Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Build.Framework'(VS 2017)

Question

When I try running the command "update-database", I get this exception:

Specify the '-Verbose' flag to view the SQL statements being applied to the target database. System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Build.Framework, Version=15.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified. File name: 'Microsoft.Build.Framework, Version=15.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a'

WRN: Assembly binding logging is turned OFF. To enable assembly bind failure logging, set the registry value [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion!EnableLog] (DWORD) to 1. Note: There is some performance penalty associated with assembly bind failure logging. To turn this feature off, remove the registry value [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion!EnableLog].

Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Build.Framework, Version=15.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.`

In German, this error message reads: "Die Datei oder Assembly "Microsoft.Build.Framework, Version=15.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" oder eine Abhängigkeit davon wurde nicht gefunden". — Uwe Keim, Apr 20 '20 at 13:04

score 108 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 27 '19 at 22:22

108

I believe I had the same issue as you did. I didn't save the whole error message, but my error message was

'Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Build.Framework, Version=15.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.'

I am using Visual Studio 2017 and was trying to do Update-Database after Add-Migration.

To resolve the issue I closed Visual Studio and re-opened it, then re-ran Update-Database again.

This may or may not resolve your issue, but I thought I'd post just in case it would help.

edited Nov 27 '19 at 22:22

Sergey

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answered Apr 19 '17 at 14:11

Eightgate

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Yes, it would appear that "Turn-It-Off-And-On-Again" is the correct path to resolution in this case. – Darren Oster Jun 15 '17 at 04:29
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This works but I don't consider it as a correct answer. I would like to fix it once and forever, without having to restart VS. – Stanislav Sep 14 '17 at 18:59
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It happens everytime after a migration now and it requires a full PC reboot to work. – OverMars Nov 16 '17 at 17:06
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I have tried every of the proposed solutions. None of them seems to permanently solve the problem. I have to keep restarting Visual Studio. – Augusto Barreto Jan 22 '18 at 12:38
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This is an open issue in Github here https://github.com/aspnet/EntityFramework6/issues/382 – Bil Simser May 11 '18 at 12:49
Thanks for the info. I'm getting this exact error on Azure DevOps Build pipeline. Any suggestions on how to flick it off and on there? – Jari Turkia Apr 08 '20 at 15:15
This exact same error will be emitted in Azure DevOps Build pipeline if using old version of NuGet. I had 4.4.1 and the fix was to upgrade into 5.5.0. – Jari Turkia Apr 09 '20 at 06:03

score 107 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 19 '20 at 22:31

107

Our local build script was using an older version of nuget.exe (4.7.1.5393) to restore NuGet packages. We started getting this error after updating to Visual Studio 2019 version 16.5.0. Updating to the latest version of nuget.exe (5.4.0.6315) fixed the issue for us.

nuget.exe can be downloaded here: https://www.nuget.org/downloads.

answered Mar 19 '20 at 22:31

Corey Smith

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Faced that challenge when we installed only VS2019 on a build server. To fix this in our Azure DevOps build it works to request version 5.4.0 in the NuGet tool installer step. – Bennett Elder Mar 20 '20 at 05:22
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Thanks Corey. This fixed it for me too. – Coding101 Mar 20 '20 at 14:33
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Upgraded from 4.3.0 to 5.6 on my TeamCity. This fixed my issue. Thanks! – Esaith Apr 02 '20 at 01:44
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This was it. Thanks a bunch! Went from 4.4.1 to 5.4.0. – DaleyKD Apr 03 '20 at 16:58
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@ElderSmash We're using an Azure DevOps build too. In our case the problem was solved by updating the NuGet installer step from `NuGetToolInstaller@0` to `NuGetToolInstaller@1`, even without specifying a newer version. Not sure though, whether this fixes the root cause of the problem or the fix is just a side-effect of clearing the local cache. – MarkusM Apr 07 '20 at 07:37
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@ElderSmash That was exactly my problem and solution to, thanks! – Danie Apr 07 '20 at 22:05
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`nuget.exe update -self` is another variation that may work – explunit Apr 10 '20 at 20:12
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@MarkusM it looks like version 2 of the installer defaults to 4.1.0 by default. The tool installer seemed a bit complicated so i just went back to installer version 1 that let me specify the version https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/pipelines/tasks/package/nuget?view=azure-devops – Crhistian Ramirez Apr 16 '20 at 16:51
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This is why I love stackoverflow. I messed with this for hours trying to find why it would build. I've tried everything. Changing it to a new version of nuget fixed it right away. – Kyle Burkett Apr 22 '20 at 22:10

score 43 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 23 '18 at 13:39

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The root cause of this problem comes from relative paths in the devenv.exe.config file to Microsoft.Build.Framework.dll (see xml tags).

