How do I run msbuild from the command line using Windows SDK 7 1

Question

I m setting up  NET 4 0 support on our CI server  I ve installed  NET 4 0  and the  NET tools from the Windows 7 1 SDK   On  NET 2 0 and 3 5  that just worked  With  NET 4  when I run the  Windows SDK 7 1 Command Prompt  from the Start menu  it complains about   The x86 compilers are not currently installed  x86-x86 Please go to Add Remove Programs to update your installation    Setting SDK environment relative to C  Program Files Microsoft SDKs Windows v7 1    Targeting Windows Server 2008 x86 Debug   Then when I try to run msbuild  I get   C  Program Files Microsoft SDKs Windows v7 1 gt msbuild  msbuild  is not recognized as an internal or external command  operable program or batch file   C  Program Files Microsoft SDKs Windows v7 1 gt    I can t quite believe that installing the runtime and SDK will leave you with a system that can t run msbuild    have I missed some obvious step or obscure Windows Update  or is time to give up and start hacking the system path

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Your bat file could be like   CD C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework64 v4 0 30319  msbuild C  Users mmaratt Desktop BladeTortoise build ALL BUILD vcxproj  PAUSE  EXIT

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The SetEnv cmd script that the  SDK command prompt  shortcut runs checks for cl exe in various places before setting up entries to add to PATH  So it fails to add anything if a native C compiler is not installed   To fix that  apply the following patch to  lt SDK install dir gt  Bin SetEnv cmd  This will also fix missing paths to other tools located in  lt SDK install dir gt  Bin and subfolders  Of course  you can install the C compiler instead to work around this bug   --- SetEnv Cmd  2010-04-27 19 52 00 000000000  0400     SetEnv Cmd  2013-12-02 15 05 30 834400000  0400    -228 10  228 10      IF   CURRENT CPU      x64       IF   TARGET CPU       x64         SET  FxTools  FrameworkDir64   FrameworkVersion   FrameworkDir32  FrameworkVersion   windir  Microsoft NET Framework64 v3 5  windir  Microsoft NET Framework v3 5        SET  SdkTools  WindowsSdkDir Bin NETFX 4 0 Tools x64  WindowsSdkDir Bin x64  WindowsSdkDir Bin        IF EXIST   VCTools  amd64 cl exe           SET  VCTools  VCTools  amd64  VCTools  VCPackages   -      SET  SdkTools  WindowsSdkDir Bin NETFX 4 0 Tools x64  WindowsSdkDir Bin x64  WindowsSdkDir Bin   -      SET  FxTools  FrameworkDir64   FrameworkVersion   FrameworkDir32  FrameworkVersion   windir  Microsoft NET Framework64 v3 5  windir  Microsoft NET Framework v3 5          ELSE          SET VCTools         ECHO The x64 compilers are not currently installed     -239 10  239 10           ECHO               ELSE IF   TARGET CPU       IA64         SET  FxTools  FrameworkDir64   FrameworkVersion   FrameworkDir32  FrameworkVersion   windir  Microsoft NET Framework64 v3 5  windir  Microsoft NET Framework v3 5        SET  SdkTools  WindowsSdkDir Bin NETFX 4 0 Tools x64  WindowsSdkDir Bin x64  WindowsSdkDir Bin        IF EXIST   VCTools  x86 ia64 cl exe           SET  VCTools  VCTools  x86 ia64  VCTools  VCPackages   -      SET  SdkTools  WindowsSdkDir Bin NETFX 4 0 Tools x64  WindowsSdkDir Bin x64  WindowsSdkDir Bin   -      SET  FxTools  FrameworkDir64   FrameworkVersion   FrameworkDir32  FrameworkVersion   windir  Microsoft NET Framework64 v3 5  windir  Microsoft NET Framework v3 5          ELSE          SET VCTools         ECHO The IA64 compilers are not currently installed     -250 10  250 10           ECHO               ELSE IF   TARGET CPU       x86         SET  FxTools  FrameworkDir32  FrameworkVersion   windir  Microsoft NET Framework v3 5        SET  SdkTools  WindowsSdkDir Bin NETFX 4 0 Tools  WindowsSdkDir Bin        IF EXIST   VCTools  cl exe           SET  VCTools  VCTools   VCTools  VCPackages   -      SET  SdkTools  WindowsSdkDir Bin NETFX 4 0 Tools  WindowsSdkDir Bin   -      SET  FxTools  FrameworkDir32  FrameworkVersion   windir  Microsoft NET Framework v3 5          ELSE          SET VCTools         ECHO The x86 compilers are not currently installed     -263 10  263 10            ELSE IF   CURRENT CPU      IA64       IF   TARGET CPU       IA64         SET  FxTools  FrameworkDir64   FrameworkVersion   FrameworkDir32  FrameworkVersion   windir  Microsoft NET Framework64 v3 5  windir  Microsoft NET Framework v3 5        SET  SdkTools  WindowsSdkDir Bin NETFX 4 0 Tools IA64  WindowsSdkDir Bin IA64  WindowsSdkDir Bin        IF EXIST   VCTools  IA64 cl exe           SET  VCTools  VCTools  IA64  VCTools   VCTools  VCPackages   -      SET  SdkTools  WindowsSdkDir Bin NETFX 4 0 Tools IA64  WindowsSdkDir Bin IA64  WindowsSdkDir Bin   -      SET  FxTools  FrameworkDir64   