Path to MSBuild

Question

How can I programatically get the path to MSBuild from a machine where my  exe is running   I can get the  NET version from the Environment but is there a way of getting the correct folder for a  NET version

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To retrieve path of msbuild 15  Visual Studio 2017  with batch from registry w o additional tools   set regKey HKLM SOFTWARE WOW6432Node Microsoft VisualStudio SxS VS7 set regValue 15 0 for  f  skip 2 tokens 3      A in   reg exe query  regKey   v  regValue  2  gt nul   do       set vs17path   A   B   set msbuild15path    vs17path  MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe   Better available tools    vswhere  Locate Visual Studio 2017 and newer installations  see get msbuild15 path with batch  uses hardcoded path as my snippet above   Visual Studio Setup PowerShell Module by using Microsoft VisualStudio Workload MSBuildTools

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Instructions for finding MSBuild   PowerShell   amp  quot   env ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio Installer vswhere exe quot  -latest -prerelease -products   -requires Microsoft Component MSBuild -find MSBuild    Bin MSBuild exe CMD   quot  ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio Installer vswhere exe quot  -latest -prerelease -products   -requires Microsoft Component MSBuild -find MSBuild    Bin MSBuild exe  Instructions for finding VSTest   PowerShell   amp  quot   env ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio Installer vswhere exe quot  -latest -prerelease -products   -requires Microsoft VisualStudio PackageGroup TestTools Core -find Common7 IDE CommonExtensions Microsoft TestWindow vstest console exe CMD   quot  ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio Installer vswhere exe quot  -latest -prerelease -products   -requires Microsoft VisualStudio PackageGroup TestTools Core -find Common7 IDE CommonExtensions Microsoft TestWindow vstest console exe   Note that the instructions above are slightly modified from Microsoft s official ones  In particular  I ve included the -prerelease flag to allow Preview and RC installations to be picked up  and the -products   to detect Visual Studio Build Tools installations    It only took over two years but finally in 2019  Microsoft has listened and given us a way to find these vital executables  If you have Visual Studio 2017 and or 2019 installed  the vswhere utility can be queried for the location of MSBuild et al  Since vswhere is guaranteed by Microsoft to be located at  ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio Installer vswhere exe  there is no bootstrapping and no path hardcoding required anymore  The magic is the -find parameter  added in version 2 6 2  You can determine the version you have installed by running vswhere  or checking its file properties  If you have an older version  you can simply download the latest one and overwrite the existing  ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio Installer vswhere exe  vswhere exe is a standalone executable  so you can download and run it from anywhere you have an internet connection  That means your build scripts can check if the environment they re running on is setup correctly  to name one option

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On Windows 2003 and later  type this command in cmd   cmd gt  where MSBuild Sample result  C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework v4 0 30319 MSBuild exe   If nothing appears  it means that  NET framework is not included in the system PATH  The MSBuild should be in the  NET installation folder  along with  NET compilers  vbc exe  csc exe

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This works for Visual Studio 2015 and 2017   function Get-MSBuild-Path         vs14key    HKLM  SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 14 0       vs15key    HKLM  SOFTWARE wow6432node Microsoft VisualStudio SxS VS7        msbuildPath           if  Test-Path  vs14key             key   Get-ItemProperty  vs14key          subkey    key MSBuildToolsPath         if   subkey                 msbuildPath   Join-Path  subkey  msbuild exe                       if  Test-Path  vs15key             key   Get-ItemProperty  vs15key          subkey    key  15 0          if   subkey                 msbuildPath   Join-Path  subkey  MSBuild 15 0 bin amd64 msbuild exe                       return  msbuildPath

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An one-liner based on  dh cgn s answer    Resolve-Path   io path   combine   env ProgramFiles x86     Microsoft Visual Studio              MSBuild          bin     msbuild exe     Path  It selects all existing paths paths of eg  C  Program Files  x86  Microsoft Visual Studio     MSBuild   bin msbuild exe   The wildcards stars are    the year  2017  the visual studio edition  community  professional  enterprise  the tools version  15 0    Be aware that this command is selecting the first path that matches the expression ordered by alphabet  To narrow it down just replace the wildcards with specific elements eg  the year or tools version

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The Registry locations   HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 2 0 HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 3 5   give the location for the executable   But if you need the location where to save the Task extensions  it s on    ProgramFiles  MSBuild

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This powershell method gets the path to msBuild from multiple sources  Trying in order    First using vswhere  because Visual Studio seems to have more up to date versions of msBuild  e g   C  Program Files  x86  Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 Professional MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe  If not found trying the registry  framework version  e g   C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework64 v4 0 30319 msbuild exe    Powershell code   Function GetMsBuildPath        Function GetMsBuildPathFromVswhere             Based on https   github com microsoft vswhere wiki Find-MSBuild 62adac8eb22431fa91d94e03503d76d48a74939c          vswhere      env ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio Installer vswhere exe           path    amp   vswhere -latest -prerelease -products   -requires Microsoft Component MSBuild -property installationPath         if   path                 tool   join-path  path  MSBuild Current Bin MSBuild exe              if  test-path  tool                    return  tool                            tool   join-path  path  MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe              if  test-path  tool                    return  tool                                    Function GetMsBuildPathFromRegistry             Based on Martin Brandl s answer  https   stackoverflow com a 57214958 146513          msBuildDir   Get-ChildItem  HKLM  SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions                 Get-ItemProperty -Name MSBuildToolsPath               Sort-Object PSChildName               Select-Object -ExpandProperty MSBuildToolsPath -last 1          msBuildPath   join-path  msBuildDir  msbuild exe          if  test-path  msBuildPath                return  msBuildPath                       msBuildPath   GetMsBuildPathFromVswhere     if  -Not  msBuildPath             msBuildPath   GetMsBuildPathFromRegistry           return  msBuildPath

