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So I installed Visual Studio 2017 yesterday. I also installed CMake 3.7.2 which supports VS 2017.

My VS installation is with the Game development with C++ workflow + a few other components:

individual_components

I've also added the CMake stuff (but I don't think I even needed it - since I'm using CMake as a standalone tool to just generate the VS solutions) and MSBuild (I had msbuild.exe even before adding that component - so not sure what exactly does that additional component do).

With VS 2015 I was able to just run cmake . from a normal command prompt for a solution.

With VS 2017 the workflow changes - I've read this post from Microsoft.

So I tried the following:

  • I opened the Developer Command Prompt for VS 2017 and from it I ran cmake . -G "NMake Makefiles". Then running cmake --build . compiled everything properly.

  • When I tried the following in the prompt: cmake . -G "Visual Studio 15 2017 Win64" to force the creation of a solution I got the following errors:

    -- The C compiler identification is unknown -- The CXX compiler identification is unknown CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:3 (project): No CMAKE_C_COMPILER could be found. CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:3 (project): No CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER could be found. -- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!

I also tried setting up the environment using vswhere.exe and running vcvarsall.bat like this:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat" amd64

and again I could only generate NMake files and not a solution.

So how can I get a solution?

And why does cl.exe report Version 19.10.25017 when it's in VC\Tools\MSVC\14.10.25017\bin?

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  • 1
    cl.exe reports the compiler version. The directory it's in is the overall compiler version. Please note that the CMake bundled with VS15 is modified by the VS team and is based on CMake 3.6, IIR. It's not supported as an official CMake version. I recommend that you stick for the meantime with the normal CMake 3.8 which works properly with VS15 and also generates proper solution files. Also, beware of this bug in VS15. Commented Mar 9, 2017 at 17:19
  • @tambre well cmake --version reports 3.7.2 which is the latest official release (3.8 being a RC) - it's the one I've installed separately from VS. But I will try with 3.8 now. Commented Mar 9, 2017 at 17:22
  • @tambre - nope - still the same problem with CMake 3.8 RC Commented Mar 9, 2017 at 17:26
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    I don't think you need to reinstall Windows. There are numerous other reasons this could happen. One is e.g. around administrator rights. You can try running this again from a shell that has administrative rights to crosscheck if your Visual Studio was setup with the need for administrator rights. And can you please add the CMakeFiles\CMakeError.log content to your question? There must be some error reason in there. Commented Mar 10, 2017 at 8:56
  • 1
    @onqtam Instead of editing the answer into the question, you should post it as an answer and then accept your own answer. There is nothing wrong with answering your own questions. Commented Mar 10, 2017 at 11:22

8 Answers 8

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Turning my comments into an answer

The error -- The CXX compiler identification is unknown - No CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER could be found. basically means that CMake wasn't able to compile a simple test program (which it always does as part of identifying/validating the compiler).

You can take a look into CMakeFiles\CMakeError.log (relative to your binary output directory), the error reason should be in there.

Two possible reasons I came across so far:

  1. Missing administrator rights. You can try running this again from a shell that has administrative rights to crosscheck if your Visual Studio was setup with the need for administrator rights.

  2. Missing Windows SDK. Verify your SDK installation e.g. check that you have any Resource Compiler installed. It should be in a path similar to:

    C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v[some version]\bin\RC.Exe

Visual Studio 2017 Installation

Please note the Visual Studio may not install all necessary C++ packages even when you select one of the C++ pre-defined packages (as I have e.g. used Desktop development with C++ and then added more packages under the Individual Components tab).

Here is which selection worked for me (VS2017 Community Edition, Windows 10):

enter image description here

If you have projects using MFC/ATL libraries you need to add it under SDKs, libraries, and frameworks subcategory:

enter image description here

References

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4 Comments

I'm still keeping my answer though :D
In the newest installer (1.5.30308.1) the option for Windows Universal CRT SDK and Windows 8.1 SDK are bundled into Windows 8.1 SDK and UCRT SDK. Also the C++/CLI support isn't required for CMake to detect the VS C and C++ compilers.
Just small note to others: If you already installed VS studio community edition, you still can add this packages: Open VS studion installer, select VS Community Edition -> click modify. Than select required packages (see comment) and click "modify"
Thank you! Partially as a note to my future self: When invoked with the Visual Studio 14 2015 Win64 code generator under a VS 2017 command prompt, CMake could not find the C/C++ compilers because it was getting LNK1104: Cannot open file 'ucrtd.lib' errors when compiling its compiler detection code. The solution was to install Windows Universal CRT SDK.
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I'm using Windows 7.... And after @Florian told me in the comments to look into CMakeFiles/CMakeError.log I managed to fix the problem!

