External VS2013 build error "error MSB4019: The imported project <path> was not found"

Question

I am building a project through the command line and not inside Visual Studio 2013. Note, I had upgraded my project from Visual Studio 2012 to 2013. The project builds fine inside the IDE. Also, I completely uninstalled VS2012 first, rebooted, and installed VS2013. The only version of Visual Studio that I have is 2013 Ultimate.

ValidateProjects:
    39>path_to_project.csproj(245,3): 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.
    39>Done Building Project "path_to_project.csproj" (Clean target(s)) -- FAILED.

Here are the two lines in question:

<Import Project="$(VSToolsPath)\WebApplications\Microsoft.WebApplication.targets" Condition="'$(VSToolsPath)' != ''" />
<Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v12.0\WebApplications\Microsoft.WebApplication.targets" Condition="false" />

The original second line was v10.0, but I manually changed that to v12.0.

$(VSToolsPath) elongates from what I see to the v11.0 (VS2012) folder, which obviously is not there anymore. The path should have been to v12.0.

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

I tried specifying VSToolsPath in my system environment variables table, but the external build utility still uses v11.0. I tried searching through the registry and that came up with nothing.

Sadly, I do not see any easy way to get the exact command line used. I use a build tool.

Thoughts?

Solution 1

I had the same issue and find an easier solution

It is due to Vs2012 adding the following to the csproj file:

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

You can safely remove that part and your solution will build.

As Sielu pointed out you have to ensure that the .proj file begin with <Project ToolsVersion="12" otherwise the next time you open the project with visual studio 2010, it will add the removed node again.

Otherwise, if you need to use webdeploy or you use a build server, the above solution will not work but you can specify the VisualStudioVersion property in your build script:

msbuild myproject.csproj /p:VisualStudioVersion=12.0

or edit your build definition:

Solution 2

I had this too and you can fix it by setting the tools version in your build definition.

This is very easy to do. Open your build definition and go to the "Process" page. Then under the "3. Advanced" group you have a property called "MSBuild Arguments". Place the parameter there with the following syntax

/p:VisualStudioVersion=12.0 

If you have more parameters, separate them with a space and not a comma.

Solution 3

This is closely related but may or may not fix OPs specific issue. In my case I was trying to automate the deployment of an Azure site using VS2013. Building and deploying via VS works, however, using MSBuild showed a similar error around the "targets". Turns out MSBuild is different under VS2013, and is now part of VS and not the .Net Framework (see http://timrayburn.net/blog/visual-studio-2013-and-msbuild/). Basically, use the correct version of MSBuild:

OLD, VS2012

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\MSBuild.exe

NEW, VS2013

C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\12.0\bin\msbuild.exe

Newer, VS2015

C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\14.0\Bin\msbuild.exe

Newer still, VS2017 (not fully testing but discovered - they've moved things around a bit)

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\MSBuild\15.0\Bin\msbuild.exe

Solution 4

I just received a response from Kinook, who gave me a link:

Basically, I need to call the following prior to bulding. I guess Visual Studio 2013 does not automatically register the environment first, but 2012 did, or I did and forgot.

call "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\VC\vcvarsall.bat" x86

Hopefully, this post helps someone else.

Solution 5

giammin's solution is partially incorrect. You SHOULD NOT remove that entire PropertyGroup from your solution. If you do, MSBuild's "DeployTarget=Package" feature will stop working. This feature relies on the "VSToolsPath" being set.

<PropertyGroup>
  <!-- VisualStudioVersion is incompatible with later versions of Visual Studio.  Removing. -->
  <!-- <VisualStudioVersion Condition="'$(VisualStudioVersion)' == ''">10.0</VisualStudioVersion> -->
  <!-- VSToolsPath is required by MSBuild for features like "DeployTarget=Package" -->
  <VSToolsPath Condition="'$(VSToolsPath)' == ''">$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v$(VisualStudioVersion)</VSToolsPath>
</PropertyGroup>
...
<Import Project="$(VSToolsPath)\WebApplications\Microsoft.WebApplication.targets" Condition="'$(VSToolsPath)' != ''" />

View more solutions

Comments

[Anthony F]

Similar question here stackoverflow.com/questions/17433904/…

[user145400]

In my case, I had to specify the correct VisualStudioVersion in the build event that was building with the WebPublish target.