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For Visual Studio 2017 without knowing the exact edition you could use this in a batch script   FOR  F  tokens   USEBACKQ    F IN   where  r   PROGRAMFILES x86   Microsoft Visual  Studio 2017  msbuild exe    findstr  v  i  amd64    DO  SET msbuildpath   F    The findstr command is to ignore certain msbuild executables  in this example the amd64

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On Windows 2003 and later  type this command in cmd   cmd gt  where MSBuild Sample result  C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework v4 0 30319 MSBuild exe   If nothing appears  it means that  NET framework is not included in the system PATH  The MSBuild should be in the  NET installation folder  along with  NET compilers  vbc exe  csc exe

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easiest way might be to open PowerShell and enter   dir HKLM  SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions

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This works for Visual Studio 2015 and 2017   function Get-MSBuild-Path         vs14key    HKLM  SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 14 0       vs15key    HKLM  SOFTWARE wow6432node Microsoft VisualStudio SxS VS7        msbuildPath           if  Test-Path  vs14key             key   Get-ItemProperty  vs14key          subkey    key MSBuildToolsPath         if   subkey                 msbuildPath   Join-Path  subkey  msbuild exe                       if  Test-Path  vs15key             key   Get-ItemProperty  vs15key          subkey    key  15 0          if   subkey                 msbuildPath   Join-Path  subkey  MSBuild 15 0 bin amd64 msbuild exe                       return  msbuildPath

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There are many correct answers  However  here a One-Liner in PowerShell I use to determine the MSBuild path for the most recent version   Get-ChildItem  HKLM  SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions          Get-ItemProperty -Name MSBuildToolsPath        Sort-Object PSChildName        Select-Object -ExpandProperty MSBuildToolsPath -first 1

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The Registry locations   HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 2 0 HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 3 5   give the location for the executable   But if you need the location where to save the Task extensions  it s on    ProgramFiles  MSBuild

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Starting with MSBuild 2017  v15   MSBuild is now installed in a folder under each version of Visual Studio  Here are some examples of where MSBuild exe is found on my machine   C  windows Microsoft NET Framework v2 0 50727 MSBuild exe   v2 0 50727 8745  32-bit  C  windows Microsoft NET Framework64 v2 0 50727 MSBuild exe   v2 0 50727 8745  64-bit  C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework v3 5 MSBuild exe   v3 5 30729 8763 32-bit  C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework64 v3 5 MSBuild exe   v3 5 30729 8763 64-bit  C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework v4 0 30319 MSBuild exe   v4 7 2053 0 32-bit  C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework64 v4 0 30319 MSBuild exe   v4 7 2053 0 64-bit  C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 12 0 Bin MSBuild exe   v12 0 21005 1 32-bit  C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 12 0 Bin amd64 MSBuild exe  v12 0 21005 1 64-bit  C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 14 0 Bin MSBuild exe   v14 0 25420 1 32-bit  C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 14 0 Bin amd64 MSBuild exe   v14 0 25420 1 64-bit  C  Program Files  x86  Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 BuildTools MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe   v15 1 1012 g251a9aec17 32-bit  C  Program Files  x86  Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 BuildTools MSBuild 15 0 Bin amd64 MSBuild exe  v15 1 1012 g251a9aec17 64-bit  C  Program Files  x86  Microsoft Visual Studio 2017  LicenceName  MSBuild Bin MSBuild exe  v15 1 1012 6693 32-bit  C  Program Files  x86  Microsoft Visual Studio 2017  LicenceName  MSBuild Bin amd64 MSBuild exe  v15 1 1012 6693 64-bit

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For Visual Studio 2017 without knowing the exact edition you could use this in a batch script   FOR  F  tokens   USEBACKQ    F IN   where  r   PROGRAMFILES x86   Microsoft Visual  Studio 2017  msbuild exe    findstr  v  i  amd64    DO  SET msbuildpath   F    The findstr command is to ignore certain msbuild executables  in this example the amd64