Here is the first log:

Compiling the C compiler identification source file "CMakeCCompilerId.c" failed. Compiler: Build flags: Id flags: The output was: 1 Microsoft (R) Build Engine version 15.1.548.43366 Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Build started 3/10/2017 11:05:24 AM. Project "D:\doctest\build\CMakeFiles\3.8.0-rc2\CompilerIdC\CompilerIdC.vcxproj" on node 1 (default targets). C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\Common7\IDE\VC\VCTargets\Platforms\x64\PlatformToolsets\v141\Toolset.targets(36,5): error MSB8036: The Windows SDK version 8.1 was not found. Install the required version of Windows SDK or change the SDK version in the project property pages or by right-clicking the solution and selecting "Retarget solution". [D:\doctest\build\CMakeFiles\3.8.0-rc2\CompilerIdC\CompilerIdC.vcxproj] Done Building Project "D:\doctest\build\CMakeFiles\3.8.0-rc2\CompilerIdC\CompilerIdC.vcxproj" (default targets) -- FAILED. Build FAILED. "D:\doctest\build\CMakeFiles\3.8.0-rc2\CompilerIdC\CompilerIdC.vcxproj" (default target) (1) -> (Desktop_PlatformPrepareForBuild target) -> C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\Common7\IDE\VC\VCTargets\Platforms\x64\PlatformToolsets\v141\Toolset.targets(36,5): error MSB8036: The Windows SDK version 8.1 was not found. Install the required version of Windows SDK or change the SDK version in the project property pages or by right-clicking the solution and selecting "Retarget solution". [D:\doctest\build\CMakeFiles\3.8.0-rc2\CompilerIdC\CompilerIdC.vcxproj] 0 Warning(s) 1 Error(s) Time Elapsed 00:00:00.28 Compiling the CXX compiler identification source file "CMakeCXXCompilerId.cpp" failed. Compiler: Build flags: Id flags: The output was: 1 Microsoft (R) Build Engine version 15.1.548.43366 Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Build started 3/10/2017 11:05:24 AM. Project "D:\doctest\build\CMakeFiles\3.8.0-rc2\CompilerIdCXX\CompilerIdCXX.vcxproj" on node 1 (default targets). C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\Common7\IDE\VC\VCTargets\Platforms\x64\PlatformToolsets\v141\Toolset.targets(36,5): error MSB8036: The Windows SDK version 8.1 was not found. Install the required version of Windows SDK or change the SDK version in the project property pages or by right-clicking the solution and selecting "Retarget solution". [D:\doctest\build\CMakeFiles\3.8.0-rc2\CompilerIdCXX\CompilerIdCXX.vcxproj] Done Building Project "D:\doctest\build\CMakeFiles\3.8.0-rc2\CompilerIdCXX\CompilerIdCXX.vcxproj" (default targets) -- FAILED. Build FAILED. "D:\doctest\build\CMakeFiles\3.8.0-rc2\CompilerIdCXX\CompilerIdCXX.vcxproj" (default target) (1) -> (Desktop_PlatformPrepareForBuild target) -> C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\Common7\IDE\VC\VCTargets\Platforms\x64\PlatformToolsets\v141\Toolset.targets(36,5): error MSB8036: The Windows SDK version 8.1 was not found. Install the required version of Windows SDK or change the SDK version in the project property pages or by right-clicking the solution and selecting "Retarget solution". [D:\doctest\build\CMakeFiles\3.8.0-rc2\CompilerIdCXX\CompilerIdCXX.vcxproj] 0 Warning(s) 1 Error(s) Time Elapsed 00:00:00.13

It seemed I needed Windows SDK version 8.1 so I installed it as a component (had only version 10 installed). But then there was another error:

