Question: Is it possible to use an msbuild task to build a smart device project into a cab file for deployment.

I've seen a couple of pages on the web:

<http://guystarbuck.blogspot.com/#115584006223003606>
<http://blog.opennetcf.com/ctacke/2008/09/18/AutomatingCABFileGenerationWithMSBUILD.aspx>

but I can't believe that you have to go to that much trouble for something that *should* be simple!

Thanks.

Answer: 
It is that difficult and, yes, that is lame.
You can use [CAB42](https://bitbucket.org/adambrengesjo/cab42/) in order to automate the build process of device CAB-files. This tool is great when using at build servers and automated processes where it is necessary with multiple CAB-file configurations for example. The tool gives you options to define your own configurations for CAB-packages and executes the necessary msbuild commands accordingly.

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> CAB42 is a graphical tool to quickly setup and build multiple CAB files with diferent configurations for Windows Mobile smart devices.
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> About
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> I use CAB42 to build Microsoft Mobile .CAB files with different profiles and settings. Also, cabwiz.exe is a PITA to configure when you want to dynamically include files in various directories relative to your output as all files must be explicitly be included with a absolute file path.
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