CMake: Visual Studio 15 2017 could not find any instance of Visual Studio

Question

When I am trying to install CMake I get the error:

Visual Studio 15 2017 could not find any instance of Visual Studio.

I am using Windows 7 and Visual Studio 2017. The CMakeOutput.log file writes:

The system is: Windows - 6.1.7601 - AMD64

Any ideas?

Solution 1

I ran into the same error and performed the following steps to resolve the issue:

1. Open Visual Studio
2. Go to Tools -> Get Tools and Features
3. In the "Workloads" tab enable "Desktop development with C++"
4. Click Modify at the bottom right

These steps resulted in the "Visual C++ tools for CMake" feature being installed, but the other optional C++ features included in this workload may also helpful for what you are trying to do.

After the Visual Studio updater finishes installing try re-running the command. You may need to open a new command window.

Solution 2

In my case, I installed Visual Studio, selecting the workloads and modules that I wanted, but I ignored the request to reboot, assuming that shutting down the computer at the end of the day and restarting it the following day would suffice. I was wrong.

The following day I tried a cmake build and got the "could not find any instance of Visual Studio" error. After several attempts to resolve, I re-ran the installer, made no changes to the configuration, and clicked Modify. This time I let it reboot the computer. The reboot took a long time. After which my cmake build worked.

Solution 3

I had the same issue "could not find any instance of Visual Studio" but with Visual Studio 2019 (Community Edition) and I just had to configure the VS160COMNTOOLS variable so that CMake correctly detects Visual Studio.

export VS160COMNTOOLS="/c/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Community/Common7/Tools"

(cf https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/generator/Visual%20Studio%2016%202019.html)

With Visual Studio 15 2017, the variable you need should be VS150COMNTOOLS. (cf https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/generator/Visual%20Studio%2015%202017.html)

NB: in my case, in a Travis-CI workflow, I installed Visual Studio using the commands (no need to reboot):

choco install visualstudio2019community
choco install visualstudio2019-workload-nativedesktop # required

With only the first package, CMake detection of VS2019 failed.

Solution 4

I was configuring a Jenkins build node and could successfully run CMake GUI manually but command line use or builds using the CMake plugin would fail with:

Visual Studio 16 2019 could not find instance of Visual Studio.

-A x64 parameter was added with no change in result.

The problem was that CMake could not determine the Windows SDK version. By adding CMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION parameter CMake was then able to find Visual Studio.

-D CMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION=10.0.18362.0 (use your windows SDK version)

Environment: windows 10 system build: 19042 CMAKE 3.19.4 VS 2019 Professional 16.8.4 Jenkins 2.235.1

Full command line that worked: "C:\Program Files\CMake\bin\cmake" -G "Visual Studio 16 2019" -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -A x64 -D CMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION=10.0.18362.0

View more solutions

Comments

[Violet Giraffe]

That was it. I've had most of the C++ stuff, but the "Visual C++ tools for CMake" were missing. Thank you.

[Gerard097]

I have installed it, but still getting the error. I'm not sure but maybe it is related to uninstalled cmake 3.12 and then installed 3.13

[rbaleksandar]

I installed Visual Studio 2019 with all those settings enabled and still getting this error. Have the latest cmake version (3.16.5), which should be fine given the recommendation for a lower version and above for cmake in the installer of VS itself.

[Metric Crapton]

This worked for me. Thanks! Should be the accepted answer.

[user1770426]

This is it :-) This answer should be pinned to the beginning of the every stackoverflow question which starts with "cmake cannot detect visual studio".

[ZF007]

If above solution is removed as answer your answer should include the key essentials to understand what was going on "back then". End of Review.

[hobbydev]

In Visual Studio 2015, there is no menu Tools -> Get Tools and Features.

[Ajay Maity]

After endless hours on the internet, this answer solved the issue for me :) Thanks!!