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Get latest version of MsBuild  Best way  for all types of msbuild installation  for different processor architecture  Power Shell    function Get-MsBuild-Path        msbuildPathes    null      ptrSize    System IntPtr   Size     switch   ptrSize            4                msbuildPathes                 Resolve-Path    Env ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio     MSBuild   Bin msbuild exe  -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue                  Resolve-Path    Env ProgramFiles x86   MSBuild   Bin MSBuild exe  -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue                  Resolve-Path    Env windir  Microsoft NET Framework   MSBuild exe  -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue                    8                msbuildPathes                 Resolve-Path    Env ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio     MSBuild   Bin amd64 msbuild exe  -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue                  Resolve-Path    Env ProgramFiles x86   MSBuild   Bin amd64 MSBuild exe  -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue                  Resolve-Path    Env windir  Microsoft NET Framework64   MSBuild exe  -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue                    default               throw   msgs error unknown pointersize -f  ptrSize                        latestMSBuildPath    null      latestVersion    null     foreach   msbuildFile in  msbuildPathes                 msbuildPath    msbuildFile Path          versionOutput    amp   msbuildPath -version          fileVersion    New-Object System Version  versionOutput  versionOutput Length - 1            if    latestVersion -or  latestVersion -lt  fileVersion                         latestVersion    fileVersion              latestMSBuildPath    msbuildPath                      Write-Host  MSBuild version detected   latestVersion  -Foreground Yellow     Write-Host  MSBuild path   latestMSBuildPath  -Foreground Yellow      return  latestMSBuildPath

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There are many correct answers  However  here a One-Liner in PowerShell I use to determine the MSBuild path for the most recent version   Get-ChildItem  HKLM  SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions          Get-ItemProperty -Name MSBuildToolsPath        Sort-Object PSChildName        Select-Object -ExpandProperty MSBuildToolsPath -first 1

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AllenSanborn has a great powershell version  but some folks have a requirement to use only batch scripts for builds   This is an applied version of what  bono8106 answered   msbuildpath bat   echo off  reg exe query  HKLM SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 14 0   v MSBuildToolsPath  gt  nul 2 gt  amp 1 if ERRORLEVEL 1 goto MissingMSBuildRegistry  for  f  skip 2 tokens 2      A in   reg exe query  HKLM SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 14 0   v MSBuildToolsPath   do SET  MSBUILDDIR   B   IF NOT EXIST   MSBUILDDIR   goto MissingMSBuildToolsPath IF NOT EXIST   MSBUILDDIR msbuild exe  goto MissingMSBuildExe  exit  b 0  goto eof   ERRORS   ---------------------  MissingMSBuildRegistry echo Cannot obtain path to MSBuild tools from registry goto eof  MissingMSBuildToolsPath echo The MSBuild tools path from the registry   MSBUILDDIR   does not exist goto eof  MissingMSBuildExe echo The MSBuild executable could not be found at   MSBUILDDIR   goto eof   build bat   echo off call msbuildpath bat   MSBUILDDIR msbuild exe  foo csproj  p Configuration Release   For Visual Studio 2017   MSBuild 15  Aziz Atif  the guy who wrote Elmah  wrote a batch script  build cmd Release Foo csproj   https   github com linqpadless LinqPadless blob master build cmd   echo off setlocal if   PROCESSOR ARCHITECTURE     x86  set PROGRAMS  ProgramFiles  if defined ProgramFiles x86  set PROGRAMS  ProgramFiles x86   for   e in  Community Professional Enterprise  do       if exist   PROGRAMS  Microsoft Visual Studio 2017   e MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe            set  MSBUILD  PROGRAMS  Microsoft Visual Studio 2017   e MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe          if exist   MSBUILD   goto  restore set MSBUILD  for   i in  MSBuild exe  do set MSBUILD    dpnx PATH i if not defined MSBUILD goto  nomsbuild set MSBUILD VERSION MAJOR  set MSBUILD VERSION MINOR  for  f  delims   tokens 1 2 3 4    m in   msbuild  version  nologo   do       set MSBUILD VERSION MAJOR   m     set MSBUILD VERSION MINOR   n   if not defined MSBUILD VERSION MAJOR goto  nomsbuild if not defined MSBUILD VERSION MINOR goto  nomsbuild if  MSBUILD VERSION MAJOR  lss 15    goto  nomsbuild if  MSBUILD VERSION MINOR  lss 1     goto  nomsbuild  restore for   i in  NuGet exe  do set nuget    dpnx PATH i if   nuget             echo WARNING  NuGet executable not found in PATH so build may fail      echo For more on NuGet  see https   github com nuget home   pushd    dp0  nuget restore     amp  amp  call  build Debug          amp  amp  call  build Release    popd goto  EOF   build setlocal   MSBUILD    p Configuration  1  v m  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 goto  EOF   nomsbuild echo Microsoft Build version 15 1  or later  does not appear to be echo installed on this machine  which is required to build the solution  exit  b 1

