Why does MSBuild look in C:\ for Microsoft.Cpp.Default.props instead of c:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild? ( error MSB4019)

130
votes

When I run msbuild to build a vc2010 project I get the following error:

error MSB4019: The imported project "C:\Microsoft.Cpp.Default.props" was not found. 
Confirm that the path in the <Import> declaration is correct, and that the file exists 
on disk.
  • msbuild located c:\Program File (x86)\MSBuild
  • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolVersions\V4.0 VCTargetsPath set to $(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\
  • when running msbuild /verbosity:diag as good system shows MSBuildExtensionsPath32, MSBuildExtensionsPath64, MSBuildExtensionsPath set as Environment at start of build
  • setting MSBuildExtensionsPath32, MSBuildExtensionsPath64, MSBuildExtensionsPath set as environment variables in shell doesn't cause them to show as Environment at start of build

Fixes Attempted

  • Uninstalled .net 4.5, repaired .net 4.0
  • Set MSBuildExtensionsPath32, MSBuildExtensionsPath64, MSBuildExtensionsPath in system variables.

It appears that MSBuildExtensionsPath32 isn't being set properly and setting MSBuildExtensionsPath doesn't help

SET MSBuildExtensionsPath="C:\Program Files\MSBuild"

Please let me know if you have any ideas what's blocking the proper setting of this variable.

22
msbuild
Great! Another question about an error resulting from a corrupted Visual Studio installation with hundreds of workarounds that each only work in a select few scenarios... – Florian Winter

22 Answers

77
votes

I got this problem when publishing a cocos2d-x application using their command line tool, which calls MSBuild. I'm using Win 7 64-bit, VS2013 express, cocos2d-x version 3.3, .NET Framework 4.5 installed.

I fixed the problem by setting the following before running the cocos.py publish command:

SET VCTargetsPath=C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\V120
50
votes

For those who didn't follow the MS proscribed order (see Xv's answer) you can still fix the problem.

MSBuild uses the VCTargetsPath to locate default cpp properties but cannot because the registry lacks this String Value.

Check for the String Value

  • Launch regedit
  • Navigator to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\4.0
  • Inspect VCTargetsPath key. The value should = "$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\"

To fix

  • Launch regedit Navigator to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\4.0
  • Add String Value VCTargetsPath
  • Set Value to "$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\"

Note: HKLM stands for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.

26
votes

I have had the same problem recently and after installing different packages in different order it was just getting very messy. Then I have found this repo - https://github.com/felixrieseberg/windows-build-tools

npm install --global windows-build-tools

It installs Python & VS Build tools that are required to compile most node modules. It worked a treat!

18
votes

For Visual Studio 2017 and 2019 on Windows 10

A lot of the answers here apply to older versions of Visual Studio. What worked for me, if using Visual Studio 2017 Community version, was setting an environment variable called VCTargetsPath and giving it a value of

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\Common7\IDE\VC\VCTargets

If using Visual Studio 2019 Community version,

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v160

Other answers here set this variable to c:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\v140 but I noticed in my visual studio installation, there was no folder called Microsoft.Cpp in my MSBuild folder. So keep this in mind as well as the fact that the path above is for the Community version of Visual Studio 2017.

Also, make sure that your MSBuild path in your environment variables points to the correct version of MSBuild if you're using Visual Studio 2017 Community version,

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\MSBuild\15.0\Bin

If you're using Visual Studio 2019 Community version,

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\MSBuild\Current\Bin
13
votes

Installing Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Service Pack 1 Compiler Update for the Windows SDK 7.1 fixed the MSB4019 errors that I was getting building on Windows7 x64.

The readme of that update states that the recommended order is

  1. Visual Studio 2010
  2. Windows SDK 7.1
  3. Visual Studio 2010 SP1
  4. Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Compiler Update for the Windows SDK 7.1
6
votes

On 64-bit systems, MSBuild defaults to the following properties (where C: is SystemDrive):

MSBuildExtensionsPath = C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild
MSBuildExtensionsPath32 = C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild
MSBuildExtensionsPath64 = C:\Program Files\MSBuild

If it doesn't, it means you either have some custom third-party overrides targets installed, or your MSBuild installation is corrupted.

