How to build .sqlproj projects on a build server?

Question

I have many .sqlproj projects that need to be built on our build server. I don't want to install all of Visual Studio on the build server just so I can install SSDT to build these. How can I build .sqlproj projects without a full VS install?

Here's the raw error I get on the build server when trying to build without SSDT intstalled:

C:\MyProject\MyProj.sqlproj (4): The imported project "C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v11.0\SSDT\Microsoft.Data.Tools.Schema.SqlTasks.targets" was not found. Confirm that the path in the <Import> declaration is correct, and that the file exists on disk.

Answer 1

Answer: Microsoft now has an official NuGet package (see blog post).

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Old answer, prior to August 2016; provided in case the NuGet package doesn't work for you:

1. Install dacframework.msi (x86|x64)
2. Install SQLDOM.MSI (x86|x64)
3. Install SQLLS.MSI (x86|x64)
4. Install SQLSysClrTypes.msi (x86|x64)
5. Install SSDTBuildUtilities.msi (from the "Administrator Install Point" as setup in step 3 here)

Done!

Source: Headless MSBuild Support for SSDT (*.sqlproj) Projects.

Answer 2

Microsoft SQL Server Data Tools: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/data/hh297027

Install the tools on build machine to fix the problem.

Answer 3

The Microsoft SQL Server Data Tools team has released a NuGet package named Microsoft.Data.Tools.Msbuild, which helps to build SQL Projects on build servers.

see : https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/ssdt/2016/08/22/releasing-ssdt-with-visual-studio-15-preview-4-and-introducing-ssdt-msbuild-nuget-package/

NuGet package : https://www.nuget.org/packages/Microsoft.Data.Tools.Msbuild/

Answer 4

SSDT v12.0.50730.0 requires Visual Studio to be installed beforehand. I found the easiest solution was to install the bare minimum Visual Studio components which were downloaded from MSDN Subscriber downloads:

• Visual Studio 2013 Isolated
• Visual Studio 2013 Shell

Then SSDT installed fine.

I also used part of the solution outlined above.
* Install dacframework.msi * Install SQLDOM.MSI * Install SQLLS.MSI * Install SQLSysClrTypes.msi

I use MSBuild 12.0 to perform the build which is also available as a separate download.

Answer 5

I was having the exact same issue building a SQL Server project on an Azure DevOps CI/CD pipeline. None of the pre-built build tasks would work for me.

Some answers mention a NuGet package, but I am not sure how can I use it, because SQL Server projects do not allow to install NuGet packages.

I solved this by avoiding to add a SQL Server project to the solution.

I achieved this by using an MSBuild SDK, capable of producing a SQL Server Data-Tier Application package (.dacpac) from the set of SQL scripts. By adding this second project to the solution, I managed to continue taking advantage of linking the project to a live database through SQL Server Object Explorer on Visual Studio. I gave a more detailed explanation about my implementation in this answer.