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You can use this very trial PowerShell Command to get the MSBuildToolsPath from the registry   PowerShell  from registry   Resolve-Path HKLM  SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions      Get-ItemProperty -Name MSBuildToolsPath   Output  MSBuildToolsPath   C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 12 0 bin amd64  PSPath             Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 12 0 PSParentPath       Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions PSChildName        12 0 PSDrive            HKLM PSProvider         Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  MSBuildToolsPath   C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 14 0 bin amd64  PSPath             Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 14 0 PSParentPath       Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions PSChildName        14 0 PSDrive            HKLM PSProvider         Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  MSBuildToolsPath   C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework64 v2 0 50727  PSPath             Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 2 0 PSParentPath       Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions PSChildName        2 0 PSDrive            HKLM PSProvider         Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  MSBuildToolsPath   C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework64 v3 5  PSPath             Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 3 5 PSParentPath       Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions PSChildName        3 5 PSDrive            HKLM PSProvider         Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  MSBuildToolsPath   C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework64 v4 0 30319  PSPath             Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 4 0 PSParentPath       Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions PSChildName        4 0 PSDrive            HKLM PSProvider         Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry   or from the filesystem  PowerShell  from file system   Resolve-Path  C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild   Bin amd64 MSBuild exe  Resolve-Path  C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild   Bin MSBuild exe    Output  Path ---- C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 12 0 Bin amd64 MSBuild exe C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 14 0 Bin amd64 MSBuild exe C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 12 0 Bin MSBuild exe C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 14 0 Bin MSBuild exe

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For cmd shell scripting in Windows 7  I use the following fragment in my batch file to find MSBuild exe in the  NET Framework version 4  I assume version 4 is present  but don t assume the sub-version  This isn t totally general-purpose  but for quick scripts it may be helpful   set msbuild exe  for  D   D in   SYSTEMROOT  Microsoft NET Framework v4   do set msbuild exe   D MSBuild exe   For my uses I m exiting the batch file with an error if that didn t work   if not defined msbuild exe echo error  can t find MSBuild exe  amp  goto  eof if not exist   msbuild exe   echo error   msbuild exe   not found  amp  goto  eof

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To retrieve path of msbuild 15  Visual Studio 2017  with batch from registry w o additional tools   set regKey HKLM SOFTWARE WOW6432Node Microsoft VisualStudio SxS VS7 set regValue 15 0 for  f  skip 2 tokens 3      A in   reg exe query  regKey   v  regValue  2  gt nul   do       set vs17path   A   B   set msbuild15path    vs17path  MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe   Better available tools    vswhere  Locate Visual Studio 2017 and newer installations  see get msbuild15 path with batch  uses hardcoded path as my snippet above   Visual Studio Setup PowerShell Module by using Microsoft VisualStudio Workload MSBuildTools

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Get latest version of MsBuild  Best way  for all types of msbuild installation  for different processor architecture  Power Shell    function Get-MsBuild-Path        msbuildPathes    null      ptrSize    System IntPtr   Size     switch   ptrSize            4                msbuildPathes                 Resolve-Path    Env ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio     MSBuild   Bin msbuild exe  -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue                  Resolve-Path    Env ProgramFiles x86   MSBuild   Bin MSBuild exe  -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue                  Resolve-Path    Env windir  Microsoft NET Framework   MSBuild exe  -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue                    8                msbuildPathes                 Resolve-Path    Env ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio     MSBuild   Bin amd64 msbuild exe  -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue                  Resolve-Path    Env ProgramFiles x86   MSBuild   Bin amd64 MSBuild exe  -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue                  Resolve-Path    Env windir  Microsoft NET Framework64   MSBuild exe  -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue                    default               throw   msgs error unknown pointersize -f  ptrSize                        latestMSBuildPath    null      latestVersion    null     foreach   msbuildFile in  msbuildPathes                 msbuildPath    msbuildFile Path          versionOutput    amp   msbuildPath -version          fileVersion    New-Object System Version  versionOutput  versionOutput Length - 1            if    latestVersion -or  latestVersion -lt  fileVersion                         latestVersion    fileVersion              latestMSBuildPath    msbuildPath                      Write-Host  MSBuild version detected   latestVersion  -Foreground Yellow     Write-Host  MSBuild path   latestMSBuildPath  -Foreground Yellow      return  latestMSBuildPath

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The Registry locations   HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 2 0 HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 3 5   give the location for the executable   But if you need the location where to save the Task extensions  it s on    ProgramFiles  MSBuild

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Starting with MSBuild 2017  v15   MSBuild is now installed in a folder under each version of Visual Studio  Here are some examples of where MSBuild exe is found on my machine   C  windows Microsoft NET Framework v2 0 50727 MSBuild exe   v2 0 50727 8745  32-bit  C  windows Microsoft NET Framework64 v2 0 50727 MSBuild exe   v2 0 50727 8745  64-bit  C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework v3 5 MSBuild exe   v3 5 30729 8763 32-bit  C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework64 v3 5 MSBuild exe   v3 5 30729 8763 64-bit  C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework v4 0 30319 MSBuild exe   v4 7 2053 0 32-bit  C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework64 v4 0 30319 MSBuild exe   v4 7 2053 0 64-bit  C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 12 0 Bin MSBuild exe   v12 0 21005 1 32-bit  C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 12 0 Bin amd64 MSBuild exe  v12 0 21005 1 64-bit  C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 14 0 Bin MSBuild exe   v14 0 25420 1 32-bit  C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 14 0 Bin amd64 MSBuild exe   v14 0 25420 1 64-bit  C  Program Files  x86  Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 BuildTools MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe   v15 1 1012 g251a9aec17 32-bit  C  Program Files  x86  Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 BuildTools MSBuild 15 0 Bin amd64 MSBuild exe  v15 1 1012 g251a9aec17 64-bit  C  Program Files  x86  Microsoft Visual Studio 2017  LicenceName  MSBuild Bin MSBuild exe  v15 1 1012 6693 32-bit  C  Program Files  x86  Microsoft Visual Studio 2017  LicenceName  MSBuild Bin amd64 MSBuild exe  v15 1 1012 6693 64-bit

