Extensions cannot be installed from a release definition

I am unable to install extensions from a release definition. If I do so, I get the following error:

D:\01\_work\_tools\tfx.cmd extension install --auth-type pat --token ********** --vsix "D:\01\_work\r9\a\myextension-1.0.6.gen.vsix" --service-url https://mytfsserver.com/tfs/MyCollection
TFS Cross Platform Command Line Interface v0.6.4
Copyright Microsoft Corporation
error: SyntaxError: Unexpected token < in JSON at position 2

After I enable debug logging I get more error logging:

2019-02-26T14:10:39.003Z : SyntaxError: Unexpected token < in JSON at position 2
2019-02-26T14:10:39.003Z :     at JSON.parse (<anonymous>)
2019-02-26T14:10:39.003Z :     at Function.<anonymous> (D:\01\_work\_tools\node_modules\tfx-cli\_build\exec\extension\in
stall.js:217:45)
2019-02-26T14:10:39.003Z :     at step (D:\01\_work\_tools\node_modules\tfx-cli\_build\exec\extension\install.js:45:23)
2019-02-26T14:10:39.003Z :     at Object.next (D:\01\_work\_tools\node_modules\tfx-cli\_build\exec\extension\install.js:
26:53)
2019-02-26T14:10:39.003Z :     at fulfilled (D:\01\_work\_tools\node_modules\tfx-cli\_build\exec\extension\install.js:17
:58)
2019-02-26T14:10:39.003Z :     at process._tickCallback (internal/process/next_tick.js:68:7)

The code that throws the error is on this line: https://github.com/Microsoft/tfs-cli/blob/457a7a320d84d9a732eb812232619d2940c2299d/app/exec/extension/install.ts#L182

The response in this case is an HTML page and not the expected JSON:

...
<h1>Error</h1>
<h2>The page you are looking for is currently unavailable.</h2>

<div id="errorMessage" style="font-size: 24px; color: #da0a00; margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 30px;">TF400813: Resource not available for anonymous access. Client authentication required.</div>
....

The function that is trowing the error in install.ts does not do anything with authentication. It just requests the url https://mytfsserver.com/tfs/MyCollection/_apis/resourceareas/6c2b0933-3600-42ae-bf8b-93d4f7e83594 which in my case returns null.

A workaround for this is to change this line: https://github.com/Microsoft/tfs-cli/blob/master/app/exec/extension/install.ts#L101

Into: const serviceUrl = await this.commandArgs.serviceUrl.val();

My TFS instance version is 16.131.28507.4 (TFS 2018 Update 3.2)

[gereon77]

@jessehouwing @simondel : I created an own extension just for uploading FREE extensions to an Azure DevOps Server (OnPrem). I clarify with my boss if I can provide the full source code. Unfortunately it’s PS because my TS skillz are just read, not contribute… 😉

So far the core functions to make it work are:

Following headers need to be applied to every REST call:
$headers = @{'Accept'="application/json; api-version=4.0; excludeUrls=true"}

And for PUT/POSTS ContentType has to be set to 'application/json'

1. read Id, Version and Publisher from vsix manifest
2. check if extension is already installed:
  GET $tfsServerUrl/_apis/gallery/publishers/$($vsixManifest.Publisher)/extensions/$($vsixManifest.Id)?flags=1
    - On 200: Already installed => Read current version from result body: Max(versions.version) => If manifest version is higher => Prepare a PUT
    - On 404 (or everything else) => Prepare a POST
3. Upload the extension:
  - Convert the vsix file in a base64 string and prepare the body:
    $bytes = [IO.File]::ReadAllBytes($vsixPath)
    $base64 = [Convert]::ToBase64String($bytes)
    $uploadJson = @{ extensionManifest = $base64 } | ConvertTo-Json -Compress
  - POST $tfsServerUrl/_apis/gallery/extensions
  - OR PUT $tfsServerUrl/_apis/gallery/publishers/$($vsixManifest.Publisher)/extensions/$($vsixManifest.Id)
4. On 201 or 200 Validate extension:
  - GET $tfsServerUrl/_apis/gallery/publishers/$($vsixManifest.Publisher)/extensions/$($vsixManifest.Id)?flags=1
  - Search the versions array again for the item where version = $vsixManifest.Version
  - If validationResultMessage message is set => error
  - If flags contains "validated" => ok
  - If validationResultMessage is null and flags doesn't contain "validated" => still in progress, retry after 5 seconds for 3 minutes
5. If validation succeeded => Install to collections:
  - Prepare install body: $installBody = @{assignmentType = 0; billingId = $null; itemId = "$($vsixManifest.Publisher).$($vsixManifest.Id)"; operationType = 1; quantity = 0; properties = @{} } | ConvertTo-Json -Compress
  - POST $tfsServerUrl/$collection/_apis/ExtensionManagement/AcquisitionRequests
6. On 200: => Done

[gereon77]

This is fixed in master. Should have an update published today.

Verified today. Install now workds. Thanks!