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DRS — PowerShell Release Reference

Copy-pasteable PowerShell commands for common release tasks. All commands assume PowerShell 7+.

Artifact Integrity​

Compute SHA-256 (manifest and release note format)​

(Get-FileHash ".\artifacts\installer\AppName-1.0.0.0-win-x64.msi" -Algorithm SHA256).Hash

Output is uppercase hex — paste directly into the manifest and release note.

Compute SHA-256 and display manifest snippet​

$file = Get-Item ".\artifacts\installer\AppName-1.0.0.0-win-x64.msi"
$hash = (Get-FileHash $file.FullName -Algorithm SHA256).Hash
Write-Host "size_bytes = $($file.Length)"
Write-Host "sha256     = `"$hash`""

Get file size in bytes​

(Get-Item ".\artifacts\installer\AppName-1.0.0.0-win-x64.msi").Length

Verify hash against manifest value​

$expected = "PASTE-HASH-FROM-MANIFEST-HERE"
$actual   = (Get-FileHash ".\artifacts\installer\AppName-1.0.0.0-win-x64.msi" -Algorithm SHA256).Hash
if ($actual -eq $expected) { Write-Host "MATCH" -ForegroundColor Green }
else                        { Write-Host "MISMATCH — do not release" -ForegroundColor Red }

Build and Test​

Clean restore and Release build​

dotnet restore --locked-mode && dotnet build -c Release

Full test run with recorded output​

dotnet test -c Release --logger "console;verbosity=normal" | Tee-Object -FilePath "release-evidence\vX.Y.Z\test.log"

Extract test pass count from output​

dotnet test -c Release | Select-String 'passed'

Publish win-x64​

dotnet publish src\AppName\AppName.csproj `
  -c Release `
  -r win-x64 `
  --self-contained false `
  -o artifacts\publish\win-x64

Evidence Capture​

Record file hash to evidence folder​

$version = "1.0.0"
$artifact = ".\artifacts\installer\AppName-$version.0-win-x64.msi"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path "release-evidence\v$version" | Out-Null
$item = Get-Item $artifact
$hash = (Get-FileHash $artifact -Algorithm SHA256).Hash
@"
File:      $($item.Name)
Size:      $($item.Length) bytes
SHA-256:   $hash
Computed:  $(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss')
"@ | Set-Content "release-evidence\v$version\filehash.txt"
Write-Host "Written to release-evidence\v$version\filehash.txt"

Record build result to evidence folder​

$version = "1.0.0"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path "release-evidence\v$version" | Out-Null
dotnet build -c Release 2>&1 | Tee-Object -FilePath "release-evidence\v$version\build.log"

Record test result to evidence folder​

$version = "1.0.0"
dotnet test -c Release --logger "console;verbosity=normal" 2>&1 |
  Tee-Object -FilePath "release-evidence\v$version\test.log"

Manifest Checks​

Check that version in manifest matches assembly version​

# Read manifest version (naive line search)
$manifestVersion = (Get-Content ".\AppName.manifest.toml" |
  Select-String -Pattern '^version\s*=\s*"(.+)"' |
  Select-Object -First 1).Matches[0].Groups[1].Value

# Read assembly version
$assemblyVersion = [System.Reflection.AssemblyName]::GetAssemblyName(
  ".\artifacts\publish\win-x64\AppName.dll"
).Version.ToString(3)

if ($manifestVersion -eq $assemblyVersion) {
  Write-Host "Version match: $manifestVersion" -ForegroundColor Green
} else {
  Write-Host "MISMATCH — manifest: $manifestVersion, assembly: $assemblyVersion" -ForegroundColor Red
}

Quick manifest field dump​

Get-Content ".\AppName.manifest.toml" |
  Where-Object { $_ -match '^\s*(version|sha256|signing|status|date)\s*=' }

Network Verification (offline apps)​

Monitor outbound connections during app launch​

Run the application, then check for unexpected connections:

# Before launching — capture baseline
$before = Get-NetTCPConnection -State Established

# Launch the application
Start-Process ".\artifacts\publish\win-x64\AppName.exe"
Start-Sleep -Seconds 5

# After launch — compare
$after  = Get-NetTCPConnection -State Established
$new    = Compare-Object $before $after -Property LocalPort, RemoteAddress, RemotePort |
          Where-Object { $_.SideIndicator -eq '=>' }

if ($new) {
  Write-Host "New connections detected — investigate:" -ForegroundColor Yellow
  $new | Format-Table
} else {
  Write-Host "No new outbound connections observed." -ForegroundColor Green
}

Installer Verification​

Check installer file is not zero bytes​

$size = (Get-Item ".\artifacts\installer\AppName-1.0.0.0-win-x64.msi").Length
if ($size -gt 0) { Write-Host "Size: $size bytes" -ForegroundColor Green }
else             { Write-Host "File is empty" -ForegroundColor Red }

Verify docs folder exists in publish output​

$docsPath = ".\artifacts\publish\win-x64\docs"
if (Test-Path $docsPath) {
  Write-Host "docs/ present:" -ForegroundColor Green
  Get-ChildItem $docsPath | Select-Object Name
} else {
  Write-Host "docs/ not found in publish output — check build script" -ForegroundColor Red
}

Verify current release note is present in publish docs​

$version  = "1.0.0"
$notePath = ".\artifacts\publish\win-x64\docs\AppName v$version.md"
if (Test-Path $notePath) { Write-Host "Release note present" -ForegroundColor Green }
else                     { Write-Host "Release note missing from publish output" -ForegroundColor Red }

Signing​

Check if MSI is signed (requires signtool or Get-AuthenticodeSignature)​

$sig = Get-AuthenticodeSignature ".\artifacts\installer\AppName-1.0.0.0-win-x64.msi"
Write-Host "Status:  $($sig.Status)"
Write-Host "Subject: $($sig.SignerCertificate?.Subject)"

Expected for a self-signed build: Status: UnknownError or NotSigned. Record whatever it returns as the signing status in the release note and manifest.

Release Readiness One-Liner​

Run all critical checks in sequence. Pipe to a log file if needed.

$artifact = ".\artifacts\installer\AppName-1.0.0.0-win-x64.msi"
$hash     = "PASTE-EXPECTED-HASH-HERE"

Write-Host "=== DRS Release Readiness Check ===" -ForegroundColor Cyan
Write-Host "1. Artifact exists:  $(Test-Path $artifact)"
Write-Host "2. Hash match:       $((Get-FileHash $artifact -Algorithm SHA256).Hash -eq $hash)"
Write-Host "3. Docs present:     $(Test-Path '.\artifacts\publish\win-x64\docs')"
Write-Host "4. Tests:            $(dotnet test -c Release --no-build 2>&1 | Select-String 'passed' | Select-Object -Last 1)"