{ "id": "b9ec031f-9332-49fd-af02-4d500e71c601", "created_at": "2026-04-06T00:21:42.451536Z", "updated_at": "2026-04-10T03:35:21.399026Z", "deleted_at": null, "sha1_hash": "657ce6b771588abc635fc6a6bed528a91f00d8fa", "title": "MSBuild - Visual Studio 2015", "llm_title": "", "authors": "", "file_creation_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_modification_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_size": 96170, "plain_text": "MSBuild - Visual Studio 2015\r\nBy mijacobs\r\nArchived: 2026-04-05 12:46:29 UTC\r\nNote\r\nThis article applies to Visual Studio 2015. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual\r\nStudio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here\r\nThe Microsoft Build Engine is a platform for building applications. This engine, which is also known as MSBuild,\r\nprovides an XML schema for a project file that controls how the build platform processes and builds software.\r\nVisual Studio uses MSBuild, but it doesn't depend on Visual Studio. By invoking msbuild.exe on your project or\r\nsolution file, you can orchestrate and build products in environments where Visual Studio isn't installed.\r\nVisual Studio uses MSBuild to load and build managed projects. The project files in Visual Studio (.csproj,.vbproj,\r\nvcxproj, and others) contain MSBuild XML code that executes when you build a project by using the IDE. Visual\r\nStudio projects import all the necessary settings and build processes to do typical development work, but you can\r\nextend or modify them from within Visual Studio or by using an XML editor.\r\nFor information about MSBuild for C++, see MSBuild (Visual C++).\r\nThe following examples illustrate when you might run builds by using an MSBuild command line instead of the\r\nVisual Studio IDE.\r\nVisual Studio isn't installed.\r\nYou want to use the 64-bit version of MSBuild. This version of MSBuild is usually unnecessary, but it\r\nallows MSBuild to access more memory.\r\nYou want to run a build in multiple processes. However, you can use the IDE to achieve the same result on\r\nprojects in C++ and C#.\r\nYou want to modify the build system. For example, you might want to enable the following actions:\r\nPreprocess files before they reach the compiler.\r\nCopy the build outputs to a different place.\r\nCreate compressed files from build outputs.\r\nDo a post-processing step. For example, you might want to stamp an assembly with a different\r\nversion.\r\nYou can write code in the Visual Studio IDE but run builds by using MSBuild. As another alternative, you\r\ncan build code in the IDE on a development computer but use an MSBuild command line to build code\r\nhttps://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd393574.aspx\r\nPage 1 of 7\n\nthat's integrated from multiple developers.\r\nNote\r\nYou can use Team Foundation Build to automatically compile, test, and deploy your application. Your build\r\nsystem can automatically run builds when developers check in code (for example, as part of a Continuous\r\nIntegration strategy) or according to a schedule (for example, a nightly Build Verification Test build). Team\r\nFoundation Build compiles your code by using MSBuild. For more information, see Build the application.\r\nThis topic provides an overview of MSBuild. For an introductory tutorial, see Walkthrough: Using MSBuild.\r\nIn this topic\r\nUsing MSBuild at a Command Prompt\r\nProject File\r\nProperties\r\nItems\r\nTasks\r\nTargets\r\nBuild Logs\r\nUsing MSBuild in Visual Studio\r\nMultitargeting\r\nUsing MSBuild at a Command Prompt\r\nTo run MSBuild at a command prompt, pass a project file to MSBuild.exe, together with the appropriate\r\ncommand-line options. Command-line options let you set properties, execute specific targets, and set other options\r\nthat control the build process. For example, you would use the following command-line syntax to build the file\r\nMyProj.proj with the Configuration property set to Debug .\r\nMSBuild.exe MyProj.proj /property:Configuration=Debug\r\nFor more information about MSBuild command-line options, see Command-Line Reference.\r\nImportant\r\nBefore you download a project, determine the trustworthiness of the code.\r\nProject File\r\nhttps://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd393574.aspx\r\nPage 2 of 7\n\nMSBuild uses an XML-based project file format that's straightforward and extensible. The MSBuild project file\nformat lets developers describe the items that are to be built, and also how they are to be built for different\noperating systems and configurations. In addition, the project file format lets developers author reusable build\nrules that can be factored into separate files so that builds can be performed consistently across different projects\nin the product.