Solution dependency leads to error MSB4057: The target "GetTargetPath" does not exist in the project

See original GitHub issue

There is a problem with solution dependencies that I believe was introduced with MSBuild 15.9, and is also a problem with 16.0.

The following scenario causes the problem;

  • There is a project that has <GeneratePackageOnBuild>true</GeneratePackageOnBuild> set
  • It has a solution dependency on a second project, and that project is multi-targeted.

Steps to reproduce

Build the attached project with MSBuild.exe or dotnet build: GetTargetPathRepro.zip

Expected behavior

The solution should compile without errors.

Actual behavior

The following error occurs:

"C:\Users\Brandon\source\repos\GetTargetPathRepro\GetTargetPathRepro.sln" (default target) (1:2) ->
"C:\Users\Brandon\source\repos\GetTargetPathRepro\ClassLibrary1\ClassLibrary1.csproj.metaproj" (default target) (4) ->
"C:\Users\Brandon\source\repos\GetTargetPathRepro\ClassLibrary1\ClassLibrary1.csproj" (default target) (2:6) ->
"C:\Users\Brandon\source\repos\GetTargetPathRepro\ClassLibrary1\ClassLibrary1.csproj" (_GetFrameworkAssemblyReferences target) (2:10) ->
"C:\Users\Brandon\source\repos\GetTargetPathRepro\ClassLibrary2\ClassLibrary2.csproj" (GetTargetPath target) (3:15) ->
  C:\Users\Brandon\source\repos\GetTargetPathRepro\ClassLibrary2\ClassLibrary2.csproj : error MSB4057: The target "GetTargetPath" does not exist in the project.

    0 Warning(s)
    1 Error(s)

Environment data

It repros with MSBuild 15.9.21.664 and 16.0.461.62831. It also repros with .NET Core SDK 2.2.106 and 3.0.100-preview3-010431

I believe it worked fine before MSBuild 15.9, but I don’t know an exact version.

Issue Analytics

  • State:open
  • Created 4 years ago
  • Reactions:6
  • Comments:21 (2 by maintainers)

github_iconTop GitHub Comments

20reactions
matiasddcommented, Nov 26, 2019

I had the same error and somewhat similar to @sebashek, I had two identical project references listed in a single project file. Removing one of the references fixed the issue.

5reactions
NorbertNemeccommented, Aug 11, 2021

After long struggles with the problem using include_external_msproject() I finally found an applicable workaround on https://github.com/wixtoolset/issues/issues/5705:

  <Target Name="GetTargetPath" Returns="@(_FakeOutputPath)">
    <ItemGroup>
      <_FakeOutputPath Include="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\$(PackageOutputPath)\$(AssemblyName).dll" />
    </ItemGroup>
  </Target>
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