[main] Keep using the desktop MSBuild assemblies when building from within Visual Studio. by rolfbjarne · Pull Request #25417 · dotnet/macios

rolfbjarne · 2026-05-13T07:26:11Z

Keep using the desktop MSBuild assemblies when building from within Visual
Studio, while we track down why it's not working and fix it for a future release.

Ref: https://devdiv.visualstudio.com/DevDiv/_workitems/edit/2968169
Ref: #25418

Backport of #25249.

…ing from within Visual Studio. Keep using the desktop MSBuild assemblies when building from within Visual Studio, while we track down why it's not working and fix it for a future release. Ref: https://devdiv.visualstudio.com/DevDiv/_workitems/edit/2968169

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Pull request overview

This PR adjusts the iOS SDK MSBuild properties so that when building inside Visual Studio, the build continues to use the desktop-compatible (netstandard2.0) MSBuild task assemblies. This is a temporary compatibility measure while investigating why the newer task assembly path isn’t working correctly in Visual Studio.

Changes:

Set _UseDesktopTaskAssemblies=true by default when $(BuildingInsideVisualStudio) is true (unless already overridden).
Switch CoreiOSSdkDirectory to point at the netstandard2.0 task directory when _UseDesktopTaskAssemblies is enabled.

vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 · 2026-05-13T07:45:08Z

✅ [PR Build #4d83de0] Build passed (Detect API changes) ✅

Pipeline on Agent
Hash: 4d83de02ba70c47e09be4bbdf839ba5f72ba0165 [PR build]

vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 · 2026-05-13T07:50:41Z

✅ [PR Build #4d83de0] Build passed (Build packages) ✅

Pipeline on Agent
Hash: 4d83de02ba70c47e09be4bbdf839ba5f72ba0165 [PR build]

vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 · 2026-05-13T07:58:24Z

✅ API diff for current PR / commit

NET (empty diffs)

iOS: vsdrops gist ( No breaking changes )
tvOS: vsdrops gist ( No breaking changes )
MacCatalyst: vsdrops gist ( No breaking changes )
macOS: vsdrops gist ( No breaking changes )

✅ API diff vs stable

NET (empty diffs)

iOS: vsdrops gist ( No breaking changes )
tvOS: vsdrops gist ( No breaking changes )
MacCatalyst: vsdrops gist ( No breaking changes )
macOS: vsdrops gist ( No breaking changes )

ℹ️ Generator diff

Generator Diff: vsdrops (html) vsdrops (raw diff) gist (raw diff) - Please review changes)

Pipeline on Agent
Hash: 4d83de02ba70c47e09be4bbdf839ba5f72ba0165 [PR build]

vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 · 2026-05-13T08:08:05Z

✅ [PR Build #4d83de0] Build passed (Build macOS tests) ✅

Pipeline on Agent
Hash: 4d83de02ba70c47e09be4bbdf839ba5f72ba0165 [PR build]

vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 · 2026-05-13T18:27:42Z

🚀 [CI Build #4d83de0] Test results 🚀

Test results

✅ All tests passed on VSTS: test results.

🎉 All 175 tests passed 🎉

Tests counts

✅ cecil: All 1 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ dotnettests (iOS): All 1 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ dotnettests (MacCatalyst): All 1 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ dotnettests (macOS): All 1 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ dotnettests (Multiple platforms): All 1 tests passed. (⚠️ Html Report Publish failed ⚠️) Download
✅ dotnettests (tvOS): All 1 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ framework: All 2 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ fsharp: All 4 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ generator: All 5 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ interdependent-binding-projects: All 4 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ introspection: All 6 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ linker: All 44 tests passed. [attempt 2] Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ monotouch (iOS): All 16 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ monotouch (MacCatalyst): All 18 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ monotouch (macOS): All 18 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ monotouch (tvOS): All 16 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ msbuild: All 2 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ sharpie: All 1 tests passed. (⚠️ Html Report Publish failed ⚠️) Download
✅ windows: All 3 tests passed. [attempt 3] Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ xcframework: All 4 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ xtro: All 1 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download

macOS tests

✅ Tests on macOS Monterey (12): All 5 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ Tests on macOS Ventura (13): All 5 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ Tests on macOS Sonoma (14): All 5 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ Tests on macOS Sequoia (15): All 5 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ Tests on macOS Tahoe (26): All 5 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download