\nThe following sections describe some of the basic elements of the MSBuild project file format. For a tutorial\nabout how to create a basic project file, see Walkthrough: Creating an MSBuild Project File from Scratch.\nProperties\nProperties represent key/value pairs that can be used to configure builds. Properties are declared by creating an\nelement that has the name of the property as a child of a PropertyGroup element. For example, the following code\ncreates a property named BuildDir that has a value of Build .\nBuild You can define a property conditionally by placing a Condition attribute in the element. The contents of\nconditional elements are ignored unless the condition evaluates to true . In the following example, the\nConfiguration element is defined if it hasn't yet been defined.\nDebug Properties can be referenced throughout the project file by using the syntax $(PropertyName). For example, you\ncan reference the properties in the previous examples by using $(BuildDir) and $(Configuration) .\nFor more information about properties, see MSBuild Properties.\nItems\nItems are inputs into the build system and typically represent files. Items are grouped into item types, based on\nuser-defined item names. These item types can be used as parameters for tasks, which use the individual items to\nperform the steps of the build process.\nItems are declared in the project file by creating an element that has the name of the item type as a child of an\nItemGroup element. For example, the following code creates an item type named Compile , which includes two\nfiles.\nhttps://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd393574.aspx\nPage 3 of 7\n\nItem types can be referenced throughout the project file by using the syntax @(ItemType). For example, the item\ntype in the example would be referenced by using @(Compile) .\nIn MSBuild, element and attribute names are case-sensitive. However, property, item, and metadata names are not.\nThe following example creates the item type Compile , comPile , or any other case variation, and gives the item\ntype the value \"one.cs;two.cs\".\nItems can be declared by using wildcard characters and may contain additional metadata for more advanced build\nscenarios. For more information about items, see Items.\nTasks\nTasks are units of executable code that MSBuild projects use to perform build operations. For example, a task\nmight compile input files or run an external tool. Tasks can be reused, and they can be shared by different\ndevelopers in different projects.\nThe execution logic of a task is written in managed code and mapped to MSBuild by using the UsingTask\nelement. You can write your own task by authoring a managed type that implements the ITask interface. For more\ninformation about how to write tasks, see Task Writing.\nMSBuild includes common tasks that you can modify to suit your requirements. Examples are Copy, which copies\nfiles, MakeDir, which creates directories, and Csc, which compiles Visual C# source code files. For a list of\navailable tasks together with usage information, see Task Reference.\nA task is executed in an MSBuild project file by creating an element that has the name of the task as a child of a\nTarget element. Tasks typically accept parameters, which are passed as attributes of the element. Both MSBuild\nproperties and items can be used as parameters. For example, the following code calls the MakeDir task and\npasses it the value of the BuildDir property that was declared in the earlier example.\nFor more information about tasks, see Tasks.\nTargets\nTargets group tasks together in a particular order and expose sections of the project file as entry points into the\nbuild process. Targets are often grouped into logical sections to increase readability and to allow for expansion.\nBreaking the build steps into targets lets you call one piece of the build process from other targets without copying\nhttps://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd393574.aspx\nPage 4 of 7\n\nthat section of code into every target. For example, if several entry points into the build process require references\nto be built, you can create a target that builds references and then run that target from every entry point where it's\nrequired.\nTargets are declared in the project file by using the Target element. For example, the following code creates a\ntarget named Compile , which then calls the Csc task that has the item list that was declared in the earlier\nexample.\nIn more advanced scenarios, targets can be used to describe relationships among one another and perform\ndependency analysis so that whole sections of the build process can be skipped if that target is up-to-date. For\nmore information about targets, see Targets.