FrameworkVersion   FrameworkDir32  FrameworkVersion   windir  Microsoft NET Framework64 v3 5  windir  Microsoft NET Framework v3 5          ELSE          SET VCTools         ECHO The IA64 compilers are not currently installed     -274 10  274 10           ECHO               ELSE IF   TARGET CPU       x64         SET  FxTools  FrameworkDir64   FrameworkVersion   FrameworkDir32  FrameworkVersion   windir  Microsoft NET Framework64 v3 5  windir  Microsoft NET Framework v3 5        SET  SdkTools  WindowsSdkDir Bin NETFX 4 0 Tools IA64  WindowsSdkDir Bin IA64  WindowsSdkDir Bin        IF EXIST   VCTools  x86 amd64 cl exe           SET  VCTools  VCTools  x86 amd64  VCTools  VCPackages   -      SET  SdkTools  WindowsSdkDir Bin NETFX 4 0 Tools IA64  WindowsSdkDir Bin IA64  WindowsSdkDir Bin   -      SET  FxTools  FrameworkDir64   FrameworkVersion   FrameworkDir32  FrameworkVersion   windir  Microsoft NET Framework64 v3 5  windir  Microsoft NET Framework v3 5          ELSE          SET VCTools         ECHO The VC compilers are not currently installed     -285 10  285 10           ECHO               ELSE IF   TARGET CPU       x86         SET  FxTools  FrameworkDir32  FrameworkVersion   windir  Microsoft NET Framework v3 5        SET  SdkTools  WindowsSdkDir Bin NETFX 4 0 Tools  WindowsSdkDir Bin        IF EXIST   VCTools  cl exe           SET  VCTools  VCTools   VCTools  VCPackages   -      SET  SdkTools  WindowsSdkDir Bin NETFX 4 0 Tools  WindowsSdkDir Bin   -      SET  FxTools  FrameworkDir32  FrameworkVersion   windir  Microsoft NET Framework v3 5          ELSE          SET VCTools         ECHO The x86 compilers are not currently installed     -298 10  298 10            ELSE IF   CURRENT CPU     x86       IF   TARGET CPU       x64         SET  FxTools  FrameworkDir32  FrameworkVersion   windir  Microsoft NET Framework v3 5        SET  SdkTools  WindowsSdkDir Bin NETFX 4 0 Tools  WindowsSdkDir Bin        IF EXIST   VCTools  x86 amd64 cl exe           SET  VCTools  VCTools  x86 amd64  VCTools  VCPackages   -      SET  SdkTools  WindowsSdkDir Bin NETFX 4 0 Tools  WindowsSdkDir Bin   -      SET  FxTools  FrameworkDir32  FrameworkVersion   windir  Microsoft NET Framework v3 5          ELSE          SET VCTools         ECHO The x64 cross compilers are not currently installed     -309 10  309 10           ECHO               ELSE IF   TARGET CPU       IA64         SET  FxTools  FrameworkDir32  FrameworkVersion   windir  Microsoft NET Framework v3 5        SET  SdkTools  WindowsSdkDir Bin NETFX 4 0 Tools  WindowsSdkDir Bin        IF EXIST   VCTools  x86 IA64 cl exe           SET  VCTools  VCTools  x86 IA64  VCTools   VCTools  VCPackages   -      SET  SdkTools  WindowsSdkDir Bin NETFX 4 0 Tools  WindowsSdkDir Bin   -      SET  FxTools  FrameworkDir32  FrameworkVersion   windir  Microsoft NET Framework v3 5          ELSE          SET VCTools         ECHO The IA64 compilers are not currently installed     -320 10  320 10           ECHO               ELSE IF   TARGET CPU       x86         SET  FxTools  FrameworkDir32  FrameworkVersion   windir  Microsoft NET Framework v3 5        SET  SdkTools  WindowsSdkDir Bin NETFX 4 0 Tools  WindowsSdkDir Bin        IF EXIST   VCTools  cl exe           SET  VCTools  VCTools   VCTools  VCPackages   -      SET  SdkTools  WindowsSdkDir Bin NETFX 4 0 Tools  WindowsSdkDir Bin   -      SET  FxTools  FrameworkDir32  FrameworkVersion   windir  Microsoft NET Framework v3 5          ELSE          SET VCTools         ECHO The x86 compilers are not currently installed  x86-x86    -331 15  331 17           ECHO               -  ELSE IF EXIST   VCTools  cl exe    -  SET  VCTools  VCTools   VCTools  VCPackages   -  SET  SdkTools  WindowsSdkDir Bin NETFX 4 0 Tools  WindowsSdkDir Bin   -  SET  FxTools  FrameworkDir32  FrameworkVersion   windir  Microsoft NET Framework v3 5      ELSE   -  SET VCTools  -  ECHO The x86 compilers are not currently installed  default -  ECHO Please go to Add Remove Programs to update your installation  -  ECHO      SET  FxTools  FrameworkDir32  FrameworkVersion   windir  Microsoft NET Framework v3 5      SET  SdkTools  WindowsSdkDir Bin NETFX 4 0 Tools  WindowsSdkDir Bin      IF EXIST   VCTools  cl exe         SET  VCTools  VCTools   VCTools  VCPackages        ELSE        SET VCTools       ECHO The x86 compilers are not currently installed  default      ECHO Please go to Add Remove Programs to update your installation       ECHO                --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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For Visual Studio 2019  Preview  at least  it is now in      C  Program Files  x86  Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 Preview MSBuild Current Bin MSBuild exe   I imagine the process will be similar for the official 2019 release

