msbuild

# Microsoft.Build (MSBuild)

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The Microsoft Build Engine is a platform for building applications. This engine, also known as MSBuild, provides an XML schema for a project file that controls how the build platform processes and builds software. Visual Studio uses MSBuild, but MSBuild can run without Visual Studio. By invoking msbuild.exe on your project or solution file, you can orchestrate and build products in environments where Visual Studio isn't installed.

For more information on MSBuild, see the [MSBuild documentation](https://learn.microsoft.com/visualstudio/msbuild/msbuild) on learn.microsoft.com.

The [changelog](documentation/Changelog.md) has detailed information about changes made in different releases.

## Building

### Building MSBuild with Visual Studio 2026 on Windows

For the full supported experience, use the latest Visual Studio 2026.

To get started with **Visual Studio 2026**:

1. [Install Visual Studio 2026](https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/) with the components listed in [`.vsconfig`](.vsconfig):
   - **.NET desktop development** workload
2. [Install .NET Framework 3.5](https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/framework/install/dotnet-35-windows-11). A full MSBuild build includes outputs that require this.
3. Ensure [long path support](https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/win32/fileio/maximum-file-path-limitation?tabs=registry#enable-long-paths-in-windows-10-version-1607-and-later) is enabled at the Windows level.
4. Open a `Developer Command Prompt for VS 2026` prompt.
5. Clone the source code: `git clone https://github.com/dotnet/msbuild`
   - You may have to [download Git](https://git-scm.com/downloads) first.
6. Run `.\build.cmd` from the root of the repo to build the code. This also restores packages needed to open the projects in Visual Studio.
7. Open `MSBuild.slnx` or `MSBuild.Dev.slnf` in Visual Studio 2026.

This newly-built MSBuild will be located at `artifacts\bin\bootstrap\net472\MSBuild\Current\Bin\MSBuild.exe`. It may not work for all scenarios, including C++ builds.

### Building MSBuild in Unix (Mac & Linux)

MSBuild can be run on Unix systems that support .NET Core. Set-up instructions can be viewed on the wiki: [Building Testing and Debugging on .Net Core MSBuild](documentation/wiki/Building-Testing-and-Debugging-on-.Net-Core-MSBuild.md)

## Localization

You can turn on localized builds via the `/p:LocalizedBuild=true` command line argument. For more information on localized builds and how to make contributions to MSBuild's translations, see our [localization documentation](documentation/wiki/Localization.md)

### Interested in contributing?
Befor