Build c# 6.0 on TFS 2012

Question

How can I build a Visual Studio 2015 solution using C# 6.0 Features at a TFS 2012 without installing Visual Studio 2015 on a build agent (using Microsoft Build Tools 2015 RC)

I Already installed MSBuild Tools but I still get exceptions. How can I Tell my build template to use MSBuild 14 (Only for one project)

And why does my TFS 2012 compile async and await (c# 5.0) without any problems while the BuildAgent only has Visual Studio 2012 installed?

I tried changing the ToolPath of my BuildProcessTemplate to MSBuild/14.0/ but I get a build error:

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Microsoft.CSharp.targets (316): "csc2.exe" exited with code -532462766.

Installing the Microsoft.Net.Compilers 1.0.0-rc2 Compilers gives the same error.

If I compile the project using the command line I get the exact same error / although there is no error on my dev machine when using the command line with the exact same arguments.

This is the Exception I get in the command line:

C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\14.0\bin\csc2.exe /noconfig /nowarn:1701,1702 /nostdlib+ /errorreport:prompt /warn:4 /define:TRACE /highentro.....
     Unhandled Exception: System.InvalidProgramException: Common Language Runtime detected an invalid program.
        at System.Collections.Immutable.SecurePooledObject`1.Use[TCaller](TCaller& caller)
        at System.Collections.Immutable.SortedInt32KeyNode`1.Enumerator.PushLeft(SortedInt32KeyNode`1 node)
        at System.Collections.Immutable.SortedInt32KeyNode`1.Enumerator..ctor(SortedInt32KeyNode`1 root)
        at System.Collections.Immutable.ImmutableDictionary`2.Enumerator..ctor(SortedInt32KeyNode`1 root, Builder builder)
        at Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.RuleSet.GetDiagnosticOptionsFromRulesetFile(Dictionary`2 diagnosticOptions, String resolvedPath, IList`1 diagnosticsOpt, CommonMessageProvider messageProviderOpt)
        at Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.CSharpCommandLineParser.Parse(IEnumerable`1 args, String baseDirectory, String additionalReferencePaths)
        at Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.CSharpCommandLineParser.CommonParse(IEnumerable`1 args, String baseDirectory, String additionalReferencePaths)
        at Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CommonCompiler..ctor(CommandLineParser parser, String responseFile, String[] args, String baseDirectory, String additionalReferencePaths)
        at Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.CSharpCompiler..ctor(CSharpCommandLineParser parser, String responseFile, String[] args, String baseDirectory, String additionalReferencePaths)
        at Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.CommandLine.Csc..ctor(String responseFile, String baseDirectory, String[] args)
        at Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.CommandLine.Csc.Run(String[] args)
        at Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.BuildTasks.BuildClient.RunWithConsoleOutput(String[] args, RequestLanguage language, Func`2 fallbackCompiler)
        at Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.CommandLine.Program.Main(String[] args)
        at Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.CommandLine.Csc2.Main(String[] args)

Do you have the .NET Framework 4.6RC installed on the Build server? — jessehouwing, May 04 '15 at 14:06
no do I need to ? the solution is working with .net 4.5, and the .net 4.6 RC is a in place upgrade potentialy breaking other stuff on the Server — quadroid, May 04 '15 at 14:10
The new Roslyn engine of the compiler framework is built using 4.6. I suspect it needs it to load the assembly. — jessehouwing, May 04 '15 at 14:17
Microsoft says Roslyn is based on 4.5 / only requires 4.5 https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/visual-studio-2015-system-requirements-vs#MBT_RC — quadroid, May 04 '15 at 14:31
Are you using a legacy XAML build agent or a new 2015 agent? — MrHinsh - Martin Hinshelwood, May 04 '15 at 15:02
I am using a legacy build agent. It is running on the same instance as the team foundation server at t he moment. — quadroid, May 04 '15 at 15:05
You seem to be correct on the 4.5 part. I looked at all the references and it looks like that's true for 2015RC as well. Though the link you provided doesn't really say so. — jessehouwing, May 04 '15 at 15:14
@jessehouwing The link says Additional Requirements: NET Framework 4.5 — quadroid, May 04 '15 at 15:40
Any success on this? I'm having the same problem (TFS build 2013, .NET Framework 4.6) and this MoFo doesn't use C#6 compiler anyway. — picrap, Jul 22 '15 at 08:08
I installed VS 2015 on the build agent.And got some more problems Idescribed here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/31180393/buildactivity-ignores-toolsversion — quadroid, Jul 22 '15 at 08:10

score 17 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 26 '15 at 10:20

17

I used TFS2013 U5, but it will be same:

installed VS2015 RTM on BuildServer machine
put this into MSBuild arguments in Process part of BuildTemplate