Things to try:

  • Repair .NET installation
  • Apply latest Visual Studio Service Pack
  • Set MSBuildExtensionsPath manually as above (note the x86 part on 64-bit machines)
5
votes

MSBuild in an independent build tool that is frequently bundled with other tools. It may have been installed on your computer with .NET (older versions), Visual Studio (newer versions), or even Team Foundation Build.

MSBuild needs configuration files, compilers, etc (a ToolSet) that matches the version of Visual Studio or TFS that will use it, as well as the version of .NET against which source code will be compiled.

Depending on how MSBuild was installed, the configuration files may be in one or more of these paths.

  • C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\V120\
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\V140\

As described in other answers, a registry item and/or environmental variable point must to the ToolSet path.

  • The VCTargetsPath key under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\4.0
  • The VCTargetsPath environmental variable.

Occasionally, an operation like installing a tool will leave the registry and/or environmental variable set incorrectly. The other answers are all variations on fixing them.

The only thing I have to add is the environmental variable didn't work for me when I left off the trailing \

5
votes

I had this problem on Visual Studio 2015 edition. When I used cmake to generate a project this error appeared.

error MSB4019: The imported project "D:\Microsoft.Cpp.Default.props" was not found

I fixed it by adding a String

VCTargetsPath

with value

$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\V140

in the registry path

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0

4
votes

The registry entries for MSBuild key worked fine to me. It's important to remember that it must be done for 64-bit or 32-bit branches depending on which version of MSBuild you run. I wouldn't recommend to use environment variables as it may cause problems in different versions of MSBuild.

This registry file fixes that for both cases:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0]
"VCTargetsPath"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V140\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath10"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath10)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath11"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath11)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V110\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath12"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath12)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V120\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath14"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath14)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V140\\'))"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0\10.0]
"VCTargetsPath"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\'))"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0\11.0]
"VCTargetsPath"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V110\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath10"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath10)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath11"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath11)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V110\\'))"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0\12.0]
"VCTargetsPath"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V120\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath10"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath10)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath11"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath11)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V110\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath12"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath12)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V120\\'))"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0\14.0]
"VCTargetsPath"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V140\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath10"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath10)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath11"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath11)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V110\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath12"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath12)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V120\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath14"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath14)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V140\\'))"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0]
"VCTargetsPath"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V140\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath10"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath10)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath11"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath11)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V110\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath12"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath12)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V120\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath14"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath14)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V140\\'))"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0\10.0]
"VCTargetsPath"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\'))"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0\11.0]
"VCTargetsPath"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V110\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath10"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath10)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath11"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath11)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V110\\'))"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0\12.0]
"VCTargetsPath"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V120\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath10"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath10)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath11"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath11)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V110\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath12"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath12)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V120\\'))"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0\14.0]
"VCTargetsPath"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V140\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath10"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath10)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath11"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath11)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V110\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath12"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath12)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V120\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath14"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath14)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V140\\'))"
4
votes

EDIT: This applies to older versions of Visual Studio / MSBuild (specifically MSVC2015?). With more modern versions, MSBuild is included in Visual Studio Build Tools 2019, and compilers are located in different places and detected in different ways.

This is due to a mismatch of installed MSBuild toolsets and registry settings. It can happen if you did one or more of the following:

  • Install multiple Visual Studio versions in the wrong order
  • Uninstall one or more versions of Visual Studio
  • Manually make registry changes or modifications to the Visual Studio installation

The only safe and reliable solution I know of is to reinstall your OS. If your project needs multiple versions of Visual Studio to build, install the oldest version first. Then fix your code so you can use one single tool to build it, or you or your colleagues will be in the same mess again soon.