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Poking around the registry  it looks like  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 2 0 HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 3 5 HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 4 0   may be what you re after  fire up regedit exe and have a look   Query via command line  per Nikolay Botev   reg exe query  HKLM SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 4 0   v MSBuildToolsPath   Query via PowerShell  per MovGP0   dir HKLM  SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions

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If you want to use MSBuild for  Net 4 then you can use the following PowerShell command to get the executable s path  If you want version 2 0 or 3 5 then just change the  dotNetVersion variable   To run the executable you ll need to prepend the  msbuild variable with  amp   That will execute the variable      valid versions are  2 0  3 5  4 0   dotNetVersion    4 0   regKey    HKLM  software Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions  dotNetVersion   regProperty    MSBuildToolsPath    msbuildExe   join-path -path  Get-ItemProperty  regKey   regProperty -childpath  msbuild exe    amp  msbuildExe

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add vswhere branch for https   github com linqpadless LinqPadless blob master build cmd  works fine in my computer  and the vswhere branch works on my mate s computer  May be  the vswhere branch should move forward as the first check    echo off setlocal if   PROCESSOR ARCHITECTURE     x86  set PROGRAMS  ProgramFiles  if defined ProgramFiles x86  set PROGRAMS  ProgramFiles x86   for   e in  Community Professional Enterprise  do       if exist   PROGRAMS  Microsoft Visual Studio 2017   e MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe            set  MSBUILD  PROGRAMS  Microsoft Visual Studio 2017   e MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe          if exist   MSBUILD   goto  build  for  f  usebackq tokens 1  delims       i in     ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio Installer vswhere exe  -latest -requires Microsoft Component MSBuild   do     if  i    i    installationPath  set InstallDir   j    if exist   InstallDir  MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe      set  MSBUILD  InstallDir  MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe    if exist   MSBUILD   goto  build set MSBUILD  for   i in  MSBuild exe  do set MSBUILD    dpnx PATH i if not defined MSBUILD goto  nomsbuild set MSBUILD VERSION MAJOR  set MSBUILD VERSION MINOR  for  f  delims   tokens 1 2 3 4    m in   msbuild  version  nologo   do       set MSBUILD VERSION MAJOR   m     set MSBUILD VERSION MINOR   n   echo  MSBUILD VERSION MAJOR   MSBUILD VERSION MINOR  if not defined MSBUILD VERSION MAJOR goto  nomsbuild if not defined MSBUILD VERSION MINOR goto  nomsbuild if  MSBUILD VERSION MAJOR  lss 15    goto  nomsbuild if  MSBUILD VERSION MINOR  lss 1     goto  nomsbuild  restore for   i in  NuGet exe  do set nuget    dpnx PATH i if   nuget             echo WARNING  NuGet executable not found in PATH so build may fail      echo For more on NuGet  see https   github com nuget home   pushd    dp0  popd goto  EOF   build setlocal   MSBUILD   -restore -maxcpucount  1  p Configuration  2  v m  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 goto  EOF   nomsbuild echo Microsoft Build version 15 1  or later  does not appear to be echo installed on this machine  which is required to build the solution  exit  b 1

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You wouldn t think there s much to add here  but perhaps it s time for a unified way of doing this across all versions  I ve combined the registry-query approach  VS2015 and below  with use of vswhere  VS2017 and above  to come up with this   function Find-MsBuild       Write-Host  Using VSWhere to find msbuild          path    amp   vswhere -latest -requires Microsoft Component MSBuild -find MSBuild    Bin MSBuild exe   select-object -first 1      if    path            Write-Host  No results from VSWhere  using registry key query to find msbuild  note this will find pre-VS2017 versions               path   Resolve-Path HKLM  SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions                         Get-ItemProperty -Name MSBuildToolsPath                       sort -Property    Expression    double   Parse    PSChildName     Descending  true                         select -exp MSBuildToolsPath -First 1                       Join-Path -ChildPath  msbuild exe             if    path            throw  Unable to find path to msbuild exe             if    Test-Path  path             throw  Found path to msbuild as  path  but file does not exist there             Write-Host  Using MSBuild at  path         return  path

