Windows: start_erl.data error because var directory does not exist before first run of new release

Steps to reproduce

Copy brand new release directory to new system

Run the release tasks script first time. Example batch file command that runs this script:

> %da_siteprocessing_umbrella_root%\bin\da_siteprocessing_umbrella get-tag-history location:%location% tagfile:%1 outputfile:%output% sortorder:%sortorder%

Verbose Logs

copy-item : Could not find a part of the path
'C:\Users\labuser\Documents\ASDDataLake\da_siteprocessing_umbrella\var\start_erl.data'.
At C:\Users\labuser\Documents\ASDDataLake\da_siteprocessing_umbrella\releases\0.2.4\da_siteprocessing_umbrella.ps1:92
char:5
+     copy-item -Path (join-path $releases_dir "start_erl.data") -Desti ...
+     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Copy-Item], DirectoryNotFoundException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.CopyItemCommand

Description of issue

Before the first run of a brand new release, the top level var directory does not exist. the release tasks PowerShell script attempts to copy start_erl.data to this directory and fails, but keeps running. Somewhere after this the var directory is created and the next run will work without error.

A minor issue but distillery ver 2.0.14 did not exhibit this behavior and PowerShell error messages are annoying to users. Thanks for looking into it!

What are the expected results? No error (create the var directory before attempting to copy files to it)
What version of Distillery? $Env:DISTILLERY_VSN = "2.1.1"
What OS, Erlang/Elixir versions are you seeing this issue on? $Env:ERTS_VSN = "10.4" : Elixir Version = 1.9.1
If possible, also provide your rel/config.exs, as it is often

# Import all plugins from `rel/plugins`
# They can then be used by adding `plugin MyPlugin` to
# either an environment, or release definition, where
# `MyPlugin` is the name of the plugin module.
~w(rel plugins *.exs)
|> Path.join()
|> Path.wildcard()
|> Enum.map(&Code.eval_file(&1))

use Distillery.Releases.Config,
    # This sets the default release built by `mix release`
    default_release: :default,
    # This sets the default environment used by `mix release`
    default_environment: Mix.env()

# For a full list of config options for both releases
# and environments, visit https://hexdocs.pm/distillery/config/distillery.html

# You may define one or more environments in this file,
# an environment's settings will override those of a release
# when building in that environment, this combination of release
# and environment configuration is called a profile

environment :dev do
  # If you are running Phoenix, you should make sure that
  # server: true is set and the code reloader is disabled,
  # even in dev mode.
  # It is recommended that you build with MIX_ENV=prod and pass
  # the --env flag to Distillery explicitly if you want to use
  # dev mode.
  set dev_mode: true
  set include_erts: false
  set cookie: :"VWfe!j]iw),h3]3sx_}~y</$@XtS`w$o]~@^5f`dCnOB7ABKBsOi!12hC2e{c1CP"
end

environment :prod do
  #  set include_erts: true
  set include_erts: "C:/Program Files/erl10.4"
  set include_src: false
  set cookie: :"*:E|Z!Qf=.$S!o4c$F_h7NV{th71pn16Fu_M==}wxMd>d.1SVD&|mNN*H7Wr`H}^"
  set vm_args: "rel/vm.args"
end

# You may define one or more releases in this file.
# If you have not set a default release, or selected one
# when running `mix release`, the first release in the file
# will be used by default

release :da_siteprocessing_umbrella do
  set version: "0.2.4"
  set applications: [
    :runtime_tools,
    loggix: :permanent,
    dl_posbypass_gettaghistory: :permanent,
    dl_posbypass_gettaghistory_consoleio: :permanent,
    dl_posbypass_getdepartedtags: :permanent,
    dl_posbypass_getdepartedtags_consoleio: :permanent,
    da_bar_query: :permanent,
    da_bar_query_consoleio: :permanent
  ]

  set config_providers: [{Mix.Releases.Config.Providers.Elixir, ["${RELEASE_ROOT_DIR}/etc/config.exs"]}]
  set commands: [
    execute_bar_query: "rel/commands/win/execute-bar-query.ps1",
    get_tag_history: "rel/commands/win/get-tag-history.ps1",
    get_departed_tags_from_slap: "rel/commands/win/get-departed-tags-from-slap.ps1"
  ]
  set overlays: [
    {:mkdir, "releases/<%= release_version %>/commands/win"},
    {:copy, "rel/commands/win/get-tag-history.ps1",
     "releases/<%= release_version %>/commands/win/get-tag-history.ps1"},
    {:copy, "rel/commands/win/get-departed-tags-from-slap.ps1",
     "releases/<%= release_version %>/commands/win/get-departed-tags-from-slap.ps1"},
    {:copy, "rel/commands/win/execute-bar-query.ps1",
     "releases/<%= release_version %>/commands/win/execute-bar-query.ps1"},

    {:copy, "config/config.exs", "etc/config.exs"},
    {:copy, "priv/msvcr120.dll", "erts-<%= erts_vsn %>/bin/msvcr120.dll"},
    {:copy, "priv/run-get-tag-history.bat", "bin/run-get-tag-history.bat"},
    {:copy, "priv/run-get-departed-tags-from-slap.bat", "bin/run-get-departed-tags-from-slap.bat"},
    {:copy, "priv/execute-bar-query.bat", "bin/execute-bar-query.bat"},
    {:copy, "README.md", "README.md"}
  ]
end

bitwalker / distillery