vcpkg install fails, if only VS BuildTools is installed, not full Visual Studio

[oleg-boulanov]

vcpkg install fails, if only VS BuildTools is installed, not full Visual Studio

Environment

• OS: Windows
• Compiler: Visual Studio BuildTools 2022, Toolset v143

RUN 
    curl -fSLo vs_BuildTools.exe https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vs_BuildTools.exe `
    && vs_BuildTools.exe modify ^ `
        --installPath "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\BuildTools" ^ `
        --includeRecommended ^ `
        --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.VCTools ^ `
        --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.ATLMFC ^ `
        --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.VisualStudioExtensionBuildTools ^ `
        --quiet --norestart --nocache --wait `
    && powershell -Command "if ($err = dir $Env:TEMP -Filter dd_setup_*_errors.log | where Length -gt 0 | Get-Content) { throw $err }" `

Failure log

15:36:23  C:\j\95df9d\src>curl -LO https://aka.ms/vcpkg-init.cmd   && .\vcpkg-init.cmd
...
15:36:24  Installing vcpkg to C:\Users\ContainerAdministrator\.vcpkg
15:36:24  Downloading 'https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg-tool/releases/download/2024-12-09/vcpkg.exe' -> 'C:\Users\ContainerAdministrator\.vcpkg\vcpkg.exe'
15:36:25  Bootstrapped vcpkg: C:\Users\ContainerAdministrator\.vcpkg
15:36:25  C:\j\95df9d\src>C:\Users\ContainerAdministrator\.vcpkg\vcpkg.exe --version 
15:36:25  vcpkg package management program version 2024-12-09-1005b78fa1bf1dde1a20c2734cba4ea61ca94d9a
...
15:36:25  C:\j\95df9d\src>C:\Users\ContainerAdministrator\.vcpkg\vcpkg.exe integrate install 
15:36:25  Applied user-wide integration for this vcpkg root.
15:36:25  CMake projects should use: "-DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=C:/Users/ContainerAdministrator/.vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake"
15:36:25  
15:36:25  All MSBuild C++ projects can now #include any installed libraries. Linking will be handled automatically. Installing new libraries will make them instantly available.
...
15:36:46    Fetching registry information from https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg (HEAD)...
15:36:56    A suitable version of cmake was not found (required v3.30.1).
15:36:56    Downloading cmake-3.30.1-windows-i386.zip
15:36:56    Successfully downloaded cmake-3.30.1-windows-i386.zip.
15:36:56    Extracting cmake...
15:36:56    A suitable version of 7zip was not found (required v24.9.0).
15:36:56    Downloading 7z2409.7z.exe
15:36:56    Successfully downloaded 7z2409.7z.exe.
15:36:56    Extracting 7zip...
15:36:56    A suitable version of 7zr was not found (required v24.9.0).
15:36:56    Downloading 44D8504A-7zr.exe
15:36:56    Successfully downloaded 44D8504A-7zr.exe.
----
15:37:01  C:\Users\ContainerAdministrator\.vcpkg\scripts\buildsystems\msbuild\vcpkg.targets(183,5): warning :
  error: in triplet x64-windows: Unable to find a valid Visual Studio instance
15:37:01    Could not locate a complete Visual Studio instance
15:37:01    The following paths were examined for Visual Studio instances:
15:37:01      C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\TestAgent\VC\Auxiliary/Build\vcvarsall.bat
----
15:37:01  C:\Users\ContainerAdministrator\.vcpkg\scripts\buildsystems\msbuild\vcpkg.targets(183,5):
  error MSB3073: The command ""C:\Users\ContainerAdministrator\.vcpkg\vcpkg.exe" install 
 --x-wait-for-lock 
--triplet "x64-windows" 
--vcpkg-root "C:\Users\ContainerAdministrator\.vcpkg\\" "
--x-manifest-root=C:\j\95df9d\src\\" "
--x-install-root=C:\j\95df9d\src\vcpkg_installed\x64-windows\\" "
 exited with code 1.