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This powershell method gets the path to msBuild from multiple sources  Trying in order    First using vswhere  because Visual Studio seems to have more up to date versions of msBuild  e g   C  Program Files  x86  Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 Professional MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe  If not found trying the registry  framework version  e g   C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework64 v4 0 30319 msbuild exe    Powershell code   Function GetMsBuildPath        Function GetMsBuildPathFromVswhere             Based on https   github com microsoft vswhere wiki Find-MSBuild 62adac8eb22431fa91d94e03503d76d48a74939c          vswhere      env ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio Installer vswhere exe           path    amp   vswhere -latest -prerelease -products   -requires Microsoft Component MSBuild -property installationPath         if   path                 tool   join-path  path  MSBuild Current Bin MSBuild exe              if  test-path  tool                    return  tool                            tool   join-path  path  MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe              if  test-path  tool                    return  tool                                    Function GetMsBuildPathFromRegistry             Based on Martin Brandl s answer  https   stackoverflow com a 57214958 146513          msBuildDir   Get-ChildItem  HKLM  SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions                 Get-ItemProperty -Name MSBuildToolsPath               Sort-Object PSChildName               Select-Object -ExpandProperty MSBuildToolsPath -last 1          msBuildPath   join-path  msBuildDir  msbuild exe          if  test-path  msBuildPath                return  msBuildPath                       msBuildPath   GetMsBuildPathFromVswhere     if  -Not  msBuildPath             msBuildPath   GetMsBuildPathFromRegistry           return  msBuildPath

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If you want to use MSBuild for  Net 4 then you can use the following PowerShell command to get the executable s path  If you want version 2 0 or 3 5 then just change the  dotNetVersion variable   To run the executable you ll need to prepend the  msbuild variable with  amp   That will execute the variable      valid versions are  2 0  3 5  4 0   dotNetVersion    4 0   regKey    HKLM  software Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions  dotNetVersion   regProperty    MSBuildToolsPath    msbuildExe   join-path -path  Get-ItemProperty  regKey   regProperty -childpath  msbuild exe    amp  msbuildExe

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You can use this very trial PowerShell Command to get the MSBuildToolsPath from the registry   PowerShell  from registry   Resolve-Path HKLM  SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions      Get-ItemProperty -Name MSBuildToolsPath   Output  MSBuildToolsPath   C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 12 0 bin amd64  PSPath             Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 12 0 PSParentPath       Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions PSChildName        12 0 PSDrive            HKLM PSProvider         Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  MSBuildToolsPath   C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 14 0 bin amd64  PSPath             Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 14 0 PSParentPath       Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions PSChildName        14 0 PSDrive            HKLM PSProvider         Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  MSBuildToolsPath   C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework64 v2 0 50727  PSPath             Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 2 0 PSParentPath       Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions PSChildName        2 0 PSDrive            HKLM PSProvider         Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  MSBuildToolsPath   C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework64 v3 5  PSPath             Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 3 5 PSParentPath       Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions PSChildName        3 5 PSDrive            HKLM PSProvider         Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  MSBuildToolsPath   C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework64 v4 0 30319  PSPath             Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 4 0 PSParentPath       Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions PSChildName        4 0 PSDrive            HKLM PSProvider         Microsoft PowerShell Core Registry   or from the filesystem  PowerShell  from file system   Resolve-Path  C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild   Bin amd64 MSBuild exe  Resolve-Path  C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild   Bin MSBuild exe    Output  Path ---- C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 12 0 Bin amd64 MSBuild exe C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 14 0 Bin amd64 MSBuild exe C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 12 0 Bin MSBuild exe C  Program Files  x86  MSBuild 14 0 Bin MSBuild exe

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easiest way might be to open PowerShell and enter   dir HKLM  SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions

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If you are adventurous you can also get the source code and latest release of MsBuild from GitHub now at https   github com Microsoft msbuild releases

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AllenSanborn has a great powershell version  but some folks have a requirement to use only batch scripts for builds   This is an applied version of what  bono8106 answered   msbuildpath bat   echo off  reg exe query  HKLM SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 14 0   v MSBuildToolsPath  gt  nul 2 gt  amp 1 if ERRORLEVEL 1 goto MissingMSBuildRegistry  for  f  skip 2 tokens 2      A in   reg exe query  HKLM SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 14 0   v MSBuildToolsPath   do SET  MSBUILDDIR   B   IF NOT EXIST   MSBUILDDIR   goto MissingMSBuildToolsPath IF NOT EXIST   MSBUILDDIR msbuild exe  goto MissingMSBuildExe  exit  b 0  goto eof   ERRORS   ---------------------  MissingMSBuildRegistry echo Cannot obtain path to MSBuild tools from registry goto eof  MissingMSBuildToolsPath echo The MSBuild tools path from the registry   MSBUILDDIR   does not exist goto eof  MissingMSBuildExe echo The MSBuild executable could not be found at   MSBUILDDIR   goto eof   build bat   echo off call msbuildpath bat   MSBUILDDIR msbuild exe  foo csproj  p Configuration Release   For Visual Studio 2017   MSBuild 15  Aziz Atif  the guy who wrote Elmah  wrote a batch script  build cmd Release Foo csproj   https   github com linqpadless LinqPadless blob master build cmd   echo off setlocal if   PROCESSOR ARCHITECTURE     x86  set PROGRAMS  ProgramFiles  if defined ProgramFiles x86  set PROGRAMS  ProgramFiles x86   for   e in  Community Professional Enterprise  do       if exist   PROGRAMS  Microsoft Visual Studio 2017   e MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe            set  MSBUILD  PROGRAMS  Microsoft Visual Studio 2017   e MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe          if exist   MSBUILD   goto  restore set MSBUILD  for   i in  MSBuild exe  do set MSBUILD    dpnx PATH i if not defined MSBUILD goto  nomsbuild set MSBUILD VERSION MAJOR  set MSBUILD VERSION MINOR  for  f  delims   tokens 1 2 3 4    m in   msbuild  version  nologo   do       set MSBUILD VERSION MAJOR   m     set MSBUILD VERSION MINOR   n   if not defined MSBUILD VERSION MAJOR goto  nomsbuild if not defined MSBUILD VERSION MINOR goto  nomsbuild if  MSBUILD VERSION MAJOR  lss 15    goto  nomsbuild if  MSBUILD VERSION MINOR  lss 1     goto  nomsbuild  restore for   i in  NuGet exe  do set nuget    dpnx PATH i if   nuget             echo WARNING  NuGet executable not found in PATH so build may fail      echo For more on NuGet  see https   github com nuget home   pushd    dp0  nuget restore     amp  amp  call  build Debug          amp  amp  call  build Release    popd goto  EOF   build setlocal   MSBUILD    p Configuration  1  v m  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 goto  EOF   nomsbuild echo Microsoft Build version 15 1  or later  does not appear to be echo installed on this machine  which is required to build the solution  exit  b 1