Compiling the C compiler identification source file "CMakeCCompilerId.c" failed. Compiler: Build flags: Id flags: The output was: 1 Microsoft (R) Build Engine version 15.1.548.43366 Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Build started 3/10/2017 11:17:21 AM. Project "D:\doctest\build\CMakeFiles\3.8.0-rc2\CompilerIdC\CompilerIdC.vcxproj" on node 1 (default targets). PrepareForBuild: Creating directory "Debug\". Creating directory "Debug\CompilerIdC.tlog\". InitializeBuildStatus: Creating "Debug\CompilerIdC.tlog\unsuccessfulbuild" because "AlwaysCreate" was specified. ClCompile: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.10.25017\bin\HostX86\x64\CL.exe /c /nologo /W0 /WX- /diagnostics:classic /Od /D _MBCS /Gm- /EHsc /RTC1 /MDd /GS /fp:precise /Zc:wchar_t /Zc:forScope /Zc:inline /Fo"Debug\\" /Fd"Debug\vc141.pdb" /Gd /TC /errorReport:queue CMakeCCompilerId.c CMakeCCompilerId.c Link: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.10.25017\bin\HostX86\x64\link.exe /ERRORREPORT:QUEUE /OUT:".\CompilerIdC.exe" /INCREMENTAL:NO /NOLOGO kernel32.lib user32.lib gdi32.lib winspool.lib comdlg32.lib advapi32.lib shell32.lib ole32.lib oleaut32.lib uuid.lib odbc32.lib odbccp32.lib /MANIFEST /MANIFESTUAC:"level='asInvoker' uiAccess='false'" /manifest:embed /PDB:".\CompilerIdC.pdb" /SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE /TLBID:1 /DYNAMICBASE /NXCOMPAT /IMPLIB:".\CompilerIdC.lib" /MACHINE:X64 Debug\CMakeCCompilerId.obj LINK : fatal error LNK1104: cannot open file 'ucrtd.lib' [D:\doctest\build\CMakeFiles\3.8.0-rc2\CompilerIdC\CompilerIdC.vcxproj] Done Building Project "D:\doctest\build\CMakeFiles\3.8.0-rc2\CompilerIdC\CompilerIdC.vcxproj" (default targets) -- FAILED. Build FAILED. "D:\doctest\build\CMakeFiles\3.8.0-rc2\CompilerIdC\CompilerIdC.vcxproj" (default target) (1) -> (Link target) -> LINK : fatal error LNK1104: cannot open file 'ucrtd.lib' [D:\doctest\build\CMakeFiles\3.8.0-rc2\CompilerIdC\CompilerIdC.vcxproj] 0 Warning(s) 1 Error(s) Time Elapsed 00:00:01.04 Compiling the CXX compiler identification source file "CMakeCXXCompilerId.cpp" failed. Compiler: Build flags: Id flags: The output was: 1 Microsoft (R) Build Engine version 15.1.548.43366 Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Build started 3/10/2017 11:17:22 AM. Project "D:\doctest\build\CMakeFiles\3.8.0-rc2\CompilerIdCXX\CompilerIdCXX.vcxproj" on node 1 (default targets). PrepareForBuild: Creating directory "Debug\". Creating directory "Debug\CompilerIdCXX.tlog\". InitializeBuildStatus: Creating "Debug\CompilerIdCXX.tlog\unsuccessfulbuild" because "AlwaysCreate" was specified. ClCompile: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.10.25017\bin\HostX86\x64\CL.exe /c /nologo /W0 /WX- /diagnostics:classic /Od /D _MBCS /Gm- /EHsc /RTC1 /MDd /GS /fp:precise /Zc:wchar_t /Zc:forScope /Zc:inline /Fo"Debug\\" /Fd"Debug\vc141.pdb" /Gd /TP /errorReport:queue CMakeCXXCompilerId.cpp CMakeCXXCompilerId.cpp Link: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.10.25017\bin\HostX86\x64\link.exe /ERRORREPORT:QUEUE /OUT:".\CompilerIdCXX.exe" /INCREMENTAL:NO /NOLOGO kernel32.lib user32.lib gdi32.lib winspool.lib comdlg32.lib advapi32.lib shell32.lib ole32.lib oleaut32.lib uuid.lib odbc32.lib odbccp32.lib /MANIFEST /MANIFESTUAC:"level='asInvoker' uiAccess='false'" /manifest:embed /PDB:".\CompilerIdCXX.pdb" /SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE /TLBID:1 /DYNAMICBASE /NXCOMPAT /IMPLIB:".\CompilerIdCXX.lib" /MACHINE:X64 Debug\CMakeCXXCompilerId.obj LINK : fatal error LNK1104: cannot open file 'ucrtd.lib' [D:\doctest\build\CMakeFiles\3.8.0-rc2\CompilerIdCXX\CompilerIdCXX.vcxproj] Done Building Project "D:\doctest\build\CMakeFiles\3.8.0-rc2\CompilerIdCXX\CompilerIdCXX.vcxproj" (default targets) -- FAILED. Build FAILED. "D:\doctest\build\CMakeFiles\3.8.0-rc2\CompilerIdCXX\CompilerIdCXX.vcxproj" (default target) (1) -> (Link target) -> LINK : fatal error LNK1104: cannot open file 'ucrtd.lib' [D:\doctest\build\CMakeFiles\3.8.0-rc2\CompilerIdCXX\CompilerIdCXX.vcxproj] 0 Warning(s) 1 Error(s) Time Elapsed 00:00:00.60

