Visual Studio 2015 exception SqlScriptPreprocessSqlVariables when running web publish wizard with update database - msbuild

Question

Update:
I have reproduced the same Error with a new empty VS2015 WebApplication project.
Added a connectionString to a new empty SQL database
Added a sql-script file to the solution and selected publish... in the publish wizard.
Example of web Publish wizard with included Update script.
I will get the same error building a web deployment package or web deploy .
Original post:
The "SqlScriptPreprocessSqlVariables" task failed unexpectedly. This happens when I use publishing wizard or MSBuild with a profile where the Update Database is selected. On a newly installed machine with only VS2015 Update1 and also on our build server with Team Fondation Server 2015 Build Agent. The same publish profile works in our VS2013 environment.
System.TypeLoadException: Signature of the body and declaration in a method implementation do not match.
Type: 'Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.SqlScriptPreprocessor.SqlCommandExecuter'.
Assembly: 'Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a'.
at Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.SqlScriptPreprocessor.SqlScriptPreprocessSqlVariables.Execute()
at Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.TaskExecutionHost.Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.ITaskExecutionHost.Execute()
at Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.TaskBuilder.ExecuteInstantiatedTask>d__26.MoveNext()
Here is the same error but from the Build Agent in the new build system. I got the same error runnig XAML build on the new Agent.
##[error]C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v14.0\Web\Deploy\Microsoft.Web.Publishing.MSDeploy.Common.targets(119,5): Error MSB4018: The "SqlScriptPreprocessSqlVariables" task failed unexpectedly.
##[error]System.TypeLoadException: Signature of the body and declaration in a method implementation do not match. Type: 'Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.SqlScriptPreprocessor.SqlCommandExecuter'. Assembly: 'Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a'.
##[error] at Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.SqlScriptPreprocessor.SqlScriptPreprocessSqlVariables.Execute()
##[error] at Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.TaskExecutionHost.Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.ITaskExecutionHost.Execute()
##[error] at Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.TaskBuilder.<ExecuteInstantiatedTask>d__26.MoveNext()

Answer 1

This is how I fixed the webdeploy packaging problem. This is not a solution I recommend but it works on my machine and on the build server.
Locate the file Microsoft.Web.Publishing.MsDeploy.Common.targets
This is the location on my machine:
C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v14.0\Web\Deploy\ Microsoft.Web.Publishing.MsDeploy.Common.targets
On row 117 and forward I commented out the following section.
<!--<SqlScriptPreprocessSqlVariables
UnsupportedKeywords="$(MsdeploySqlUnsupportedCommand)" CheckForUnsupportCommands="$(CheckSqlScriptForUnsupportedCommands)"
TreadSqlScriptUnsupportedCommandsAsWarning="$(TreadSqlScriptUnsupportedCommandsAsWarning)"
SqlScriptFile="%(_DatabasesToPackageForSQL.SourcePath)"
DestinationGroup="%(_DatabasesToPackageForSQL.DestinationGroup)"
ResolveIncludes="$(SqlScriptPreProcessResolveIncludes)"
BatchDelimiter="$(SqlScriptPreProcessBatchDelimiter)"
Condition="$(EnableSqlScriptVariableParameterize) And '%_DatabasesToPackageForSQL.SourcePath)' != '' And Exists('%(_DatabasesToPackageForSQL.SourcePath)') ">
<Output TaskParameter="List" ItemName="_DatabasesToPackage_SqlVariables" />
</SqlScriptPreprocessSqlVariables>-->

Answer 2

I recently faced the same issue and I solved it installing the latest version of "SQL Server Data Tools" and restarting the machine. As #JimAho mentioned, the problem is related to SQL Server Data Tools version installed.
Here you could download it
Don't forget to restart the machine.

Answer 3

Still not quite satisfied with these solutions, I did some research and the least invasive approach I can see is simply registering the assembly in the GAC.
Run VS Command Prompt as Administrator
Hit Windows Start
type "Developer"
Right Click "Developer Command Prompt for VS 2017"
Select Run as Administrator
Run the following command (Replace Enterpise with your installation, e.g. Professional, BuildTools, Community):
gacutil /i "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Enterprise\Common7\IDE\Extensions\Microsoft\SQLCommon\130\Microsoft.SqlServer.BatchParser.dll"