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To enable msbuild in Command Prompt  you simply have to add the directory of the msbuild exe install on your machine to the PATH environment variable  You can access the environment variables by   Right clicking on Computer Click Properties Then click Advanced system settings on the left navigation bar On the next dialog box click Environment variables Scroll down to PATH Edit it to include your path to the framework  don t forget a  quot   quot  after the last entry in here    For reference  my path was C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework v4 0 30319 Path Updates  As of MSBuild 12  2013  VS 2013  NET 4 5 1  and onward MSBuild is now installed as a part of Visual Studio  For VS2015 the path was  ProgramFiles x86   MSBuild 14 0 Bin For VS2017 the path was  ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 Enterprise MSBuild 15 0 Bin For VS2019 the path was  ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 Community MSBuild Current Bin

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To be able to build with C  6 syntax use this in path      C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 14 0 Bin

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Using the  Developer Command Prompt for Visual Studio 20XX  instead of  cmd  will set the path for msbuild automatically without having to add it to your environment variables

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From Visual Studio 2013 onwards  MSbuild comes as a part of Visual Studio  Earlier  MSBuild was installed as a part of  NET Framework   MSBuild is installed directly under  ProgramFiles   So  the path for MSBuild might be different depending on the version of Visual Studio   For Visual Studio 2015  Path of MSBuild is   ProgramFiles x86   MSBuild 14 0 Bin MSBuild exe   For Visual Studio 15 Preview  Path of MSBuild is   ProgramFiles x86   MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe   Also  Some new MSBuild properties has been added and some have been modified  For more information look here  Update 1  VS 2017  The location for the MSBuild has changed again with the release of Visual Studio 2017  Now the installation directory is under the  ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio 2017  VS Edition  MSBuild 15 0 Bin   Since  i have an Enterprise edition  the MSBuild location for my machine is   ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 Enterprise MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSbuild exe

[.net-4.0] How do I run msbuild from the command line using Windows SDK 7.1?

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