If this is not an option for you, first read https://stackoverflow.com/a/41786593/2279059 for a better understanding of the problem and what the various "solutions" actually do. Then, depending on your Visual Studio version and setup, one of the other answers or variations of them may eventually help.

Some more hints:

2
votes

Installing Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Service Pack 1 Compiler Update for the Windows SDK 7.1 worked for me. However, I experienced issues with the update because I already had VS 2010 and VS 2010 SP1 installed. As mentioned by Xv above, the readme.htm file contains solutions for the most common installation issues in the "Known Issues" section. I would follow the instructions in the readme.htm and reboot your machine after each troubleshooting attempt because some installs write to your registry.

2
votes

Nothing else worked for me except, setting the path as:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\MSBuild\15.0
2
votes

In my case, I've added an Environment variable VCTargetPath with path

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\Common7\IDE\VC\VCTargets\"

('\' at the end is crucial, as the project solution files has a reference to "Microsoft cpp targets" file.

Also, starting from Visual Studio 2017 MSBUILD comes along within Visual Studio - so, the PATH variable needs to be updated with

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

Updating VCTargetPath and MSBUILD's PATH variables and building fixed the error.

0
votes

I came across this error by writing a Build script that would put MSBuild on the %PATH% after recursively digging through the C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET folder for any found MSBuild.exe files. The last found hit was the directory that was put on the path. Since the dir command would hit the Framework64 folder after Framework I was getting one of the 64bit MSBuilds put on my path. I was trying to build a Visual Studio 2010 solution and wound up altering my search string from C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET to C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework so that I would wind up with a 32bit MSBuild.exe. Now my solution file builds.

0
votes

I just added VCTargetsPath={c:\...} as an environment variable to my Hudson job.

0
votes

For the record, the file Microsoft.Cpp.Default.props can modify the env var VCTargetsPath and make subsequent usages of that var incorrect. I had that problem and solved it by setting VCTargetsPath10 and VCTargetsPath11 to the same value than VCTargetsPath.

This should be adapted according to the VS version you are using.

0
votes

I'm seeing this in a VS2017 environment. My build script calls VsDevCmd.bat first, and to solve this problem I set the VCTargetsPath environment variable after VsDevCmd and before calling MSBuild:

set VCTargetsPath=%VCIDEInstallDir%VCTargets
0
votes

Adding to Chris Gong's answer about VS2017/2019 above (I don't yet have comments permission).

If VS 2019 Build Tools are installed rather than the full Visual Studio then file paths are slightly different. VCTargetsPath should then be

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v160\

Also note the terminating backslash - required at least in my case (TFS2017, VS2019 Build tools). Corresponding change to the PATH entry as well.

0
votes

I was facing the same issue with MSBuild for VS 17

I solved this by applying the following steps:

  • In my case the Microsoft.Cpp.Default.props file was located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\Common7\IDE\VC\VCTargets so I created VCTragetsPath string in the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\4.0 with value C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\Common7\IDE\VC\VCTargets

  • I also made my Jenkins run as an admin user

This solved my issue.

0
votes

Instead of setting a fixed path try this in your post-build command-line first:

SET VCTargetsPath=$(VCTargetsPath)

The variable '$(VCTargetsPath)' seems to be a c++-related visual-studio-macro which is not shown in c#-sdk-projects as a macro but is still available there.

0
votes

I uninstalled VSCode as I had messed up the installation part. A year ago, I had installed some other version and recently installed another. So after uninstalling everything, started from scratch. Downloaded latest version of VSCode and the build tools. Then it worked fine.

0
votes

I had the problem in calling msbuild via command line and using Visual Studio 2019.

What worked for me was to clear the environment variable before calling msbuild:

set VCTargetsPath=
call %ProgramFiles(x86)%/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/MSBuild/Current/Bin\msbuild.exe ...