Question

I have a MSBuild build file that runs correctly on my local dev box but fails on our CI build box.

The failing build target is as follows:

<Target Name="Clean">
  <MSBuild Projects="Solution.sln" Targets="Clean" BuildInParallel="True"/>
</Target>

And the error on the build box is this:

"E:\TRUNK\build\Bamboo.build" (Build target) (1) ->
25-Oct-2011 10:22:51    (Clean target) -> 
25-Oct-2011 10:22:51      E:\TRUNK\build\build.build(19,55): error MSB4064: The "BuildInParallel" parameter is not supported by the "MSBuild" task. Verify the parameter exists on the task, and it is a settable public instance property.
25-Oct-2011 10:22:51      E:\TRUNK\build\build.build(19,5): error MSB4063: The "MSBuild" task could not be initialized with its input parameters. 

Both machines report having MSBuild version 4.0.30319.1

Microsoft (R) Build Engine Version 4.0.30319.1
[Microsoft .NET Framework, Version 4.0.30319.237]
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation 2007. All rights reserved.

4.0.30319.1

My local box is Windows 7 x64 and has .Net Framework 4 and Windows SDK 7.1 installed and has 8 cores.

The CI box is Windows Server 2008 x64 and also has .Net Framework 4 and Windows SDK 7.1 installed and has 8 cores.

Any ideas what the difference might be that is causing this problem?

Answer 1

Check your ToolsVersion in your MSBuild project root tag. Value should be “3.5” or “4.0”, because BuildInParallel is supported from v3.5.

    <Project ToolsVersion="3.5" .../>