How do I force MSBuild to compile for 32-bit mode?

Question

I'm using MSBuild (via NAnt) to compile a bunch of VB.NET assemblies. Because these assemblies depend on COM Interop, I need to guarantee that they run in 32-bit mode on 64 bit OS's. I can get the executable assemblies to compile to 32-bit by changing the project in Visual Studio, but I'd really like to be able to force all of the executables to be compiled to 32 bit mode on the build server.

I've tried a number of command-line parameters to MSBuild with no luck:

/p:Platform=win32
/p:Platform=x86
/p:ProcessorArchitecture=x86

What am I doing wrong? Is there some reference to the properties that MSBuild uses when compiling VB projects?

score 55 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 16 '13 at 17:27

55

According to MSDN, you're doing the right thing. Looks like /p:Platform=x86, but actually, maybe it's /p:PlatformTarget=x86.

Try to just invoke MSBuild directly with that parameter (make sure it's not an issue with your NAnt file. Look at the build output for the right build configuration (Debug / Release).

edited Apr 16 '13 at 17:27

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jul 02 '09 at 14:24

Nader Shirazie

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In fact Platform is the "solution" Platform and PlatformTarget is the project Platform. You can have whatever custom value you want in Platform but the PlatformTarget must be one of : x86,x64,Itanium or anycpu. – Benjamin Baumann Mar 20 '12 at 15:40
yes, for example I just used: MSBuild /p:PlatformTarget="x86" /p:RunCodeAnalysis=False – Dinis Cruz Jun 27 '12 at 05:50
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It is /p:Platform=x86, not PlatformTarget (tested with MSBuild 14.0) – Miha Markic Mar 03 '16 at 09:31
My test show that for DLLs it takes /p:Platform=x86 but for Console apps it takes /p:PlatformTarget=x86. I just set both and it makes sure my app and any library projects are compiled correctly. – Frank Jun 22 '17 at 21:08
As mentioned in another answer, MSBuild 15 requires PlatformTarget. Mine stopped working after updating MSBuild (to V15) and works again with changing to PlatformTarget. – Mickael V. Apr 05 '18 at 09:33

score 25 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 02 '09 at 14:23

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If the assemblies themselves are always going to be 32 bit, why not add the setting to the .vbproj file? That will take MSBuild out of the equation.

Just add the following line to the initial PropertyGroup in the .vbproj file

<PlatformTarget>x86</PlatformTarget>

answered Jul 02 '09 at 14:23

JaredPar

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Not the answer I was looking for but ended up being the simplest/safest. – Eric Nicholson Jul 02 '09 at 22:00
If this wasn't the answer you were looking for, why was it accepted? ;-) @Nader's answer should be the accepted one. :-) – darrenp Dec 16 '15 at 15:34

score 22 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 23 '12 at 17:14

22

Just in case this helps, I used this commandline to build my x86 platform target:

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\MSBuild.exe my.sln /t:build /p:Configuration=Release;Platform=x86

edited Jun 23 '12 at 17:14

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 09 '12 at 07:39

MrHam

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score 4 · Answer 4 · edited Nov 21 '19 at 14:03

In Solution Explorer, right click the root node → Configuration Manager. You need to define a solution-wide configuration that instructs each project within to build as 32-bit. (Note: you probably already have one if you've ever set at least one project to build as 32-bit.) For a step-by-step walkthrough, see the MSDN blog post Solution Configurations.

Then, you specify the desired "platform" and "flavor" in your Team Build .proj / .targets files. For example:

<ConfigurationToBuild Include="Release|x86">
    <FlavorToBuild>Release</FlavorToBuild>
    <PlatformToBuild>x86</PlatformToBuild>
</ConfigurationToBuild>

You can specify more than one of these property sections to have several combinations built. I would copy/paste the "Release|x86" string (or whatever it looks like) directly from your .sln file to ensure it matches exactly — you can't get it directly from Solution Explorer.

Regarding your comment:

MSBuild property evaluation is pretty complex since it mixes declarative and imperative styles. See the blog post MSBuild Property Evaluation for details. I prefer not to rely on its subtleties.

It's true that properties specified on the command line should override everything else, but Team Build has another layer of complexity. The ComputeConfigurationList task is called repeatedly via a recursive MSBuild invokation, not as an ordinary task. The way it pulls this off is to take the ordinary properties like PlatformToBuild and wrap them in a set of global properties called ConfigurationToBuild.PlatformToBuild (etc.) which are generated on the fly, once for each configuration. This makes the Team Build engine much more flexible internally, but it also makes hacking the command line behavior you want harder.

You could try setting ConfigurationToBuild.PlatformToBuild on the command line directly — it might work, I'm not sure. But it will definitely prevent you from ever building more than one configuration in a single build definition. For this reason, I'm sticking with my advice above.

So what I'm getting is that there is not a way to force a specific platform from the command line unless the developer sets up the project to have a x86 platform? I'd really like to avoid that step if possible (since I don't have control over new projects when they get created). — Eric Nicholson, Jul 02 '09 at 14:55
Yes and no. I've edited my answer to provide more details. If you really want to know how this stuff works, read (but don't touch!) the Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Build.targets file found in %ProgramFiles%\MSBuild — Richard Berg, Jul 02 '09 at 16:44

score 3 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 20 '17 at 08:24

3

For MSBuild version 15 it is /p:PlatformTarget=x86

answered Jul 20 '17 at 08:24

Turker Tunali

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Hi, @DominicJonas he wasn't mentioned that when I wrote this answer if I remember correctly. Thank you for your feedback. – Turker Tunali Aug 15 '18 at 16:06

score 2 · Answer 6 · edited Apr 16 '13 at 17:39

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After experiencing the exact same issue, I switched from using the version of MSBuild at C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework64... to the version at C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework (no 64) and things compiled just fine.

edited Apr 16 '13 at 17:39

Peter Mortensen

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answered Aug 23 '10 at 18:32

Jeb

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The components were actually being compiled successfully on a 32bit OS (no 64bit framework installed) and then failing at run time on a 64 bit OS. But I suspect you couldn't even compile certain components on the 64 bit framework, so it's a good tip. – Eric Nicholson Aug 24 '10 at 12:06

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Oct 16 '12 at 10:56

1

The Nant msbuild-Task answer to this question:

<msbuild project="your.sln">
    <property name="PlatformTarget" value="x86" />
</msbuild>

answered Oct 16 '12 at 10:56

dwonisch

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score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Jun 19 '18 at 08:17

A more practical way i use to find the right property is by opening one of the .csproj project file (in case of c#) and see the property that is affected when you select "x64" / "AnyCPU" / "x86" from Visual stdio. Whatever property that is changed, you need to set that from command line. With Visual studio 2015 it seems to be <Platform>. So you can invoke msbuild with the argument /p:Platform=x64 and it should work.

How do I force MSBuild to compile for 32-bit mode?

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