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You can also print the path of MSBuild exe to the command line   reg exe query  HKLM SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 4 0   v MSBuildToolsPath

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An one-liner based on  dh cgn s answer    Resolve-Path   io path   combine   env ProgramFiles x86     Microsoft Visual Studio              MSBuild          bin     msbuild exe     Path  It selects all existing paths paths of eg  C  Program Files  x86  Microsoft Visual Studio     MSBuild   bin msbuild exe   The wildcards stars are    the year  2017  the visual studio edition  community  professional  enterprise  the tools version  15 0    Be aware that this command is selecting the first path that matches the expression ordered by alphabet  To narrow it down just replace the wildcards with specific elements eg  the year or tools version

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Poking around the registry  it looks like  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 2 0 HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 3 5 HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 4 0   may be what you re after  fire up regedit exe and have a look   Query via command line  per Nikolay Botev   reg exe query  HKLM SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 4 0   v MSBuildToolsPath   Query via PowerShell  per MovGP0   dir HKLM  SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions

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Poking around the registry  it looks like  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 2 0 HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 3 5 HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 4 0   may be what you re after  fire up regedit exe and have a look   Query via command line  per Nikolay Botev   reg exe query  HKLM SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 4 0   v MSBuildToolsPath   Query via PowerShell  per MovGP0   dir HKLM  SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions

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If you are adventurous you can also get the source code and latest release of MsBuild from GitHub now at https   github com Microsoft msbuild releases

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Instructions for finding MSBuild   PowerShell   amp  quot   env ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio Installer vswhere exe quot  -latest -prerelease -products   -requires Microsoft Component MSBuild -find MSBuild    Bin MSBuild exe CMD   quot  ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio Installer vswhere exe quot  -latest -prerelease -products   -requires Microsoft Component MSBuild -find MSBuild    Bin MSBuild exe  Instructions for finding VSTest   PowerShell   amp  quot   env ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio Installer vswhere exe quot  -latest -prerelease -products   -requires Microsoft VisualStudio PackageGroup TestTools Core -find Common7 IDE CommonExtensions Microsoft TestWindow vstest console exe CMD   quot  ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio Installer vswhere exe quot  -latest -prerelease -products   -requires Microsoft VisualStudio PackageGroup TestTools Core -find Common7 IDE CommonExtensions Microsoft TestWindow vstest console exe   Note that the instructions above are slightly modified from Microsoft s official ones  In particular  I ve included the -prerelease flag to allow Preview and RC installations to be picked up  and the -products   to detect Visual Studio Build Tools installations    It only took over two years but finally in 2019  Microsoft has listened and given us a way to find these vital executables  If you have Visual Studio 2017 and or 2019 installed  the vswhere utility can be queried for the location of MSBuild et al  Since vswhere is guaranteed by Microsoft to be located at  ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio Installer vswhere exe  there is no bootstrapping and no path hardcoding required anymore  The magic is the -find parameter  added in version 2 6 2  You can determine the version you have installed by running vswhere  or checking its file properties  If you have an older version  you can simply download the latest one and overwrite the existing  ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio Installer vswhere exe  vswhere exe is a standalone executable  so you can download and run it from anywhere you have an internet connection  That means your build scripts can check if the environment they re running on is setup correctly  to name one option

