How to build a VS2015 solution that has a VS2010 configuration using MSBuild? - msbuild

I want to build a Visual Studio 2015 C++ solution from the command line using MSBuild. The complication is that I want to build a particular configuration of the solution, which uses the Visual Studio 2010 toolset (necessary because I am linking to a 3rd party library).
I have used MSBuild successfully in the past, but am unsure of which versions of MSBuild and vcvarsall.bat to use in this case. Currently I am running:
"\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\VC\vcvarsall.bat"
"\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\14.0\Bin\MSBuild" mysolution2015.sln /p:Configuration="2010_Config" /p:useenv=true
but that gives error:
LINK : fatal error LNK1117: syntax error in option 'manifest:embed'
Any help would be appreciated.

You should be using the vcvarsall.bat from VS2015 ("\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\vcvarsall.bat")
The chosen configuration will select the appropriate toolset (assuming you have both VS2015 and VS2010 installed).
You can then simply use msbuild has it will have been added to the path...

Related

How can override platform tool set for msbuild from command line? How I am doing it is not working

I am pulling in open source project but it is configured to build using MS VS 2015. I am trying to override this command line option on msbuild. But is still tries to use MSVS 2015. Following is my command invocation:
msbuild path/to/solution/file/file.sln /p:ToolsVersion=15.0 /p:PlatormToolset=v141 /p:WindowsTargetPlatformVersion=10.0.19041.0 /p:Configuration=Release
I get following error:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\Common7\IDE\VC\VCTargets\Microsoft.Cpp.Platform.target
s(67,5): error MSB8020: The build tools for v140 (Platform Toolset = 'v140') cannot be found. To build using the v140 b
uild tools, please install v140 build tools. Alternatively, you may upgrade to the current Visual Studio tools by sele
cting the Project menu or right-click the solution, and then selecting "Retarget solution".

TFS build agent cannot find AXImp.exe

TFS build agent using MSBuild 14.0 fails with "Error MSB3091: Task failed because "AxImp.exe" was not found", while the SDK is installed and AxImp.exe is present.
The error states that it cannot find the file in the bin beneath "the location specified in the InstallationFolder value of the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SDKs\NETFXSDK\4.6\WinSDK-NetFx40Tools-x86"
There is no "Microsoft SDKs" node at that location, however it does exist under Wow6432Node: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Microsoft SDKs\NETFXSDK\4.6.2\
This node contains references to locations for both WinSDK-NetFx40Tools-x86 and WinSDK-NetFx40Tools-x64.
Is MSBuild looking in the wrong registry location?
Can I configure the build to make it locate either
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v10.0A\bin\NETFX 4.6.2 Tools
or
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v10.0A\bin\NETFX 4.6.2 Tools\x64
to find AxImp.exe and whatever else it expects from the SDK?
Background:
Our development has so far been built on Windows 10, Visual Studio 2017, targeting .Net Framework 4.6.2. I am now trying to automate builds on Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard.
I have installed Microsoft Build Tools 2015, Microsoft .Net Framework 4.6.2 SDK, .Net Framework 4.6.2 Targeting Pack and .Net Framework 4.6.2 Targeting Pack (ENU).
Have successfully created a build agent and get an almost successful build, after chasing down a number of missing dependencies.
TFS build agent cannot find AXImp.exe
(According to the error messages, they are all common errors. we could not give the most direct correct answer for this issue, we can only give you some troubleshootings. In order to avoid losing contact in the round-trip comments, I post those troubleshootings as answer instead of comments.)
Make sure using the MSBuild task instead of Visual Studio build task in the build definition.
Using MSBuild 14.0 (C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\14.0\Bin\MSBuild.exe) rather than 4.0 (C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319) in the MSBuild task, if you build the project with Visual Studio 2015.
Check if the ToolsVersion of the Project node is 14.0 not 4.0:
<Project ToolsVersion="14.0" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
Install the Visual Studio 2015 on your build server.
Manually change the above registry key to the correct location, where AXImp.exe exists.
If all above not help you, please share the configuration of MSBuild task definition, the software you have installed on the build agent and try to build the project with Visual Studio 2015 on the build server.
Hope this helps.

