What am I doing wrong - problems building using TFS 2012

1
votes

I am trying to get the most basic configuration of TFS 2012 up and running. So far I installed the TFS server using the simplest option (the 1st option in the installer - the one that comes with a bundled SQL express), I configured the build service (1 controller, 1 agent, both on the TFS machine). My project consists of 2 parts: a C#/silverlight part, and a C++ part. After adding the silverlight prerequisites the C# project builds correctly.

However I can't get the C++ project to build. I guess I am missing a prerequisite since I am getting the following errors:

C:\Builds\1\proj1\Client\src\Code\Client\proj\main (VC11).vcxproj (19): The imported project "C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\v110\Microsoft.Cpp.Default.props" was not found. Confirm that the path in the declaration is correct, and that the file exists on disk.

Indeed, the TFS server does not have a "C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp" folder (while my dev machine has one). I installed the windows SDK, but that didn't help.

I saw on some posts that I need to install VS 2012 on the build machine. Is that correct? will VS express do?

I have been banging my head on this for the last 2 days, and any help would be appreciated.

1
tfs
Probably installing VS2012 would solve the problem yes. So just try it out. – TimVK
I think you should install Visual C++ Express 2012 on the build machine as you suggested and see if it works. Make a backup :) – JDPeckham
tnx. seems odd that you need to install VS on a build machine, but what do I know...:) – OSH

1 Answers

2
votes

Installing Visual Studio on your build server seems like a strange thing to do, but having been around the TFS block a bit, I have found it to be the simplest way to manage build servers.

You can copy the files manually from your dev machine to your build server, but if an update to visual studio comes out, you will need to figure out what has changed and make sure you update all those files too. These files typically include Targets files and associated dlls.

Also with all the extensions and packages that are available now, it is just easier to load Visual Studio on your build server and install the required packages than try to work out what is needed to replicate the functionality.

This was made very clear to me recently when Microsoft released ASP.Net and Web Tools 2012.2. This altered the publishing pipeline for Web Sites and Web Projects and I needed to use this in my TFS build. It was so much easier to just be able to log onto my build server, load Visual Studio and download the new update.

I would definitely support installing Visual Studio on your build server.