After updated Visual Studio 2019 to 16.4.0 I can't run tests with target framework 2.2

Question

I have updated Visual studio 2019 to version 16.4.0. This version includes .NET Core SDK 3.1.100.

After that, I have tried to run some Unit Tests that I have on a project with Target Framework 2.2 but it's not being able to do so. It gives the following error:

Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestPlatform.ObjectModel.TestPlatformException: Testhost process exited with error: It was not possible to find any compatible framework version
The framework 'Microsoft.AspNetCore.App', version '2.2.0' was not found.
  - The following frameworks were found:
      3.1.0 at [C:\Program Files (x86)\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
You can resolve the problem by installing the specified framework and/or SDK.

If I go to the aforementioned path I only found a 3.1.0 folder. If I list the installed SDKS I get this:

dotnet --list-sdks 
2.1.602 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]
2.1.700 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]
2.1.701 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]
2.1.801 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]
2.1.802 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]
2.2.100 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]
2.2.202 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]
2.2.207 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]
2.2.300 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]
2.2.301 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]
2.2.401 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]
2.2.402 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]
3.1.100 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]

If I ask for the installed runtimes I get this:

dotnet --list-runtimes
Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.1.9 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.1.11 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.1.12 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.1.13 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.2.0 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.2.3 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.2.5 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.2.6 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.2.7 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.2.8 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.1.9 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.1.11 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.1.12 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.1.13 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.2.0 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.2.3 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.2.5 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.2.6 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.2.7 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.2.8 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 3.1.0 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.1.9 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.1.11 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.1.12 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.1.13 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.2.0 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.2.3 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.2.5 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.2.6 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.2.7 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.2.8 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Microsoft.NETCore.App 3.1.0 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App 3.1.0 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App]

So, I see Microsoft.AspNetCore.App', version '2.2.0' installed on the listed runtimes.

On the other hand, If I do: 'dotnet test' on the Unit Test project from within the Package Manager Console the tests are being run.

I also have Visual Studio Code installed and without any change, I can even Debug those Tests.

So, I'm a little bit lost here and I have tried for instance to manually copy the 2.2.0 Folder from C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\ but after that, I got other errors while trying to run the tests.

Could anyone help me or point me in the right direction.

Answer 1

After looking at the solution from @coloradoeos I discovered a different way to solve this without needing to install an x86 version.

Simply go to Test > Process architecture for anyCPU projects > x64

Tests should run normally after selecting x64.

Answer 2

I'll refer you to this link.

The root cause appeared to be the lack of an x86 .NET Core 2.2 SDK instance under the following directory "C:\Program Files (x86)\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App".

I only had a 3.1 version present, so I specifically downloaded an x86 version of the 2.2 SDK and installed it. Once I did that, the testhost ran my unit tests from Visual Studio (VS) just fine. I never uninstalled the old version of the SDK, so this must be an issue with the update process for the framework/VS.