Root cause
Here: https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg-tool/blob/f3515102d0ff5f10a13c26ee8d6f2f1c2841e745/src/vcpkg/visualstudio.cpp?plain=1#L138

[Mengna-Li]

@oleg-boulanov Please try the solutions in #32857 (comment).

[oleg-boulanov]

@Mengna-Li Thank you for providing a link to possible workaround.
I still think vcpkg can be improved, providing a proper fix.

P.S. Adding Microsoft.VisualStudio.ComponentGroup.VC.Tools.142.x86.x64 did not fix the problem, vcpkg install still fails with the same error

[oleg-boulanov]

Build after installing all optional components:

vs_BuildTools.exe ... --includeRecommended --includeOptional --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.VCTools

goes further, but also fails:

09:45:54    Compiler found: C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0/VC/bin/amd64/cl.exe
09:45:54    The following packages will be built and installed:
09:45:54        fmt:[email protected] -- C:\Users\ContainerAdministrator\AppData\Local\vcpkg\registries\git-trees\d8209382ca192426861c6aa91d217ea8512bda46
09:45:54      * vcpkg-cmake:x64-windows@2023-05-04 -- C:\Users\ContainerAdministrator\AppData\Local\vcpkg\registries\git-trees\88a7058fc7fa73a9c4c99cfcae9d79e2abf87a5a
09:45:54      * vcpkg-cmake-config:x64-windows@2022-02-06#1 -- C:\Users\ContainerAdministrator\AppData\Local\vcpkg\registries\git-trees\8d54cc4f487d51b655abec5f9c9c3f86ca83311f
09:45:54    Additional packages (*) will be modified to complete this operation.
09:45:54    Restored 0 package(s) from C:\Users\ContainerAdministrator\AppData\Local\vcpkg\archives in 222 us. Use --debug to see more details.
09:45:54    Installing 1/3 vcpkg-cmake-config:x64-windows@2022-02-06#1...
09:45:54    Building vcpkg-cmake-config:x64-windows@2022-02-06#1...
09:45:54    C:\Users\ContainerAdministrator\AppData\Local\vcpkg\registries\git-trees\8d54cc4f487d51b655abec5f9c9c3f86ca83311f: info: installing overlay port from here
09:45:54    -- Installing: C:/Users/ContainerAdministrator/.vcpkg/packages/vcpkg-cmake-config_x64-windows/share/vcpkg-cmake-config/vcpkg_cmake_config_fixup.cmake
09:45:54    -- Installing: C:/Users/ContainerAdministrator/.vcpkg/packages/vcpkg-cmake-config_x64-windows/share/vcpkg-cmake-config/vcpkg-port-config.cmake
09:45:54    -- Installing: C:/Users/ContainerAdministrator/.vcpkg/packages/vcpkg-cmake-config_x64-windows/share/vcpkg-cmake-config/copyright
09:45:54    -- Skipping post-build validation due to VCPKG_POLICY_EMPTY_PACKAGE
09:45:54    Stored binaries in 1 destinations in 33.7 ms.
09:45:54    Elapsed time to handle vcpkg-cmake-config:x64-windows: 97.2 ms
09:45:54    vcpkg-cmake-config:x64-windows package ABI: 61e29c1c76d6e03124a0b3c4320196a6a46cd57a2328a7acf45c74999fcf8de1
09:45:54    Installing 2/3 vcpkg-cmake:x64-windows@2023-05-04...
09:45:54    Building vcpkg-cmake:x64-windows@2023-05-04...
09:45:54    C:\Users\ContainerAdministrator\AppData\Local\vcpkg\registries\git-trees\88a7058fc7fa73a9c4c99cfcae9d79e2abf87a5a: info: installing overlay port from here
09:45:54    -- Installing: C:/Users/ContainerAdministrator/.vcpkg/packages/vcpkg-cmake_x64-windows/share/vcpkg-cmake/vcpkg_cmake_configure.cmake
