Build ASP.NET 4.5 without Visual Studio on Build Server

To run on on your CI server without Visual Studio, you only need to copy a few folders from a development machine to the same location on the CI server. There is no need to install the SDK.

VS 2015:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v14.0\Web
• C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v14.0\WebApplications

VS 2013:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v12.0\Web
• C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v12.0\WebApplications

VS 2012:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v11.0\Web
• C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v11.0\WebApplications

VS 2010:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v10.0\Web
• C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v10.0\WebApplications

.NET 4.6:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.6

.NET 4.5.2:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.5.2

.NET 4.5.1:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.5.1

.NET 4.5:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.5

.NET 4.0.1:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.0.1

.NET 4.0:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.0

Or, as Matt suggested, you could copy them into a subdirectory of your project and alter the <MSBuildExtensionsPath32> location in your MSBuild (typically .csproj or .vbproj) file.

Once you have done this, your project will compile.

You should also set the VisualStudioVersion environment variable explicitly to the Visual Studio version (10.0 for VS2010, 11.0 for VS2012, 12.0 for VS2013, 14.0 for VS2015) you are using just to be sure it is set right in your configuration.

My problem was related to installing the Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows 8 on a Windows 2008 Box. If you read further on the page, you will get to a heading labeled ".NET Framework 4.5 SDK Tools on Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008." This tells you to:

1. Run the Windows SDK for Windows 8 installer on a supported operating system (for example, Windows 7, or Windows 8).
2. Choose the following option on the Specify Location screen: Download the Windows SDK for installation on a separate computer.
3. Press the Next button.
4. Answer the questions on the Join the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) screen.
5. On the next screen, choose the .NET Framework 4.5 Software Development Kit feature. Unselect all other features that can be unselected.
6. Choose the Download button.
7. Go to the download location (specified in step 2) and find the following .NET Framework 4.5 SDK tool installer files:sdk_tools4.msi,sdk_tools4.cab
8. You can copy these files to a Windows Vista or Windows 2008 Server computer within your organization. These files need to be copied to same directory on the Windows Vista or Windows 2008 Server computer.Note: Do not redistribute these files outside your organization or as part of any other installer.
9. On the Windows Vista or Windows 2008 Server computer, review the license terms here .
10. Check whether .NET Framework 4.5 is already installed on the computer. Otherwise, download and install .NET Framework 4.5 from www.microsoft.com .
11. Open a command prompt with administrator privileges.
12. Go to the directory where .NET Framework 4.5 SDK Tools installer files were copied.
13. Install .NET Framework 4.5 SDK tools by using the command line:Msiexec /i sdk_tools4.msi VSEXTUI=1

From msdn:

The Windows SDK no longer ships with a complete command-line build environment. You must install a compiler and build environment separately. If you require a complete development environment that includes compilers and a build environment, you can download Visual Studio 2012 Express, which includes the appropriate components of the Windows SDK.

In order to fix this, I had to copy the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.5 from my development machine (which has Visual Studio 2012 by the way) onto the build agents. After this operation, Team City did not report any more errors and mscorlib.dll was not output to the bin folder.