Failed to successfully launch or connect to a child MSBuild.exe process

Question

In VS2012, when building I frequently will get the following error:

Error   5   The build stopped unexpectedly because of an internal failure.
Microsoft.Build.Exceptions.BuildAbortedException: Build was canceled. Failed to successfully launch or connect to a child MSBuild.exe process. Verify that the MSBuild.exe "C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\MSBuild.exe" launches successfully, and that it is loading the same microsoft.build.dll that the launching process loaded. If the location seems incorrect, try specifying the correct location in the BuildParameters object, or with the MSBUILD_EXE_PATH environment variable.
   at Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.NodeProviderOutOfProc.CreateNode(Int32 nodeId, INodePacketFactory factory, NodeConfiguration configuration)
   at Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.NodeManager.AttemptCreateNode(INodeProvider nodeProvider, NodeConfiguration nodeConfiguration)
   at Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.NodeManager.CreateNode(NodeConfiguration configuration, NodeAffinity nodeAffinity)
   at Microsoft.Build.Execution.BuildManager.PerformSchedulingActions(IEnumerable`1 responses)
   at Microsoft.Build.Execution.BuildManager.HandleNewRequest(Int32 node, BuildRequestBlocker blocker)
   at Microsoft.Build.Execution.BuildManager.IssueRequestToScheduler(BuildSubmission submission, Boolean allowMainThreadBuild, BuildRequestBlocker blocker)

In the task manager I see that there are at least 10-20 MSBuild.exe and Conhost.exe. I am unable to terminate these and even closing VS does not solve the issue. The only workaround at the moment is to log out and re-login.

Has anyone experienced this too, and perhaps have a resolution?

Thanks in advance. Rob

Answer 1

See Failed to successfully launch or connect to a child MSBuild.exe process. Verify that the MSBuild.exe which says to restart Visual Studio to fix the problem.

That certainly worked for me.