MSBuild fails when updating solution to .NET 4.7.2

Question

I'm updating a solution to use .NET 4.7.2 and hit a problem.

I can build and run the project on dev machine just fine, but TeamCity won't.

In TeamCity build step I added /p:TargetFrameworkVersion:v4.7.2 to MSBuild step.

One of the projects target netstandard 2.0 and MSBuild gave me an error that I should add .NET Framework 4.7.2 there. I added .NET Framework 4.7.2 as a target, but that had no effect. Here's an error from the build log:

[NETSdkError] C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk\2.1.402\Sdks\Microsoft.NET.Sdk\targets\Microsoft.NET.TargetFrameworkInference.targets(150, 5): error NETSDK1045: The current .NET SDK does not support targeting .NET Standard 4.7.2. Either target .NET Standard 2.0 or lower, or use a version of the .NET SDK that supports .NET Standard 4.7.2.

It's weird since there's no .NET Standard 4.7.2, but I figured it's just a typo in the error message.

MSBuild tools 2017 and .NET 4.7.2 targeting pack are installed on the agent.

Any idea what's wrong here? May be additional MSBuild argument is the problem? Project file for the failed project looks like this:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFrameworks>net472;netstandard2.0</TargetFrameworks>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Newtonsoft.Json" Version="10.0.3" />
    <PackageReference Include="Autofac" Version="4.6.1" />
    <PackageReference Include="System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager" Version="4.4.1" />
    <PackageReference Include="System.Net.Http" Version="4.3.3" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Reference Include="SomeLibrary">
      <HintPath>..\packages\SomeLibrary.1.0.4\lib\net461\SomeLibrary.dll</HintPath>
    </Reference>
    <ProjectReference Include="..\ProjectName.Core\ProjectName.Core.csproj" />
    <ProjectReference Include="..\ProjectName.Domain\ProjectName.Domain.csproj" />
    <ProjectReference Include="..\ProjectName.Web\ProjectName.Web.csproj" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

When I try to run MSBuild locally with the same parameters - it fails but with entirely different error, something about illegal syntax and C#7 language features. Building solution via Rider works fine.

Possibly downloading and installing some kind of SDK [from here](https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download) (and maybe a reboot) will help. — Uwe Keim, Feb 12 '19 at 13:18
@UweKeim .NET Core SDK 2.1.402 is already in place, so I don't think it's the problem — chester89, Feb 12 '19 at 13:22
I would make a copy of the bin folder and then delete. This would force the entire project to rebuild. The compiler dependencies does always do a complete rebuild when version of net is changed. — jdweng, Feb 12 '19 at 13:46
Are you using more than one project? The other projects may need to be updated. — jdweng, Feb 12 '19 at 17:32

score 11 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 13 '19 at 13:09

If you use multi-targeting projects, use /p:TargetFramework=net472 instead.

TargetFrameworkVersion will ony change the version of the framework used, not the TargetFramework value or the TargetFrameworkMoniker that is used elsewhere in the build. So there is no .NET Standard target framework with version 4.7.2 which is causing your build issues.

Do note that setting a global property like this may only work when all the projects in the build support it, so be careful when using it on solutions containing multiple projects that may or may not support it.

I had this issue for an entire day and this resolved it for me. Thank you — Ben D, Apr 09 '19 at 09:33

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 01 '20 at 00:05

I got the same error when i installed only the framework 4.7.2 on the agent machine. You need to install the developer sdk pack (NDP472-DevPack.exe) - link for NDP472-DevPack.exe: https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet-framework/thank-you/net472-developer-pack-offline-installer

MSBuild fails when updating solution to .NET 4.7.2

2 Answers2