Some Visual Studio Extensions are changing the current directory and makes relative paths invalid.

To fix it, open this file in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Enterprise\Common7\IDE\ directory. and replace all ..\..\MSBuild\15.0\Bin\ by C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Enterprise\MSBuild\15.0\Bin\.

edited Apr 23 '18 at 13:39

James Monger

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answered Jun 23 '17 at 13:52

Renaud Bancel

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I am using Visual Studio Professioal should I also do the same. I am getting this error multiple times? – Shan Jul 26 '17 at 03:22
I did not have a MSBuild folder under IDE (Community version), I copied my MSBuild from "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community" and it didn't fix anything. – OverMars Nov 16 '17 at 17:05
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I am using 2017 Pro and this fixed the issue for me. +1 – Tom Wright Dec 22 '17 at 11:42
I thought this has solved the problem but it happened again. I have VS 2017 Community version 15.5.4 – Augusto Barreto Jan 19 '18 at 14:13
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Note that if you update VS2017 after making this fix, you might have to update devenv.exe.config again – Mike Peterson Jan 22 '18 at 17:34
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This answer just helped me for a second time - after updating VS2017 you need to do this again as @MikePeterson says. – James Monger Jan 25 '18 at 15:26
Another possible cause of this problem is that there is some `Directory.SetCurrentDirectory` code in your project and that Visual Studio is starting your project at design time. For example, if it is a WebSite project and Visual Studio is loading it in its process at design time. – Mike Peterson Mar 15 '18 at 00:39
Worked for me /w VS 2017 Professional. Thanks a lot for this info. – mmmato Jan 07 '19 at 10:47
Not working for me. Do i have to restart the computer for this to reflect? – pnizzle Feb 08 '19 at 00:54

score 39 · Answer 4 · edited Apr 15 '20 at 16:30

I've found a workaround that seems to resolve the issue for good, at least on my environment running VS 2017 Professional 15.5.2 and Entity Framework 6.1.1.

Basically, install the DLL (with a few related ones) into the GAC (Global Assembly Cache) and the issue will go away.

Follow these steps:

Close all running instances of Visual Studio 2017
Launch the Visual Studio 2017 Developer Command Prompt
Type the following commands (replace Professional with your edition, either Enterprise or Community, or adjust the path accordingly):

gacutil /i "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\MSBuild\15.0\Bin\Microsoft.Build.Framework.dll"

gacutil /i "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\MSBuild\15.0\Bin\Microsoft.Build.dll"

gacutil /i "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\MSBuild\15.0\Bin\Microsoft.Build.Engine.dll"

gacutil /i "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\MSBuild\15.0\Bin\Microsoft.Build.Conversion.Core.dll"

gacutil /i "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\MSBuild\15.0\Bin\Microsoft.Build.Tasks.Core.dll"

gacutil /i "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\MSBuild\15.0\Bin\Microsoft.Build.Utilities.Core.dll"

Restart Visual Studio 2017

In essence, the GAC will (in most cases) be given priority when .NET is trying to load a DLL and the FileNotFoundException will go away as your DLL will now be resolved through the GAC.

Again, it works for me and it's simply a workaround, it won't solve the core issue itself but at least I don't have to restart VS all the time when trying to work with EF migrations, and that's good enough for me.

Worked for me too. The Visual Studio 2017 Developer Command Prompt is in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Visual Studio 2017\Visual Studio Tools and must be run as administrator. — David Létourneau, Jan 21 '18 at 17:10
FYI - this can cause problems when microsoft Upgrades the product and the GAC entries become invalid (newer version, or path change .. pro vs enterprise, etc). Notably an issue on upgrade to the latest 15.8.0 If your projects don't load (due to having used this solution), see here: https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/content/problem/311136/update-to-1580-projects-wont-load.html?childToView=313622#comment-313622 — Barry, Aug 17 '18 at 21:17

Alfred Wallace · Answer 5 · 2020-04-30T18:41:44.720

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This worked for me - appears to be a non-support issue beginning in 2020.

In the Azure Build Pipeline > NuGet tool installer step, change Version of NuGet.exe to install to a newer version, like 5.4.0. Check versions at https://dist.nuget.org/tools.json.

Issue disappeared and now builds successfully.

edited Apr 30 '20 at 18:41

answered Apr 10 '20 at 14:18

Alfred Wallace

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Updating the used nuget version was also the way to correct the problem for me. – NP83 Jun 17 '20 at 06:02
by upgrading Nuget version to 5.4.0, error is resolved in azure pipeline – Madhusudan Nagar Sep 01 '23 at 10:21

score 11 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 22 '18 at 03:00

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My missing file or assembly version is different with the question.

