Error MSB364 using VS 2022 to build Gen 8.6 .NET C# applications

Products

• Gen
• Gen - Workstation Toolset

Issue/Introduction

When trying to build a Gen 8.6 .NET C# application with Visual Studio 2022 this error will be seen:

error MSB3644: The reference assemblies for .NETFramework,Version=v4.0 were not found. To resolve this, install the Developer Pack (SDK/Targeting Pack) for this framework version or retarget your application. You can download .NET Framework Developer Packs at https://aka.ms/msbuild/developerpacks

Environment

Gen Build Tool using Visual Studio 2022.

Cause

Visual Studio 2022 no longer delivers .NET Framework 4.0.
Building Gen generated C# code will result in the above error regardless of the value used for Build Tool OPTIONS token OPT.VSVERSION.

Resolution

There is currently no resolution.

Workaround:

If intending to build C# applications with a Visual Studio 2022 installation, install Visual Studio 2019 with the following individual component selected:

.NET Framework 4 targeting pack

i.e. from Visual Studio 2019 installer (Individual Components) select as follows:

That will then be picked up when using Visual Studio 2022 for the build.