09:45:54    -- Installing: C:/Users/ContainerAdministrator/.vcpkg/packages/vcpkg-cmake_x64-windows/share/vcpkg-cmake/vcpkg_cmake_build.cmake
09:45:54    -- Installing: C:/Users/ContainerAdministrator/.vcpkg/packages/vcpkg-cmake_x64-windows/share/vcpkg-cmake/vcpkg_cmake_install.cmake
09:45:54    -- Installing: C:/Users/ContainerAdministrator/.vcpkg/packages/vcpkg-cmake_x64-windows/share/vcpkg-cmake/vcpkg-port-config.cmake
09:45:54    -- Installing: C:/Users/ContainerAdministrator/.vcpkg/packages/vcpkg-cmake_x64-windows/share/vcpkg-cmake/copyright
09:45:54    -- Performing post-build validation
09:45:54    Stored binaries in 1 destinations in 32.5 ms.
09:45:54    Elapsed time to handle vcpkg-cmake:x64-windows: 100 ms
09:45:54    vcpkg-cmake:x64-windows package ABI: 083669ad07d5526e4a0365529cf868189f22707b70ee4f1cebf55f396a1420bb
09:45:54    Installing 3/3 fmt:[email protected]...
09:45:54    Building fmt:[email protected]...
09:45:54    C:\Users\ContainerAdministrator\AppData\Local\vcpkg\registries\git-trees\d8209382ca192426861c6aa91d217ea8512bda46: info: installing overlay port from here
09:45:54    Downloading fmtlib-fmt-10.1.0.tar.gz
09:45:55    Successfully downloaded fmtlib-fmt-10.1.0.tar.gz.
09:45:55    -- Extracting source C:/Users/ContainerAdministrator/.vcpkg/downloads/fmtlib-fmt-10.1.0.tar.gz
09:45:55    -- Applying patch fix-write-batch.patch
09:45:55    -- Applying patch fix-format-conflict.patch
09:45:55    -- Using source at C:/Users/ContainerAdministrator/.vcpkg/buildtrees/fmt/src/10.1.0-95e91156af.clean
09:45:55    -- Configuring x64-windows
09:45:56    CMake Error at scripts/cmake/vcpkg_execute_required_process.cmake:127 (message):
09:45:56        Command failed: C:/Users/ContainerAdministrator/.vcpkg/downloads/tools/ninja/1.10.2-windows/ninja.exe -v
09:45:56        Working Directory: C:/Users/ContainerAdministrator/.vcpkg/buildtrees/fmt/x64-windows-rel/vcpkg-parallel-configure
09:45:56        Error code: 1
09:45:56        See logs for more information:
09:45:56          C:\Users\ContainerAdministrator\.vcpkg\buildtrees\fmt\config-x64-windows-dbg-CMakeCache.txt.log
09:45:56          C:\Users\ContainerAdministrator\.vcpkg\buildtrees\fmt\config-x64-windows-rel-CMakeCache.txt.log
09:45:56          C:\Users\ContainerAdministrator\.vcpkg\buildtrees\fmt\config-x64-windows-out.log
09:45:56    
09:45:56    Call Stack (most recent call first):
09:45:56      C:/j/eabb6a/src/vcpkg_installed/x64-windows/x64-windows/share/vcpkg-cmake/vcpkg_cmake_configure.cmake:252 (vcpkg_execute_required_process)
09:45:56      C:/Users/ContainerAdministrator/AppData/Local/vcpkg/registries/git-trees/d8209382ca192426861c6aa91d217ea8512bda46/portfile.cmake:12 (vcpkg_cmake_configure)
09:45:56      scripts/ports.cmake:196 (include)

[Mengna-Li]

@oleg-boulanov Please provide the failure log, thanks.

[oleg-boulanov]

@Mengna-Li Unfortunately, I have no means of copying these logs from the container the build runs on.
Adding unnecessary toolsets to address vcpkg issues seems just wrong.

Can we make a feature request to fix vcpkg-tool code to work with VS BuildTools only? This is rather typical scenario in a corporate setup, with build agents not having full Visual Studio installed.