\nBuild Logs\nYou can log build errors, warnings, and messages to the console or another output device. For more information,\nsee Obtaining Build Logs and Logging in MSBuild.\nUsing MSBuild in Visual Studio\nVisual Studio uses the MSBuild project file format to store build information about managed projects. Project\nsettings that are added or changed by using the Visual Studio interface are reflected in the .*proj file that's\ngenerated for every project. Visual Studio uses a hosted instance of MSBuild to build managed projects. This\nmeans that a managed project can be built in Visual Studio or at a command prompt (even if Visual Studio isn't\ninstalled), and the results will be identical.\nFor a tutorial about how to use MSBuild in Visual Studio, see Walkthrough: Using MSBuild.\nMultitargeting\nBy using Visual Studio, you can compile an application to run on any one of several versions of the .NET\nFramework. For example, you can compile an application to run on the .NET Framework 2.0 on a 32-bit platform,\nand you can compile the same application to run on the .NET Framework 4.5 on a 64-bit platform. The ability to\ncompile to more than one framework is named multitargeting.\nThese are some of the benefits of multitargeting:\nYou can develop applications that target earlier versions of the .NET Framework, for example, versions\n2.0, 3.0, and 3.5.\nYou can target frameworks other than the .NET Framework, for example, Silverlight.\nYou can target a framework profile, which is a predefined subset of a target framework.\nhttps://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd393574.aspx\nPage 5 of 7\n\nIf a service pack for the current version of the .NET Framework is released, you could target it.\r\nMultitargeting guarantees that an application uses only the functionality that's available in the target\r\nframework and platform.\r\nFor more information, see Multitargeting.\r\nTitle Description\r\nWalkthrough: Creating an\r\nMSBuild Project File from\r\nScratch\r\nShows how to create a basic project file incrementally, by using only a\r\ntext editor.\r\nWalkthrough: Using MSBuild\r\nIntroduces the building blocks of MSBuild and shows how to write,\r\nmanipulate, and debug MSBuild projects without closing the Visual\r\nStudio IDE.\r\nMSBuild Concepts\r\nPresents the four building blocks of MSBuild: properties, items, targets,\r\nand tasks.\r\nItems\r\nDescribes the general concepts behind the MSBuild file format and how\r\nthe pieces fit together.\r\nMSBuild Properties\r\nIntroduces properties and property collections. Properties are key/value\r\npairs that can be used to configure builds.\r\nTargets\r\nExplains how to group tasks together in a particular order and enable\r\nsections of the build process to be called on the command line.\r\nTasks\r\nShows how to create a unit of executable code that can be used by\r\nMSBuild to perform atomic build operations.\r\nConditions Discusses how to use the Condition attribute in an MSBuild element.\r\nAdvanced Concepts\r\nPresents batching, performing transforms, multitargeting, and other\r\nadvanced techniques.\r\nLogging in MSBuild Describes how to log build events, messages, and errors.\r\nAdditional Resources\r\nLists community and support resources for more information about\r\nMSBuild.\r\nReference\r\nMSBuild Reference\r\nLinks to topics that contain reference information.\r\nhttps://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd393574.aspx\r\nPage 6 of 7\n\nGlossary\r\nDefines common MSBuild terms.\r\nSource: https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd393574.aspx\r\nhttps://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd393574.aspx\r\nPage 7 of 7", "extraction_quality": 1, "language": "EN", "sources": [ "MITRE" ], "references": [ "https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd393574.aspx" ], "report_names": [ "dd393574.aspx" ], "threat_actors": [ { "id": "2864e40a-f233-4618-ac61-b03760a41cbb", "created_at": "2023-12-01T02:02:34.272108Z", "updated_at": "2026-04-10T02:00:04.97558Z", "deleted_at": null, "main_name": "WildCard", "aliases": [], "source_name": "ETDA:WildCard", "tools": [ "RustDown", "SysJoker" ], "source_id": "ETDA", "reports": null }, { "id": "256a6a2d-e8a2-4497-b399-628a7fad4b3e", "created_at": "2023-11-30T02:00:07.299845Z", "updated_at": "2026-04-10T02:00:03.484788Z", "deleted_at": null, "main_name": "WildCard", "aliases": [], "source_name": "MISPGALAXY:WildCard", "tools": [], "source_id": "MISPGALAXY", "reports": null } ], "ts_created_at": 1775434902, "ts_updated_at": 1775792121, "ts_creation_date": 0, "ts_modification_date": 0, "files": { "pdf": "https://archive.orkl.eu/657ce6b771588abc635fc6a6bed528a91f00d8fa.pdf", "text": "https://archive.orkl.eu/657ce6b771588abc635fc6a6bed528a91f00d8fa.txt", "img": "https://archive.orkl.eu/657ce6b771588abc635fc6a6bed528a91f00d8fa.jpg" } }