TFS: Universal Download task gives error "##[error]Failed to get artifact tool. Cannot read property 'toString' of null"

Randy Kroeger

0/5 (0 vote)

Jun 9, 2021

CPOL

2971

Build server fails when executing the Universal Download Task

Introduction

Decided to share information with anyone using MS TFS on their build server and finding that Agent Jobs specifically using the "Universal Download" task are failing with the error:

"Error returned in output is: ##[error]Failed to get artifact tool. 
Cannot read property 'toString' of null".

Points of Interest

Issue: We recently had an issue with our build server failing project builds that use the "Universal download" task within its Agent Job. The error was "##[error]Failed to get artifact tool. Cannot read property 'toString' of null".

Resolution: Log into TFS on the build server to validate your access. In our case, we had to accept the new terms of agreement from Microsoft. Once we did, the agent jobs using this task worked again.

Hope this helps others.

History

9^th June, 2021: Initial version