Web Application Build Error: The CodeDom provider type Microsoft.VisualC.CppCodeProvider could not be located

Question

I\'m building/packing a web application in a build server, and it fails with the following message:

ASPNETCOMPILER error ASPCONFIG: The CodeDom provider t

Answer 1

For the benefit of those who find this later on google...

Root Cause

As the error implies, the assembly "Microsoft.VisualC.CppCodeProvider" couldn't be found.

This was added to the Global Assembly Cache (GAC) as part of Visual Studio 2015 installation, but not Visual Studio 2017.

The Fix

The proper fix is to add the missing reference to the GAC.

Run the "Developer Command Prompt" as admin, and run the following

gacutil /i "path to CppCodeProvider.dll" or gacutil /i "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2 017\Professional\Common7\IDE\PublicAssemblies\CppCodeProvider.dll"

e.g.

C:\Windows\System32>gacutil /i "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2
017\Professional\Common7\IDE\PublicAssemblies\CppCodeProvider.dll"
Microsoft (R) .NET Global Assembly Cache Utility.  Version 4.0.30319.0
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

Assembly successfully added to the cache

C:\Windows\System32>

On next build the following error is no longer thrown.

ASPNETCOMPILER error ASPCONFIG: The CodeDom provider type "Microsoft.VisualC.CppCodeProvider, CppCodeProvider, Version=10.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" could not be located.