error MSB3644: The reference assemblies for .NETFramework,Version=v4.5 were not found

.NET Framework
Microsoft .NET Framework

I hadn’t run a pipeline for a database project for several months since I was working on other projects. I received the failure message: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(1220,5): error MSB3644: The reference assemblies for .NETFramework,Version=v4.5 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.

I was suspicious when I saw the reference to \2022\ in the path which turned out to be the cause of the issue. Azure pipelines were upgraded to use Visual Studio 2022 build scenarios.

I checked my SQL Project and found that it was set to .NET Framework 4.5. This is too old for Visual Studio 2022. I updated it to .NET Framework 4.7.2 and recompiled to make sure it didn’t cause any issues.

Visual Studio 2019 Target Framework Selection in Project Properties

I checked it in and merged. The job ran succuessfully.

Azure Pipelines Successful Build Notice

Author: Jack Yasgar

Jack Yasgar has been developing software for various industries for two decades. Currently, he utilizes C#, JQuery, JavaScript, SQL Server with stored procedures and/or Entity Framework to produce MVC responsive web sites that converse to a service layer utilizing RESTful API in Web API 2.0 or Microsoft WCF web services. The infrastructure can be internal, shared or reside in Azure. Jack has designed dozens of relational databases that use the proper primary keys and foreign keys to allow for data integrity moving forward. While working in a Scrum/Agile environment, he is a firm believer that quality software comes from quality planning. Without getting caught up in analysis paralysis, it is still possible to achieve a level of design that allows an agile team to move forward quickly while keeping re-work to a minimum. Jack believes, “The key to long term software success is adhering to the SOLID design principles. Software written quickly, using wizards and other methods can impress the business sponsor / product owner for a short period of time. Once the honeymoon is over, the product owner will stay enamored when the team can implement changes quickly and fix bugs in minutes, not hours or days.” Jack has become certified by the Object Management Group as OCUP II (OMG Certified UML Professional) in addition to his certification as a Microsoft Certified Professional. The use of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) provides a visual guide to Use Cases and Activities that can guide the product owner in designing software that meets the end user needs. The software development teams then use the same drawings to create their Unit Tests to make sure that the software meets all those needs. The QA testing team can use the UML drawings as a guide to produce test cases. Once the software is in production, the UML drawings become a reference for business users and support staff to know what decisions are happening behind the scenes to guide their support efforts.

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