.net 4.0 - How do I run msbuild from the command line using Windows SDK 7.1?

Question

I'm setting up .NET 4.0 support on our CI server. I've installed .NET 4.0, and the .NET tools from the Windows 7.1 SDK.

On .NET 2.0 and 3.5, that just worked. With .NET 4, when I run the "Windows SDK 7.1 Command Prompt" from the Start menu, it complains about

The x86 compilers are not currently installed. x86-x86
Please go to Add/Remove Programs to update your installation.
.
Setting SDK environment relative to C:Program FilesMicrosoft
SDKsWindowsv7.1
.
Targeting Windows Server 2008 x86 Debug

Then when I try to run msbuild, I get:

C:Program FilesMicrosoft SDKsWindowsv7.1>msbuild
'msbuild' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

C:Program FilesMicrosoft SDKsWindowsv7.1>

I can't quite believe that installing the runtime and SDK will leave you with a system that can't run msbuild... have I missed some obvious step or obscure Windows Update, or is time to give up and start hacking the system path?

Answer 1

To enable msbuild in Command Prompt, you simply have to add the directory of the msbuild.exe install on your machine to the PATH environment variable.

You can access the environment variables by:

1. Right clicking on Computer
2. Click Properties
3. Then click Advanced system settings on the left navigation bar
4. On the next dialog box click Environment variables
5. Scroll down to PATH
6. Edit it to include your path to the framework (don't forget a ";" after the last entry in here).

For reference, my path was C:WindowsMicrosoft.NETFrameworkv4.0.30319

Path Updates:

As of MSBuild 12 (2013)/VS 2013/.NET 4.5.1+ and onward MSBuild is now installed as a part of Visual Studio.

For VS2015 the path was %ProgramFiles(x86)%MSBuild14.0Bin

For VS2017 the path was %ProgramFiles(x86)%Microsoft Visual Studio2017<YOUR_VS_EDITION>MSBuild15.0Bin

For VS2019 the path was %ProgramFiles(x86)%Microsoft Visual Studio2019<YOUR_VS_EDITION>MSBuildCurrentBin

where <YOUR_VS_EDITION> matches the Visual Studio edition that you have installed, i.e., Preview, Community, Professional, Enterprise.