Trying to build nuget package with VS 2017 Team Explorer installed

I installed the VS 2017 TeamExplorer which added a separate VS 2017 install folder. Now when I try to build a nuget package, I get an error saying
The imported project "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual
Studio\2017\TeamExplorer\MSBuild\15.0\bin\Roslyn\Microsoft.CSharp.Core.targets"
was not found. Confirm that the path in the declaration is
correct, and that the file exists on disk. C:\Program Files
(x86)\Microsoft Visual
Studio\2017\TeamExplorer\MSBuild\15.0\bin\Microsoft.CSha
rp.CurrentVersion.targets
So it appears now it is trying to use MSBuild from the TeamExplorer install path instead of the Enterprise path.
MSBuild auto-detection: using msbuild version '15.3.409.57025' from
'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual
Studio\2017\TeamExplorer\MSBuild\15.0\bin'.
Is there a way to make the original path (Enterprise) the default for MSBuild?
UPDATE
I will mark this as the answer until a better solution comes along!
This isn't a GOOD answer but I uninstalled the VS 2017 Team Explorer and it now works properly. I still would like to know how we can control this.

TeamCity/.sqlproj build via MSBuild -- FAILED

It all started with the VS2017 runner type within TC. It was failing without any errors or hints (except the (default targets) -- FAILED. message on the solution level). I narrowed it down to the .sqlproj'ects. These are not building via MSBuild, they do compile perfectly within VS2017 on the build agent.
I was blaming SSDT for it... but I guess I checked everything. This is the problem which bubbles up to the solution level within the TC build:
I noticed that for VS2017 SSDT comes with the VS setup. The "Workload" "Data storage and processing" is installed and so is "SQL Server Data Tools" under "Individual components".
I noticed on https://learn.microsoft.com/EN-US/sql/ssdt/download-sql-server-data-tools-ssdt the sentence "If you are using SSDT with Visual Studio 2017, install the AS and RS components". Did it. Nothing changed. SSDT is also installed separately for previous versions.
This stack is related but it didn't help me.
Any other ideas?
I came a step further. Beside VS the Build Tools are installed as well on the build agent and TeamCity's runner for VS2017 obviously uses MSBuild from the Build Tools.
As you can see above I was reproducing the issue with MSBuild from the Build Tools as well.
If I pick the MSBuild "version" of VS2017 it works like a charm (as it does right within VS).
To make it short:
DOES NOT WORK
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\MSBuild\15.0\Bin
WORKS
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\MSBuild\15.0\Bin
I found a blog post from Lukie Briner, his last paragraph pointed me to the solution (thank you buddy!).
Still don't know why/how this can happen, maybe it is related to the order of the installations of Build Tools, SSDT, Visual Studio etc.?
The reason: SSDT was missing in the Build Tools and its version of MSBuild.
What I have done:
Copy the SSDT folder from
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v15.0
to
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v15.0.
WOW! I finally see a REAL error message:
Now I had to copy SQLDB and SQLEditor (I think SQLCommon already existed in the destination folder, if not it should also be copied) from
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\Common7\IDE\Extensions\Microsoft
to
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\Common7\IDE\Extensions\Microsoft
and BOOM...
And yes, the VS2017 runner from TeamCity is also happy with it.
Seems like the issue with Build Tools and SSDT has been solved now and you don't have to mess with manual copy of targets directories anymore (Visual Studio Build Tools 2017 v15.9.8).
Just open the Visual Studio Installed on the build agent server
Modify Build Tools installation
Select to install the "Data storage and processing tools"
Modify
Build should work now.

msbuild fails to compile vsto project

We recently installed a new development environment (Windows 10) from scratch with Visual Studio 2017 but we cannot manage to make msbuild compile a Microsoft Office Addin for Word (vsto).
Within the Visual Studio installer we made sure to include the required components for Office Development.
It throws the following error (german translated to english)
error MSB4226: The imported project "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v15.0\OfficeTools\Microsoft.VisualStudio.Tools.Office.targets" was not found. Also, tried to find "OfficeTools\Microsoft.VisualStudio.Tools.Office.targets" in the fallback search path(s) for $(VSToolsPath) - "C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v15.0" [...]
However, the project builds fine within Visual Studio.
On the old system, everything works fine, and i cannot remember having to configure anything at all.
You need to install Office build tools when installing Build Tools for Visual Studio 2017
In my case, I managed to get around the issue by copying the folder
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio
from the development environment (the old environment in your case) to
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio
on the build environment (the new environment in your case). I would have thought that one should be able to simply get the relevant targets from the Build Tools for Visual Studio 2017 but that appears not to be the case.
After reinstalling everything it works now.
I guess back then when we set up this machine, the build tools setup was bugged or something.
Now we could install everything we needed for the buildtools using the visual studio installer and it works like a charm.
Okay, so I've worked through this one now. The problem was caused by me using Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4...\Msbuild.exe.
It looks as though running msbuild from this location results in it not being able to implicitly locate many of the assemblies and build utilities required to build a VSTO project.
I resolved the problem by switching to using C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Enterprise\MSBuild\15.0\Bin\msbuild.exe