Task failed because AL.exe was not found,

Question

I\'m getting the following error when compiling my project:

Task failed because "AL.exe" was not found, or the correct Microsoft Windows SDK is

Answer 1

I had the same error, which came from adding resource files to a local folder and changing the build action to "Embedded Resources" (resources -> properties) while modifying localization resources to MVC3 from webforms see MVC2 Globalization. The exact error is caused by the Resources.lang.resx containing a "." in the name (combined with "emdedded resources").

Previously the application compiled and ran fine while using global resources with a build action of "Content" (App_GlobalResources).

The solution was similar to @vicky kole's above but I thought it's still worth mentioning due a few differences and the exact cause of the al.exe error in a previously working project.

After some troubleshooting I installed the Windows 7 & ASP.NET 4 SDK, and located al.exe in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.1\Bin\x64 folder with a search.

I then searched the C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\*NEWEST VERSION*\*.targets until I found the same AL node as @vicky kole above. It was in a different file called Microsoft.Common.targets. I took the path from the newly installed SDK C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.1\Bin\x64 in my case and put it in the ToolPath as vicky did and restarted visual studio.

<AL AlgorithmId="$(Satellite_AlgorithmId)"
ToolPath="C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.1\Bin\x64"

(this could be a comment to her post as it's really similar to her situation)

Answer 2

I did the same as dcadenas and just copied the SDKs\7.0A folder from a dev machine and exported the v7.0A registry settings from a dev box to the build server. This worked out great as I then did not need to install VS 2010 on the build server. Thanks.