[Peter Hedberg]

I got the error using msbuild from command prompt. Removing this part from the project file sovled the problem.

[John Mills]

I was using VS2013 with TFS2012 and this solution worked for me.

[David Keaveny]

This is probably a common scenario when running a build server (such as CruiseControl or TeamCity), where the service runs under a particular service account which may not even have interactive desktop permissions. This tip solved the issue for me (VS 2013 installed on a clean install of Server 2008 R2, with CruiseControl.NET)

[Sielu]

I used this answer and it worked only if I ensured that my *proj file began with <Project ToolsVersion="12" Before I had <Project ToolsVersion="4" and every time I opened the project in VS it added the two nodes again (i.e. it re-migrated the project to latest version).

[LockTar]

When I did this, my wpp.targets files in my solution didn't work anymore. I only have this problem when I install only VS2013 on a pc and not a server and then use this as a build machine. My own pc has a clean install and I only have installed VS2010 and VS2013 and everything works fine with this piece of config. Even if you choose new project in VS2013 and look at the project file created, the piece of config is also there. So it must be something else...

[giammin]

@RalphJansen yes this is if you have only vs2013

[LockTar]

@giammin, I already found the solution. DON'T remove the section from your project file. Set the right tools version in your build definition. This is very easy to do. Open your build definition and go to the "Process" page. Then under the "3. Advanced" group you have a property called "MSBuild Arguments". Place the parameter there with the following syntax "/p:VisualStudioVersion=12.0". Of course without the quotes. If you have more parameters, separate them with a space and not a comma. The config that you suggested to remove is used by other parts of visual studio in your build proces...

[giammin]

@RalphJansen this solution works for you because you have vs2010

[Sean]

This worked for me and was preferable to modifying the project file.

[Patrick Desjardins]

The ToolsVersion must not be the only variable to fix this error message because I saw project with ToolsVersion that could not build correctly.

[Neil]

This worked for me and got me building again with only VS2013 installed

[Simon Whitehead]

We just completed an upgrade from TFS 2005 to TFS 2013 and this was our last hurdle. This definitely worked for us and saved me from pulling my hair out. Thanks so much! +1.

[Colin Pear]

Removing that line seems to break Web Deploy

[mcdon]

This article by Sayed Ibrahim Hashimi describes the problem in Visual Studio 2010/2012. A command line build uses the sln file format version -1 as the VisualStudioVersion. You can override this value from the command line as Ralph describes, or as a property of the MSBuild task from a build script. I had the same problem with Visual Studio 2013, and overriding VisualStudioVersion resolved the issue.

[JamesQMurphy]

This worked for us as well. We also considered modifying the build template itself, described here, which might be a better option if you have dozens of build definitions.

[Jhayes2118]

this worked for me. I deleted in the csproj files any reference to visualstudioversion and then added that msbuild argument

[Randeep]

I had same issue was solved by using the /p:VisualStudioVersion=12.0 property as recommended above. Thanks

[Anthony F]

This fixed it for me. Also, similar answer for a similar question here: stackoverflow.com/a/19826448/61569

[ThatBlairGuy]

Or copy just the Microsoft.WebApplication.targets file from a location where Visual Studio 2013 is installed.

[Elaine]

upvote for /p:VisualStudioVersion=12.0, it solved my problem in integration with Jenkins

[Pogrindis]

Thank you SO much, this solved my issue when building nodeJS node-gyp the Cpp default.props was not found! +1

[WEFX]

Where can I see my "VisualStudioVersion" ?

[Scott]

@WEFX view the environment variables by selecting System from the Control Panel, then select Advanced system settings, and finally click Environment Variables

[Mohammed EL KALAKHI]

I used "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\MSBuild.exe" instead of "C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\MSBuild.exe" and its worked

[Matthew Beck]

Yeah, I'm using an SSDT project (.sqlproj), with VisualStudioVersion = 14.0 in the project file. I installed core 3.1, which set my env vars for the targets to God only knows where. Using the msbuild in the folder you suggested worked like a charm!

[Raf]

You will have a risk that your solution will not be published with latest changes inside.

[Raf]

You will have a risk that your solution will not be published with latest changes inside.