/tv:14.0 /p:GenerateBuildInfoConfigFile=false /p:VisualStudioVersion=14.0

Both compiling and VS-unit tests are now running OK.

answered Jul 26 '15 at 10:20

Jiří Zídek

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Thanks mate! Solved my issue. – ambidexterous Aug 12 '15 at 05:48
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I tried this and I'm still bonking. TFS 2012 Update 3 doesn't care about my build arguments and it also doesn't care that VS 2015 is installed or that MSBuild 14.0 is first in the path. :( – Mike Caron Sep 12 '15 at 14:37
@MikeCaron Likewise I'm using TFS 2012. Did you solve it? – Plymouth223 Nov 01 '15 at 22:11
Getting this: ToolsVersion is not valid. The tools version "14.0" is unrecognized. Available tools versions are "2.0", "3.5", "4.0". Switch: 14.0 – Charles Bretana Nov 05 '15 at 16:53
People using tfs 2012 : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/31180393/buildactivity-ignores-toolsversion?lq=1 (You'll also need to make some minor changes to the build process template) – Pieterjan Spoelders Jun 17 '16 at 12:06

score 5 · Answer 2 · edited Jul 28 '15 at 20:32

5

Try using either

/p:VisualStudioVersion=14.0

or

/tv:14

In your build arguments

edited Jul 28 '15 at 20:32

qJake

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answered May 15 '15 at 02:16

fenix2222

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This won't work alone - you need to change the build definition used. See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/32659106/tfs-2013-building-net-4-6-c-sharp-6-0?rq=1 – Quango Sep 28 '15 at 09:03
It worked fine for me. After adding this build argument, build started working – fenix2222 Sep 28 '15 at 11:54

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 29 '16 at 15:17

2

The answer by Jiří Zídek is correct but it was missing one crucial detail. I had to do the following to get things working on TFS 2012 Update 2:

install Visual Studio 2015 on the build server
set the MSBuild Arguments in the build definition to /p:VisualStudioVersion=14.0 (i.e. Visual Studio 2015 mode)
in each project that uses C# 6 syntax, install the NuGet package Microsoft.Net.Compilers install-package Microsoft.Net.Compilers

It was #3 that made the difference for me.

answered Jan 29 '16 at 15:17

John Reilly

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Note that Microsoft.Net.Compilers is to allow Roslyn support when you don't have the latest toolset. So you haven't fixed your issue you've done a workaround meant for older versions of Visual Studio. – Lex Feb 01 '16 at 19:08
I'm not sure I understand Lex? For my own case I'm just trying to work around older versions of TFS; not older versions of Visual Studio. If there's something that's missing please do highlight it; but as far as I can tell my own issue is fixed. – John Reilly Feb 03 '16 at 13:41
If you are using the VS2015 Toolset (14.0) you shouldn't need that package. Also you may still run into problems with some tooling (such at MSTest). We worked round this on a TFS 2013 Application server by installing the TFS 2015 Agent software (it is backwards compatible). – Lex Feb 22 '16 at 16:22
Even though VS2015 is installed on the TFS2012 build agent passing /p:VisualStudioVersion=14.0 alone did not work. The Microsoft.Net.Compilers package installation was still necessary. Maybe there's a key difference between TFS2012 and TFS2013. – John Reilly Mar 05 '16 at 06:16

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 08 '17 at 14:01

0

For those of you using TFS 2012 and VS 2017 bypassing 2015, you can follow my answer on enter link description here

TFS 2012 and VS 2017 continuous integration build

answered Nov 08 '17 at 14:01

gavin

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Build c# 6.0 on TFS 2012

4 Answers4