VS 2010, TFS 2013 SGEN: An attempt was made to load an assembly with an incorrect format

Question

I am working on a conversion of tfs 2013 build definition, we were initially using tfs 2008.I have a new server with TFS2013 installed and working on Build definition for 2013 xaml (workflow) customization is completed. However i am facing an error when my TFS build in release mode for Any Cpu configuration, but its fine when i use debug mode. I have tried looking many articles and unable to find any solution kindly help me here. This is fine in my local machine but happens only in the server.

Project and details

1) project is .net framework 4.0

2)Default configuration is "Any Cpu"

3)TFS 2013 server is 64 bit, windows server 2008 r2

Build Definition

Configuration : Any CPU|Release

MsBuildPlatform : x86

Error: SGEN: An attempt was made to load an assembly with an incorrect format: C:\Windows\Microsoft.Net\assembly\GAC_64\System.Data\v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089\System.Data.dll.

Warning: C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\12.0\bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets (990): The reference assemblies for framework ".NETFramework,Version=v4.0" were not found. To resolve this, install the SDK or Targeting Pack for this framework version or retarget your application to a version of the framework for which you have the SDK or Targeting Pack installed. Note that assemblies will be resolved from the Global Assembly Cache (GAC) and will be used in place of reference assemblies. Therefore your assembly may not be correctly targeted for the framework you intend.

I have installed windos 8 SDK (Tools only) and Windows framework 4 x64 as x86 version is failing

The folder C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows has v7.0 folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows has v8.1A folder

where as my local machine has many versions inside the windows folder in above path

List of related articles which i have checked,but couldn't find a solution

http://seravy.wordpress.com/2012/10/25/installing-net-4-5-and-not-windows-sdk-8/

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowssdk/archive/2009/09/16/windows-7-sdk-setup-common-installation-issues-and-fixes.aspx

Running MSBuild fails to read SDKToolsPath

http://dukelupus.wordpress.com/2008/02/05/task-failed-because-sgenexe-was-not-found-solution/

How do I fix the Visual Studio compile error, "mismatch between processor architecture"?

TFS 2010 creating .Net 4.0 XmlSerializers DLL for .Net 3.5 Application

So what should i do to fix this error ?

Answer 1

You need to install the targeting packs (aka SDK, aka Developer pack) for the .NET Framework version you are targeting. You can download them all from http://blogs.msdn.com/b/dotnet/p/dotnet_sdks.aspx

Specifically for your question and targeting .NET Framework 4.0, you want Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4 Sounds like you grabbed the Windows 8 SDK, which is not what you want for targeting .NET Framework 4.0.

Answer 2

This is not a very good answer (but in case someone comes across it like me), and does not provide insight into why it is occurring. But turning off "Generate the serialization assembly" on the offending project does allow for the build to work in my case.

Start up times will be slower, as serialization will occur at runtime instead now.

Answer 3

You simply need to see what framework you are using and then what debug mode you are using. In my case i was using framework 4.0 and Build mode target framework "any cpu" but after searching around i found that i need to upgrade my .Net framework from 4.0 to 4.5 and i have to build my solution from "any cpu" to x86 framework because i had Windows 7 SPI with x86 architecture.

Here are some images what i have done to solve this error.

Answer 4

I encountered this error (albeit for a newer .NET framework version, v4.5.1, not v4.0 as in the original question) when trying to build my application on a build server.

The combination of the following two conditions was responsible for the error:

1. In Visual Studio, on the Project Properties page, on the Application tab, the "Target framework" was set to ".NET Framework 4.5.1";
2. On the build server, in folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework, a folder named v4.5.1 was not present. (Other folders with version numbers, including v3.5, v4.0, and v4.5, were present.)

This missing folder was the cause of the "The reference assemblies for framework ... were not found" warning, which in turn lead to the "assembly with an incorrect format" error.

The fix was to install Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows 8.1 on the build server. In the install wizard, in the "Select the features you want to install" step, I unchecked all boxes except for the one for ".NET framework 4.5.1 Software Development Kit".

Running that install caused the missing v4.5.1 folder in the Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework.NETFramework folder to be created, and the build to run successfully.

Answer 5

I am reluctant to answer because you say you have already done this, but every time I have struggled with the error message you quote, it has been the MsBuildPlatform setting. It absolutely has to be set to "X86". Are you sure the setting is being set..?