Linux Build Verification

✅ Linux build succeeded

Pipeline on Agent
Hash: 4d83de02ba70c47e09be4bbdf839ba5f72ba0165 [PR build]

…25662) ## Description Building a MacCatalyst app inside Visual Studio on Windows ARM64 fails with: ``` error MSB4216: Could not run the "MakeDir" task because MSBuild could not create or connect to a task host with runtime "NET" and architecture "*". ``` ## Root cause Inside Visual Studio, our MSBuild tasks should run in-process using the `netstandard2.0` assemblies. This is controlled by the `_UseDesktopTaskAssemblies` property. When it is not set, the tasks instead use the `.NET` assemblies, which need a separate .NET task host. That task host does not work reliably from Visual Studio, and fails on Windows ARM64. #25417 set `_UseDesktopTaskAssemblies` for Visual Studio builds, but only in the iOS SDK. MacCatalyst, macOS and tvOS were missed, so they still try to use the .NET task host and break. ## Fix Set `_UseDesktopTaskAssemblies` in the shared `Xamarin.Shared.Sdk.props`, which is imported by all four platforms, so the workaround applies everywhere. The iOS SDK keeps setting it earlier (it also needs it for `CoreiOSSdkDirectory`); the `== ''` guard makes the shared copy a no-op for iOS. Ref: #25418 --------- Co-authored-by: Milos Kotlar Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

… for all platforms (#25718) ## Description Building a MacCatalyst app inside Visual Studio on Windows ARM64 fails with: ``` error MSB4216: Could not run the "MakeDir" task because MSBuild could not create or connect to a task host with runtime "NET" and architecture "*". ``` ## Root cause Inside Visual Studio, our MSBuild tasks should run in-process using the `netstandard2.0` assemblies. This is controlled by the `_UseDesktopTaskAssemblies` property. When it is not set, the tasks instead use the `.NET` assemblies, which need a separate .NET task host. That task host does not work reliably from Visual Studio, and fails on Windows ARM64. #25417 set `_UseDesktopTaskAssemblies` for Visual Studio builds, but only in the iOS SDK. MacCatalyst, macOS and tvOS were missed, so they still try to use the .NET task host and break. ## Fix Set `_UseDesktopTaskAssemblies` in the shared `Xamarin.Shared.Sdk.props`, which is imported by all four platforms, so the workaround applies everywhere. The iOS SDK keeps setting it earlier (it also needs it for `CoreiOSSdkDirectory`); the `== ''` guard makes the shared copy a no-op for iOS. Ref: #25418 --------- Co-authored-by: Milos Kotlar Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Backport of #25662. Co-authored-by: Milos Kotlar Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings May 13, 2026 07:26

rolfbjarne added the backported label May 13, 2026

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of rolfbjarne May 13, 2026 07:26 View session

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rolfbjarne mentioned this pull request May 13, 2026

Fix using .NET Core assemblies for MSBuild tasks within VS #25418

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rolfbjarne enabled auto-merge (squash) May 13, 2026 08:05

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dalexsoto approved these changes May 13, 2026

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rolfbjarne merged commit e67eb98 into main May 13, 2026
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This was referenced Jun 9, 2026

[dotnet] Use desktop MSBuild task assemblies in VS for all platforms, not just iOS #25661

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[dotnet] Use desktop MSBuild task assemblies in VS for all platforms #25662

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This was referenced Jun 17, 2026

[release/10.0.1xx] [dotnet] Use desktop MSBuild task assemblies in VS for all platforms #25718

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Fix using .NET Core assemblies for MSBuild tasks within VS #25722

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[main] Keep using the desktop MSBuild assemblies when building from within Visual Studio. - #25417

[main] Keep using the desktop MSBuild assemblies when building from within Visual Studio.#25417
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Pull request overview

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vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 commented May 13, 2026

✅ [PR Build #4d83de0] Build passed (Detect API changes) ✅

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vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 commented May 13, 2026

✅ [PR Build #4d83de0] Build passed (Build packages) ✅

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vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 commented May 13, 2026

✅ API diff for current PR / commit

✅ API diff vs stable

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vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 commented May 13, 2026

✅ [PR Build #4d83de0] Build passed (Build macOS tests) ✅

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vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 commented May 13, 2026

🚀 [CI Build #4d83de0] Test results 🚀

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rolfbjarne commented May 13, 2026 •

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