Error "MSB4226: The imported project "(...)\VSSDK\Microsoft.VsSDK.targets" was not found." when building VSIX project on build server with only Build Tools 2017
When you create a VSIX project with a VS package on a development machine with VS 2017 (where it builds successfully) and you move or download the project on a build server which has installed Build Tools 2017 but it doesn't have installed VS 2017, the project fails to build with error:
error MSB4226: The imported project "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v15.0\VSSDK\Microsoft.VsSDK.targets" was not found.
while you could think that it is because the VS SDK is not installed, neither Build Tools 2017 includes it as workload nor it is available as standalone setup. But that's fine since the VS SDK is provided as a NuGet package for the VSIX project, so the build should succeed. There is a problem in the MSBuild scripts.
Steps to reproduce the problem:
1) On the development machine with VS 2017 Community edition:
Ensure that the workload ".NET Desktop development" is installed (it includes ".NET Framework 4.6.1 development tools")
Ensure that the workload "Visual Studio extension development" is installed
Click File > New > Project
In the New Project dialog, select .NET Framework 4.6.1 in the combobox at the top
Select the template Visual C# > Extensibility > VSIX Project
Right-click the VSIXProject1 project in the Solution Explorer and click Add > New Item...
Select the template Visual C# Items > Extensibility > Visual Studio Package
Remove the following references (not required and that would cause a warning on the build server): EnvDTE, EnvDTE80, EnvDTE90, EnvDTE100, Microsoft.VisualStudio.CommandBars
Right-click the VSIXProject1 project in the Solution Explorer and click Unload Project
Right-click the VSIXProject1 project in the Solution Explorer and click Edit Project
Inside the <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Release|AnyCPU' "> element add the following (to avoid deploying the extension in Release configuration later on the build server, where VS is not installed):
<DeployExtension>False</DeployExtension>
Save the changes
Right-click the VSIXProject1 project in the Solution Explorer and click Reload Project
Build the solution in Release configuration. It builds successfully.
Open the folder of the project and delete the bin and obj folders
Zip the folder with the solution (attached to this bug report)
2) On the Build server:
Install Build Tools 2017 (do not install VS 2017)
Ensure that the following indivual components are installed:
.NET Framework 4.6.1 SDK .NET Framework 4.6.1 Targeting Pack
Copy the zip file from the development machine and unzip it
Create a .cmd file in the folder with the project with these statements (included in the file attached to this bug report):
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\MSBuild\15.0\Bin\MSBuild.exe" "VSIXProject1.sln" /verbosity:normal /p:Configuration=Release
PAUSE
Execute the .cmd file. You get:
error MSB4226: The imported project "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v15.0\VSSDK\Microsoft.VsSDK.targets" was not found. Also, tried to find "VSSDK\Microsoft.VsSDK.targets" in the fallback search path(s) for $(VSToolsPath) - "C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v15.0" . These search paths are defined in "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\MSBuild\15.0\Bin\MSBuild.exe.Config". Confirm that the path in the <Import> declaration is correct, and that the file exists on disk in one of the search paths.
FWIW, if you edit this file:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\MSBuild\15.0\Microsoft.VisualStudioVersion.v15.Common.props
and comment this code:
<!-- <PropertyGroup> <VisualStudioVersion>15.0</VisualStudioVersion> <VSToolsPath>$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v$(VisualStudioVersion)</VSToolsPath> </PropertyGroup> -->
then the .cmd file builds the VSIX project sucessfully, but the build should work flawlessly without this workaround.
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Hi Carlos -
I tried the steps you outline but the scenario works for me. The <Import> statement is based on VSToolsPath being set.
When you include the item template it adds the nuget package, which adds this statement at the top of your csproj:
<Import Project="..\packages\Microsoft.VSSDK.BuildTools.15.0.26201\build\Microsoft.VSSDK.BuildTools.props" Condition="Exists('..\packages\Microsoft.VSSDK.BuildTools.15.0.26201\build\Microsoft.VSSDK.BuildTools.props')" />If you look at the Microsoft.VSSDK.BuildTools.props file, it sets VSToolsPath to
<VSToolsPath>$(ThisPackageDirectory)\tools</VSToolsPath>
which for me points to <project directory>\packages\Microsoft.VSSDK.BuildTools.15.0.26201\tools.
Then this import statetment in the csproj file:
<Import Project="$(VSToolsPath)\VSSDK\Microsoft.VsSDK.targets" Condition="'$(VSToolsPath)' != ''" />
Imports <project dir>\packages\Microsoft.VSSDK.BuildTools.15.0.26201\tools\vssdk\Microsoft.VsSDK.targets successfully.
Can you please confirm that your csproj file has the import to Microsoft.VSSDK.BuildTools.props at the top? It should get added when you add the nuget package to the project.
Hi,
Yes, my .csproj has this line at the top:
<Import Project="..\packages\Microsoft.VSSDK.BuildTools.15.0.26201\build\Microsoft.VSSDK.BuildTools.props" Condition="Exists('..\packages\Microsoft.VSSDK.BuildTools.15.0.26201\build\Microsoft.VSSDK.BuildTools.props')" />
But that is not the problem. The problem is that the .csproj contains also this import:
<Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\$(MSBuildToolsVersion)\Microsoft.Common.props" ... />
(where the path is C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\MSBuild\15.0)
the Microsoft.Common.props in that folder in turn has this import:
<Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\$(MSBuildToolsVersion)\Microsoft.VisualStudioVersion.v*.Common.props" Condition="'$(VisualStudioVersion)' == ''" />
Notice that the .csproj doesn't define the property $(VisualStudioVersion) so it is blank and hence the import is applied.
And then Microsoft.VisualStudioVersion.v15.Common.props has this import that redefines the VSToolsPath:
<PropertyGroup>
<VisualStudioVersion>15.0</VisualStudioVersion
<VSToolsPath>$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v$(VisualStudioVersion)</VSToolsPath>
</PropertyGroup>
so that VSToolsPath becomes:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v15.0\
but that path doesn't exist on a build server where the Build Tools 2017 are installed but Visual Studio 2017 is not installed.
Hi Carlos - VisualStudioVersion is set as an environment variable in the developer command prompt (which is installed as a part of the build tools SKU). Are you running the build inside the developer command prompt?
Thank you for your feedback! For us to investigate this further, could you please verify your project file imports the Microsoft.VSSDK.BuildTools.props file from your nuget package? We look forward to hearing from you!
Thank you for your feedback! We have determined that this issue is not a bug. The projects depend on properties defined in the developer command prompt. If you use a different command environment to build the projects you will need to ensure the right variables are set in advance in the environment, are passed to the project via the msbuild command line, or defined in the project.
