Is a separate Visual Studio license required for a build machine? [closed]

Question

I know that some companies allow you to install their products on build machines as required without requiring a separate license (DevExpress is one that comes to mind). However I was wondering if Microsoft had the same allowances on licenses.

MSBuild does not support vdproj directly and require you to run Visual Studio from the command line to build the setup project. See here

I need to produce a setup file via an automated build; do I need to purchase an additional license for the build machine?

Edit: I have spoken to our admin in charge of licensing and he was happy for me to install VS2008 on the build machine without purchasing an additional license, believing that a license should not be required. If I here more official information I will update again.

Edit 2: I have heard that Microsoft will allow VS2008 to be installed on a build machine as long as the instance is not being used by a developer for active development.

Olwen

I'd produce the setup using WiX, which is free, open-source and works very well on a build server. – Lockup

@Lockup Does WiX offer a setup project's dynamic dependency bundling capability? – Arsenious

@Arsenious It's been a while I needed to do installers, so I can't tell you what the current WiX capabilities are exactly, but I'd expect that yes. Please check out the WiX docs or ask this as a specific question so that others can answer. – Lockup

@shiv not really. You can reference the project, but you still have to explicitly list the needed files. – Guthry

Answer 1

Here is the agreement (PDF link!). (There are different ones for different versions of VS). So it depends on how you read ...

General. One user may install and use copies of the software to design, develop, test and demonstrate your programs. Testing does not include staging on a server in a production environment, such as loading content prior to production use.

To me that says you don't need an additional license because one user can install and use copies. But, I am not a lawyer. :)

Robynroc

I tend to agree but it is suitably vague – Olwen

For reference, VS 2010 EULA includes this text: "If your version of the software contains a BUILDSERVER.TXT file you may install copies of the files listed in it, onto your build machines, solely for the purpose of compiling and building your programs. We may list additional files at go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=165518 to use for this same purpose." My copy of Visual Studio is from MSDN and I don't see that file anywhere obvious. – Thain

I contacted Microsoft directly about this issue. Here's what they said, from the chat session: "Pete: Can I install Visual Studio from one of those subscriptions on our software build server? Rachel: As a developer product, Visual Studio is licensed on a per-user basis. The licensed user can install the software on any number of devices. Pete: So that is "yes"? Rachel: Yes, it is, assuming that the one installing and using the software is one of the licensed users. Pete: That's definitely the case. Thank you so much." – Lipp

Adding for Visual Studio 2013: microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13350 makes the direct statement under "Using Visual Studio on the Build Server" that because it's per user, the build server copy of Visual Studio is covered at the edition level you own. – Accentuate

Answer 2

According to the VS 2015 Licensing White Paper, you do not need a separate VS license for your build server:

Using Visual Studio on the Build Server: If you have one or more licensed users of Visual Studio Enterprise with MSDN, Visual Studio Professional with MSDN, or any Visual Studio cloud subscription then you may also install the Visual Studio software as part of Team Foundation Server 2017 Build Services. This way, you do not need to purchase a Visual Studio license to cover the running of Visual Studio on the build server for each person whose actions initiate a build.

Update (May 26, 2017)

Microsoft has also now published the Visual Studio 2017 Licensing Whitepaper as well, which has the exact same requirements as noted above.

Shih

It says that for VS2017 to, how-ever, should we interpret this as only if the build server is using TFS? What about TeamCity, Jenkins....? – Recrudesce

Link to VS 2019 Licensing White Paper visualstudio.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/… – Aurify

Answer 3

msbuild.exe comes with .NET SDK, but just with the Framework. You can grab the 2.0 SDK here for free, but it's a big honking download. 3.5 is available as well, but it's even huger.

Pitiable

Note that this changed with MSBuild 12. It is no longer included in the SDK - blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudio/archive/2013/07/24/…, but fortunately you can still download it separately as part of the Microsoft Build Tools 2013- microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40760 – Thain

(i know i am necromancing this) - but you need licence for Build Tools, so its not "for free" – Vinasse