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add vswhere branch for https   github com linqpadless LinqPadless blob master build cmd  works fine in my computer  and the vswhere branch works on my mate s computer  May be  the vswhere branch should move forward as the first check    echo off setlocal if   PROCESSOR ARCHITECTURE     x86  set PROGRAMS  ProgramFiles  if defined ProgramFiles x86  set PROGRAMS  ProgramFiles x86   for   e in  Community Professional Enterprise  do       if exist   PROGRAMS  Microsoft Visual Studio 2017   e MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe            set  MSBUILD  PROGRAMS  Microsoft Visual Studio 2017   e MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe          if exist   MSBUILD   goto  build  for  f  usebackq tokens 1  delims       i in     ProgramFiles x86   Microsoft Visual Studio Installer vswhere exe  -latest -requires Microsoft Component MSBuild   do     if  i    i    installationPath  set InstallDir   j    if exist   InstallDir  MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe      set  MSBUILD  InstallDir  MSBuild 15 0 Bin MSBuild exe    if exist   MSBUILD   goto  build set MSBUILD  for   i in  MSBuild exe  do set MSBUILD    dpnx PATH i if not defined MSBUILD goto  nomsbuild set MSBUILD VERSION MAJOR  set MSBUILD VERSION MINOR  for  f  delims   tokens 1 2 3 4    m in   msbuild  version  nologo   do       set MSBUILD VERSION MAJOR   m     set MSBUILD VERSION MINOR   n   echo  MSBUILD VERSION MAJOR   MSBUILD VERSION MINOR  if not defined MSBUILD VERSION MAJOR goto  nomsbuild if not defined MSBUILD VERSION MINOR goto  nomsbuild if  MSBUILD VERSION MAJOR  lss 15    goto  nomsbuild if  MSBUILD VERSION MINOR  lss 1     goto  nomsbuild  restore for   i in  NuGet exe  do set nuget    dpnx PATH i if   nuget             echo WARNING  NuGet executable not found in PATH so build may fail      echo For more on NuGet  see https   github com nuget home   pushd    dp0  popd goto  EOF   build setlocal   MSBUILD   -restore -maxcpucount  1  p Configuration  2  v m  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 goto  EOF   nomsbuild echo Microsoft Build version 15 1  or later  does not appear to be echo installed on this machine  which is required to build the solution  exit  b 1

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For cmd shell scripting in Windows 7  I use the following fragment in my batch file to find MSBuild exe in the  NET Framework version 4  I assume version 4 is present  but don t assume the sub-version  This isn t totally general-purpose  but for quick scripts it may be helpful   set msbuild exe  for  D   D in   SYSTEMROOT  Microsoft NET Framework v4   do set msbuild exe   D MSBuild exe   For my uses I m exiting the batch file with an error if that didn t work   if not defined msbuild exe echo error  can t find MSBuild exe  amp  goto  eof if not exist   msbuild exe   echo error   msbuild exe   not found  amp  goto  eof

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If You want to compile a Delphi project  look at  quot ERROR MSB4040 There is no target in the project quot  when using msbuild Delphi2009  Correct answer there are said   There is a batch file called rsvars bat  search for it in the RAD Studio folder   Call that before calling MSBuild  and it will setup the necessary environment variables  Make sure the folders are correct in rsvars bat if you have the compiler in a different location to the default    This bat will not only update the PATH environment variable to proper  NET folder with proper MSBuild exe version  but also registers other necessary variables

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You wouldn t think there s much to add here  but perhaps it s time for a unified way of doing this across all versions  I ve combined the registry-query approach  VS2015 and below  with use of vswhere  VS2017 and above  to come up with this   function Find-MsBuild       Write-Host  Using VSWhere to find msbuild          path    amp   vswhere -latest -requires Microsoft Component MSBuild -find MSBuild    Bin MSBuild exe   select-object -first 1      if    path            Write-Host  No results from VSWhere  using registry key query to find msbuild  note this will find pre-VS2017 versions               path   Resolve-Path HKLM  SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions                         Get-ItemProperty -Name MSBuildToolsPath                       sort -Property    Expression    double   Parse    PSChildName     Descending  true                         select -exp MSBuildToolsPath -First 1                       Join-Path -ChildPath  msbuild exe             if    path            throw  Unable to find path to msbuild exe             if    Test-Path  path             throw  Found path to msbuild as  path  but file does not exist there             Write-Host  Using MSBuild at  path         return  path

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You can also print the path of MSBuild exe to the command line   reg exe query  HKLM SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 4 0   v MSBuildToolsPath

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The Registry locations   HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 2 0 HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 3 5   give the location for the executable   But if you need the location where to save the Task extensions  it s on    ProgramFiles  MSBuild

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If You want to compile a Delphi project  look at  quot ERROR MSB4040 There is no target in the project quot  when using msbuild Delphi2009  Correct answer there are said   There is a batch file called rsvars bat  search for it in the RAD Studio folder   Call that before calling MSBuild  and it will setup the necessary environment variables  Make sure the folders are correct in rsvars bat if you have the compiler in a different location to the default    This bat will not only update the PATH environment variable to proper  NET folder with proper MSBuild exe version  but also registers other necessary variables

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Poking around the registry  it looks like  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 2 0 HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 3 5 HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 4 0   may be what you re after  fire up regedit exe and have a look   Query via command line  per Nikolay Botev   reg exe query  HKLM SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions 4 0   v MSBuildToolsPath   Query via PowerShell  per MovGP0   dir HKLM  SOFTWARE Microsoft MSBuild ToolsVersions

[.net] Path to MSBuild

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