How do I configure target framework for VSTest 2015 to run a unit test built to use .net 4.6.1?

Question

I'm attempting to configure TeamCity to run my unit tests using VSTest.console.exe for Visual Studio 2015.

The only options that appear valid for the test runner ( even in the .runsettings file ) are:

<!-- Framework35 | [Framework40] | Framework45 -->

My .runsettings file looks like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RunSettings>
  <!-- Configurations that affect the Test Framework -->
  <RunConfiguration>
    <MaxCpuCount>1</MaxCpuCount>
    <!-- Path relative to solution directory -->
    <ResultsDirectory>.\TestResults</ResultsDirectory>

    <!-- [x86] | x64  
      - You can also change it from menu Test, Test Settings, Default Processor Architecture -->
    <TargetPlatform>x86</TargetPlatform>

    <!-- Framework35 | [Framework40] | Framework45 -->
    <TargetFrameworkVersion>Framework45</TargetFrameworkVersion>

    <!-- Path to Test Adapters -->
    <TestAdaptersPaths>%SystemDrive%\Temp\foo;%SystemDrive%\Temp\bar</TestAdaptersPaths>
  </RunConfiguration>
</RunSettings>

When I set it to Framework45, it tells me:

[19:17:33][Step 2/2] VSTest executable: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\IDE\CommonExtensions\Microsoft\TestWindow\VSTest.console.exe
[19:17:33][Step 2/2] Command line params: [[Y:\TeamCity\BuildAgent1\work\f1cf88fd0bf6555\Javelin.Identity.Tests\bin\x64\Integration\Javelin.Identity.Tests.dll] [/Settings:test.runsettings] [/Logger:trx] [/Platform:x86]]
[19:17:33][Step 2/2] Starting: C:\TeamCity\buildAgent\plugins\dotnetPlugin\bin\JetBrains.BuildServer.NUnitLauncher.exe #TeamCityImplicit
[19:17:33][Step 2/2] in directory: Y:\TeamCity\BuildAgent1\work\f1cf88fd0bf6555
[19:17:33][Step 2/2] JetBrains dotCover Console Runner 10.0.2. Build 104.0.20151218.125453
[19:17:33][Step 2/2] Copyright (c) 2009-2016 JetBrains s.r.o. All rights reserved.
[19:17:34][Step 2/2] [JetBrains dotCover] Coverage session started [3/1/2016 7:17:34 PM]
[19:17:38][Step 2/2] Microsoft (R) Test Execution Command Line Tool Version 14.0.24720.0
[19:17:38][Step 2/2] Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.
[19:17:38][Step 2/2] 
[19:17:39][Step 2/2] Starting test execution, please wait...
[19:17:39][Step 2/2] Test run will use DLL(s) built for framework Framework45 and platform X86. Following DLL(s) will not be part of run: 
[19:17:39][Step 2/2] Javelin.Identity.Tests.dll is built for Framework None and Platform X64.
[19:17:39][Step 2/2]  Go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=236877&clcid=0x409 for more details on managing these settings.
[19:17:39][Step 2/2] Error: None of the provided test containers match the Platform Architecture and .Net Framework settings for the test run. Platform: X86  .Net Framework: Framework45. Go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=330428 for more details on managing these settings.
[19:17:39][Step 2/2] 

When I set it to Framework46, it tells me:

[Step 2/2] Error: An error occurred while loading the settings. Error: Invalid setting 'RunConfiguration'. Invalid value 'Framework46' specified for 'TargetFrameworkVersion'..

Is this even supposed to work with 4.6.1?

Answer 1

You can set the value for TargetFrameworkVersion in the .RunSettings file to the following:
.NETFramework,Version=v4.6.1

I know this is misleading because of their documentation in here
I discovered this one by looking at the help command for vstest.console.exe

vstest.console.exe /?

Among others this is shown:

--Framework|/Framework:<Framework Version>
  Target .Net Framework version to be used for test execution.
  Valid values are ".NETFramework,Version=v4.5.1", ".NETCoreApp,Version=v1.0" etc.
  Other supported values are Framework35, Framework40, Framework45 and FrameworkCore10.

And then I tried to use any of these values and it worked. In my case it was .NET 4.5.2

An example of .RunSettings file is like the following:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RunSettings>
  <!-- Configurations that affect the Test Framework -->
  <RunConfiguration>
    <!-- Path relative to solution directory -->
    <ResultsDirectory>.\TestResults</ResultsDirectory>

    <!-- [x86] | x64  
      - You can also change it from menu Test, Test Settings, Default Processor Architecture -->
    <TargetPlatform>x64</TargetPlatform>

    <!-- Framework35 | [Framework40] | Framework45 -->
    <TargetFrameworkVersion>.NETFramework,Version=v4.5.2</TargetFrameworkVersion>
  </RunConfiguration>

  <!-- Configurations for data collectors -->
  <DataCollectionRunSettings>
    <DataCollectors>


    </DataCollectors>
  </DataCollectionRunSettings>

  <!-- Adapter Specific sections -->

  <!-- MSTest adapter -->
  <MSTest>  
    <MapInconclusiveToFailed>True</MapInconclusiveToFailed>  
    <CaptureTraceOutput>false</CaptureTraceOutput>  
    <DeleteDeploymentDirectoryAfterTestRunIsComplete>False</DeleteDeploymentDirectoryAfterTestRunIsComplete>  
    <DeploymentEnabled>False</DeploymentEnabled>  
    <AssemblyResolution>  
      <Directory path=".\bin" includeSubDirectories="false"/>  
    </AssemblyResolution>  
  </MSTest>  
</RunSettings>

Answer 2

This is a confirmed known issue in vstest.console. You can try the workaround proposed in the issue (specify framework through runsettings file, and leave 'Framework' parameter value to default)