exe to prevent PowerShell from wrapping the whole string in quotes

cmd.exe /c ""$env:MSDEPLOY_PATH" $msdeployArgs"

4. Catch any errors so your GitHub Action properly fails if the deployment fails

if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
Write-Error "Deployment failed with exit code $LASTEXITCODE"
exit $LASTEXITCODE
}

[Reznouw]

The issue is the extra quoting around the -source argument.

MSDeploy is receiving something like this:

"-source:contentPath="D:\a\WSSW\WSSW\deploy""
So the first character MSDeploy sees is " instead of -, which is why it says:

All arguments must begin with "-"
When using a PowerShell argument array, don’t wrap the whole argument with escaped quotes. Pass each argument as a normal string:

$sourcePath = Join-Path $PWD "deploy"
$destSite = "Default Web Site/mywebsite.com"
$computerName = "https://myhostingcompany/msdeploy.axd"

$msdeployArgs = @(
  "-verb:sync"
  "-source:contentPath=$sourcePath"
  "-dest:contentPath=$destSite,computerName=$computerName,username=$env:DEPLOY_USER,password=$env:DEPLOY_PASS,authType=Basic"
  "-allowUntrusted"
  "-enableRule:AppOffline"
  "-verbose"
)

& $env:MSDEPLOY_PATH @msdeployArgs

if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
  exit $LASTEXITCODE
}
One more thing: your snippet defines $destSite, but the original command uses $destPath. Make sure the variable name matches, otherwise MSDeploy will fail again with an empty destination path. ```