Using MSBUILD on a Framework461 solution that references a NetStandard20 assembly

Question

I'm not even sure if what I'm trying to do is possible...

Sample code: here

Basically, I've built a netstandard20 class library which according to the .NET implementation support list should be compatible with a framework461 project (providing you have the .NET Core 2.0 SDK).

I can build the netstandard20 class library no worries and get the DLL back (it's included in the sample code).

This is where the problem starts, when attempting to run msbuild .\\netstandard_test.sln to build the framework461 project I get a whole bunch of (what I believe to be misleading) errors about 'netstandard' not being referenced (which it is).

However, if I run dotnet build (or build from VS2017) everything works as expected.

I've tried importing various versions of NetStandard, NetStandard.Library and NetStandard.Library.Framework, as well as referencing Microsoft.DotNet.BuildTools but that didn't appear to help.

Is there any way to build this using msbuild? We have a monolithic build and deployment process and I'd rather not have to change it if it can be avoided. Who knows what else would go wrong!

Answer 1

To build with .NET Core or .NET Standard you need to use the dotnet msbuild command from the .NET Core SDK rather than just plain msbuild .

dotnet msbuild .\netstandard_test.sln /p:Configuration=Release

This will also work with .NET Framework 4.6.1 (and older versions).

Do note that Microsoft has provided install scripts to make installing the .NET Core SDK painless on continuous integration servers.

Answer 2

You need to use a recent 15.* version (currently 15.5.*) of MSBuild and make sure that the "Cross platform development" workload is installed in visual studio. This adds the required components to locate the .NET Core SDK, which contains MSBuild SDKs like Microsoft.NET.Sdk or Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Web used by .NET Standard and .NET Core projects.

You can then use msbuild from the developer command prompt to build these projects. I suggest adding /restore (msbuild >= 15.5.*) to make sure that a NuGet restore happened for sdk-based projects.

Since VS 2017 does not install a "global" version of MSBuild, be sure to use the version of MSBuild installed in the VS 2017 folders (check with msbuild /version or where msbuild ).

dotnet msbuild has limitations when you use .resx files containing file references or non-string properties. Also, it does not support COM references or building strong named assemblies. If you need any of these features, use msbuild (VS 2017) over dotnet msbuild (.NET Core CLI)