I have this error when I tried to publish my ASP.net project

Microsoft.Build.Framework, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a

I solved the problem by installing Microsoft Build Tools 2015

I think my problem caused by I publish project that was built with VS 2015 in VS 2017. Hope can help others that have same problem.

answered Jun 22 '18 at 03:00

V-SHY

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This helped fix a CI build in an on-prem TFS for me. One of my build servers did not have these tools and it kept failing with a very similar issue. – Budhead2004 Oct 16 '19 at 20:08
this was the issue for me. I had v15 and it wanted v14 – KevinDeus Mar 22 '21 at 17:58

score 5 · Answer 7 · edited Feb 01 '20 at 23:02

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In my case, something (maybe a NuGet-Update) did add an AssemblyBinding into the web.config-File:

<dependentAssembly>
    <assemblyIdentity name="Microsoft.Build.Framework" publicKeyToken="b03f5f7f11d50a3a" culture="neutral" />
    <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-15.1.0.0" newVersion="15.1.0.0" />
</dependentAssembly>

After removing that dependentAssemby-Entry, I could Publish the Project again.

edited Feb 01 '20 at 23:02

Muhammad Dyas Yaskur

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answered Feb 01 '20 at 19:37

redM76

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the solution worked for me, thank you – Motasem Alsaqqa Aug 31 '23 at 07:23

score 4 · Answer 8 · answered Jan 25 '18 at 10:29

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Just in case restarting Visual Studio does not work Go to Task Manager/ Process Explorer and skill VBCSCompiler.exe

Suggest using Process Explorer

answered Jan 25 '18 at 10:29

Arjun Shetty

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I'm trying this solution "Just in case restarting Visual Studio does not work Go to Task Manager/ Process Explorer and skill VBCSCompiler.exe" and work fine. – Mohammad Jihad Helal Jan 20 '19 at 22:02

score 4 · Answer 9 · answered Feb 20 '23 at 18:36

The following worked for me:

Add MSBuildLocator.RegisterDefaults(); before you actually use any MSBuild methods.

To add that, you will need to install Microsoft.Build.Locator. Do not specify ExcludeAssets=runtime. Install Microsoft.Build and for that one, do specify ExcludeAssets=runtime.

Found this solution from https://github.com/microsoft/MSBuildLocator/issues/64.

I didn't like a few of the other solutions here because they seemed to make you mess with more config files than I wanted. This solution just has you adding a line of code and installing a few packages :)

Of course, the others may work as well! I just don't trust myself enough to mess too much with configs, lest I mess something else up.

score 3 · Answer 10 · answered May 25 '20 at 15:45

This worked for me: The error occurs when I execute the nuget restore command. Nuget version 4.6.2. I have two ways to solve this problem.

Use Nuget 4.8.2 and higher. gacutil /i "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Professional\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Build.Framework.dll

score 3 · Answer 11 · answered Feb 15 '22 at 14:58

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In my Roslyn project, referencing the NuGet Package Microsoft.Build.Locator and calling MSBuildLocator.RegisterDefaults(); before creating the MSBuildWorkspace solved this problem.

answered Feb 15 '22 at 14:58

Tamás Kovács

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score 1 · Answer 12 · edited Oct 19 '17 at 13:18

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We had this issue, and here is what we needed to do in our case:

Problem was that we had a database command interceptor (IDbCommandInterceptor) configured that called HttpRuntime.Cache["somekey"], and for some reason migration commands failed to run because of this. After removing this depencency, all commands ran perfect. Maybe HttpRuntime weren't able to find the Build Framework dll?

So check the entire callstack when migration commands fails to see if you have a similar problem.

edited Oct 19 '17 at 13:18

Saad Suri

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answered Oct 19 '17 at 12:04

Øyvind Rask

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Very interesting, my stack trace included a call to a method using HttpContext.Current. Removing this removed the issue. – Timores Aug 20 '18 at 09:32

score 1 · Answer 13 · answered Feb 19 '19 at 07:39

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Closing and re-opening Visual Studio works like a charm!

answered Feb 19 '19 at 07:39

Masoud Darvishian

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Unfortunately not for me – Alireza Mahzad May 24 '21 at 20:27

score 1 · Answer 14 · answered Dec 10 '20 at 11:45

After trying all of the above methods and more - running WCF app still failed for me. Error: Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Build.Framework, Version=15.1.0.0..

