MSBuild in TeamCity of Visual Studio 2012 solution

Question

I have a VS 2012 web project /sln that I am trying to build in TeamCity. it uses .NET 4.5 which is installed on TeamCity.

The TeamCity server has VS 2010 installed only.

I get this error when the build runs:

C:\BuildAgent\work\d5bc4e1b8005d077\CUSAAdmin.Web\CUSAAdmin.Web.csproj(799, 3): 
error MSB4019: 
The imported project 
    "C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v11.0\WebApplications\Microsoft.WebApplication.targets" was not found. 
 Confirm that the path in the <Import> declaration is correct, and that the file exists on disk. Project CUSAAdmin.Web\CUSAAdmin.Web.csproj failed. 
 Project CUSAAdmin.sln failed. 

It is trying to use Visual Studio 2012 (v11.0) to build.

I have set the VisualStudioVersion to be 10 in the build.xml though??

 <Target Name="BuildPackage">
   <MSBuild Projects="CUSAAdmin.sln" ContinueOnError="false" 
     Targets="Rebuild" 
      Properties="Configuration=$(Configuration); VisualStudioVersion=10.0"  />

As well inside the project it is defaulting to VS2010

  <PropertyGroup>
<VisualStudioVersion Condition="'$(VisualStudioVersion)' == ''">10.0</VisualStudioVersion>
<VSToolsPath 
    Condition="'$(VSToolsPath)' == ''">$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v$(VisualStudioVersion)</VSToolsPath>

Wylie

Your vs2012 project is importing an msbuild targets file that is installed with VS2012. Its not going to build unless the build agent has those new targets on it at C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v11.0\WebApplications\Microsoft.WebApplication.targets – Shawnshawna

Simply set the environment variable to the 10.0 VS version. Poof. Works then. – Wylie

Answer 1

Actually, you don't need to install Visual Studio on your CI server. You only need to copy a few folders from a development machine to the same location on the CI server.

VS 2015:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v14.0\Web
• C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v14.0\WebApplications

VS 2013:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v12.0\Web
• C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v12.0\WebApplications

VS 2012:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v11.0\Web
• C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v11.0\WebApplications

VS 2010:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v10.0\Web
• C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v10.0\WebApplications

.NET 4.6:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.6

.NET 4.5.2:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.5.2

.NET 4.5.1:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.5.1

.NET 4.5:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.5

.NET 4.0.1:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.0.1

.NET 4.0:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.0

Or, as Matt suggested, you could copy them into a subdirectory of your project and alter the <MSBuildExtensionsPath32> location in your MSBuild (typically .csproj or .vbproj) file.

Once you have done this, your project will compile. You should still set the VisualStudioVersion explicitly to the one you are using just to be sure it is set right.

NOTE: This solution works for all project types (including web projects). For a web site (that has no project file), I ended up installing the Windows SDK matching the .NET SDK version I am using, because there were missing registry keys that were causing it not to build.

Extrinsic

Does the license for Visual Studio allow to copy from MSBuild? – Pantechnicon

According to #3981409, you do not need a license. I have not found an official document stating this, but this seems to consistently be the advice given by Microsoft employees (See answer by Sayed Ibrahim Hashimi on the same page). – Extrinsic

For Visual Studio 2013 change the directory v11.0 to v12.0 – Disciplinant

Alternatively, you can get these files from NuGet: nuget.org/packages/MSBuild.Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.targets/…. Not entirely sure if any csproj modification is required or if it handles that automatically. – Culprit

Answer 2

Turns out it's really simple. To make MSBuild run VS2010 as the builder on a solution made by VS2012 in TeamCity, simply set the environment variable for the build configuration like this:

Name: env.VisualStudioVersion 
Value: 10.0

Note TeamCity does not need VS2012 installed.

Wylie

This is great! I had the opposite problem - TC was defaulting to v10 when I needed to use v11. Using env.VisualStudioVersion = 11.0 worked. Thanks! – Bayadere

But it does need at least VS2010 installed on the same machine as teamcity server, right? – Zoes

No, it doesn't. VS2012 is backward compatible with VS2010 proj and sln.s – Wylie

Anyone got a clue as to why teamcity attempts to use C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v11.0 if I do not even have it installed? – Penetralia

Answer 3

Alternatively, you can copy the build targets you need from the c:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild to a subdirectory of your project (for example .\Build) making sure to preserve structure and add the following to your csproj:

<!-- redirect msbuild path so targets can be added to source control -->
<PropertyGroup>
  <MSBuildExtensionsPath32>..\Build\</MSBuildExtensionsPath32>
</PropertyGroup>

For example, if my project root is C:\Dev\MyProjSln\MyProj

• Create Folder C:\Dev\MyProjSln\Build\Microsoft\VisualStudio\version\WebApplications\
• Copy Contents of C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\version>\WebApplications\ to created folder
• Add MSBuildExtensionsPath32 element to Property Group under Project node in csproj
• Profit!

Personally, I prefer this method of tracking build target dependencies, as it prevents build server from being dependent on having undocumented folder structure requirements, and gets your dependencies into source control

Zinfandel

This is the way to go and works for me. Helps prevent the "It builds on my workstation" issue as well. – Pustulate

To prevent doing this, I think in my opinion is a better way, and is installing the Microsoft.Net.Compilers version and with that you get the same structure of the MSBuild folder as a nuget dependency, and there is no need to modify the csproj. The bad side of this in my opinion is that you need to do the same think for every project in your solution that depends on the same version of your MSBuild, but in your case is the same. What do you think @Matt? – Bedside

Answer 4

As described here:

• Install nuget MSBuild.Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.targets
• Edit the .csproj file

Replace:

<Import Project="$(VSToolsPath)\WebApplications\Microsoft.WebApplication.targets" Condition="'$(VSToolsPath)' != ''" /> 
<Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v10.0\WebApplications\Microsoft.WebApplication.targets" Condition="false" />

with:

<Import Project="..\packages\MSBuild.Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.targets.11.0.2.1\tools\VSToolsPath\WebApplications\Microsoft.WebApplication.targets" Condition="true" />

Obviously you have to make sure versions match your case both on the nuget installed and path in <Import>

Malanie

Answer 5

I totally disagree with changing the project files because that might affect other developers. This is what worked for me since the v11.0 folder was missing on MS build folder: 1)Create v111.

1. Create v11.0 folder on C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio
2. Copy Web and WebApplications folders from my development box "C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v11.0"
3. Booom! work like a charm\
4. Note: I installed "Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 Shell (Isolated) Redistributable Package"

Splenic

really nice work step 4 was the super useful one for me. For v12.0 use Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 Shell (Isolated) Redistributable Package – Dysplasia

Answer 6

Firstly, TeamCity does not require presence of Visual Studio of any version to build. When a build step in the project is configured with MSBuild runner TeamCity needs to know which version of MSBuild to use. This is a setting of a build step. Proper MSBuild version must be selected in a build step configuration according to the .NET tools installed on a build machine. TeamCity will use that value to determine the location path and will set an environment variable when invokes MSBuild.

The problem with the Visual Studio 2012/2013 is that it's only supported by TeamCity starting 8.1.0. So if your TeamCity version is before 8.1. you need to upgrade to the latest 8.1.x to see a setting for MSBuild Tools 2013. Once you select a proper MSBuild version in the build step settings the problem will disappear. For more information read here: http://blog.turlov.com/2014/07/upgrade-teamcity-to-enable-support-for.html

Applause