So LINK : fatal error LNK1104: cannot open file 'ucrtd.lib' sounds a lot like I needed to install more components - and so I did:

  • Visual C++ runtime for UWP
  • Windows Universal CRT SDK

And after that the problem is gone!

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2 Comments

With 8.1 SDK and regular Win32 applications adding just "Windows Universal CRT SDK" is enough. The other component is for UWP apps.
Checking "Windows Universal CRT SDK" (only) worked for me.
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Can tell my experience. After reading CMakeFiles/CMakeError.log found an error

LINK : fatal error LNK1104: cannot open file 'MSVCRTD.lib'

and what's more important - warning

Common7\IDE\VC\VCTargets\Microsoft.CppBuild.targets(402,5): warning MSB8038: Spectre mitigation is enabled but Spectre mitigated libraries are not found. Verify that the Visual Studio Workload includes the Spectre mitigated libraries.

Option 1: I have no intention to use "Spectre-mitigated" libraries and want just to restore previous build behavior.

That means that we need to turn off generating Visual Studio project with correspondent compilation flags on by default since CMake does that to check whether compiler exists and operational.

Luckily found a thread on support forum: https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/content/problem/348985/installing-wdk-1809-enabled-spectre-mitigation-fla.html

Solution is not very elegant, but works. Put/copy file with name 'Directory.Build.props' to /build folder with content:

<Project> <PropertyGroup Label="Configuration"> <SpectreMitigation>false</SpectreMitigation> </PropertyGroup> </Project>

That overrides default VS behavior and disables /QSpectre compiler switch.

Now CMake's compiler test run passes and no other issues found.

Option 2: ensure that Spectre mitigation libraries installed

See:

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1 Comment

The mentioned thread for Directory.Build.props says this file should be created in the "root directory of your project". Where did you found the solution with the "/build folder"?
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If you have the Windows 10 Creator's Update SDK installed, it doesn't install the desktop binaries by default, in order to keep the installation size down. CMake will always try to use the latest SDK when it compiles, which will fail as it will be missing binaries such as "gdi32.lib" (that's the first error that occurs for me).

Microsoft list this as a "Known Issue", see Visual C++ Desktop Known Issues.

The Windows 10 Creators Update SDK has been refactored to reduce installation footprint by default. When you Install this SDK via the UWP workload, it will not install the headers/libs required for Win32 C++ Desktop Projects.

In order to fix the problem, you need to modify the Visual Studio installation to include the Windows 10 SDK (10.0.15063.0) for Desktop component.

Install Creator's Update SDK for Desktop

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awesome, this fixed it for me to.
1

I encountered a similar problem.

It was solved by first un-checking "Desktop Development with C++", and then re-checking "Desktop Development with C++".

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1

Windows 10.0.17134 Build 17134; Visual Studio 2017 Community (15.9.7)

All required components are installed

In my case (Wireshark building), an error was in the wrong toolset. CMake determines v141 while the actual version is v140.

cmake -G "Visual Studio 15 2017" -T v140,host=x64 ..
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1

From my experience the "base" of this CMake workflow problem is the (in this case) really misleading error message "No CMAKE_C[XX]_COMPILER could be found."

CMakeError.log is the key: I saw "...Cl.exe /c..." there, so the compiler was found (and executed)

My problem was a missing ucrt.lib (although the Win10 SDK was there; copied, not "installed", my fault).

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For me ,I installed vs2015 before,and the c compiler 2015 work before,when i install vs2017, get the same error can't find compiler. And when i run cmake .. in the vs2017 developer command,it works. And i can specify generetor to vs2015 or vs2017,it all works.

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