note: tried Restarting VS, PC, killing processes, cleaning up the VS caches, nuget caches, obj, bin, .vs, packages folders

What worked for me is removing the projects' *.csproj.user file.. Apparently it had some obsolete configuration in it. Lost 4 hours trying to figure it out..

score 1 · Answer 15 · answered Sep 16 '22 at 01:35

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I've experienced the same issue developing with .Net 6 but I've fixed it by installing from NuGet Packages Management Microsoft.Build.Framework.

answered Sep 16 '22 at 01:35

faye.babacar78

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score 0 · Answer 16 · edited Nov 10 '20 at 16:55

Thanks to those who already posted. My situation was solved by a combination of the above. I have had several version of Visual Studio: 2015, 2017, 2019. At some point the version of MSBUILD went from 15.1 to 15.9, and I solved this issue by updating the C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe.config file to point to the 15.9 library. Here is an example of one of the entries:

<dependentAssembly>
      <assemblyIdentity name="Microsoft.Build.Utilities.Core" publicKeyToken="b03f5f7f11d50a3a" culture="neutral"/>
      <bindingRedirect oldVersion="2.0.0.0-99.0.0.0" newVersion="15.9.0.0"/>
      <codeBase version="15.9.0.0" href="..\..\MSBuild\15.0\Bin\Microsoft.Build.Utilities.Core.dll" />
</dependentAssembly>

your example seems to have vanished. – Jammer Mar 18 '20 at 13:17 — Jammer, Mar 18 '20 at 13:17

picolino · Answer 17 · 2019-12-09T09:37:24.983

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I've faced with same issue when updated XCode/Mono components on macOS.

Solution is to update Visual Studio for Mac to latest version.

I think that issue cause in using new MSBuild tools from .NET Core 3.0 package which installed with new XCode/Mono version.

edited Dec 09 '19 at 09:37

answered Dec 09 '19 at 08:55

picolino

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score 0 · Answer 18 · answered Dec 23 '20 at 12:10

I did a restart, following which I found that the local web service I have been running was blocked by another process which had taken that port. I checked the process running and and killed the process using TCPView and all seemed to start working again.

score 0 · Answer 19 · answered Mar 23 '21 at 08:16

I had this part in my web.config and simply removed it and then it start working :)

<compilation debug="true" targetFramework="4.5.2">
    <assemblies>
        <add assembly="Microsoft.Build.Framework, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=B03F5F7F11D50A3A"/>
    </assemblies>
</compilation>

score 0 · Answer 20 · answered Oct 04 '21 at 20:55

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Calling "MSBuildLocator.RegisterDefaults();" before DLLs are accessed worked for me.

answered Oct 04 '21 at 20:55

David Ehnis

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Usman · Answer 21 · 2021-10-27T04:08:03.723

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Problem: Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Build.Framework...

Solution: I had Microsoft.Build.Framework Nuget package referenced in my project and setting the reference for this NuGet package's Copy Local to True, issue was resolved for me.

edited Oct 27 '21 at 04:08

answered Oct 27 '21 at 03:59

Usman

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score 0 · Answer 22 · answered Feb 19 '22 at 14:49

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I had to install visual studio with the .NET cross-platform development option. I did also get universal windows platform development too

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/install/install-visual-studio?view=vs-2022

answered Feb 19 '22 at 14:49

ASH

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score 0 · Answer 23 · answered Feb 20 '22 at 03:21

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On macOS with .NET 6, I started seeing this error after upgrading form 6.0.1 to 6.0.2. The fix is to uninstall and reinstall dotnet-ef cli:

dotnet tool uninstall --global dotnet-ef
dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef

answered Feb 20 '22 at 03:21

Ssh Quack

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score 0 · Answer 24 · answered Jul 21 '22 at 13:46

The OP doesn't include any of the stack trace as part of the exception, but in my case there was a reference in the call stack to my version of the DbContext class.

In the constructor I check the environment to see if we're running on Live. This is because I don't want to throw exceptions if the migrations aren't up to date.

However, in order to do this check it looks up a custom section of the web.config. And, during run time this code creates an "instance" of this custom section, so that the environment can be referred to in various areas of the code.

I don't know whether it's the custom section of the web.config or the way the static "instance" is created in my code, but it seems that this is the root of my exception.

Wrapping it in a #if !DEBUG statement ensures that the PackageManager doesn't trigger this code (which is unnecessary anyway) and I no longer get the exception.

My recommendation would be to strip back your DbContext. If you are using a custom constructor, empty it and test whether it works.

Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Build.Framework'(VS 2017)

24 Answers24

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