Azure Devops Pipeline build fails Could not resolve this reference Could not locate the assembly

Question

First time using the Azure Devops and the first pipeline I set up keeps on failing. I have a project created in VS 2019 to test the new Xero Oauth 2.0 implementation. I have installed the Xero.NetStandard nuget packages and all other nuget packages it requires. Everything is building fine on my work machine.

I then checked-in all my source code items in our Azure Devops, then created a pipeline to test if the solution will build.... guess what it failed.

I've got a whole heaps of warnings saying that the dlls for Xero, basically all dlls installed on my project when I installed Xero.NetStandard nuget packages cannot be resolved because they are not on the disk.

I was under the impression that the Nuget restore part of the pipeline is responsible for making sure all these nuget packages will be installed in the build agent. The nuget restore part of my pipeline says "All packages listed in packages.config are already installed."

So I am lost why these warnings are appearing. Am i missing a step in building the pipepline?

Would really appreciate any thoughts and help. Thank you.

These are some warnings I am receiving which in turns create errors on the build.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2182,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "IdentityModel, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=e7877f4675df049f, processorArchitecture=MSIL". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [D:\a\8\s\$(SourceDir)\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration.vbproj]
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2182,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "JsonSubTypes, Version=1.5.2.0, Culture=neutral, processorArchitecture=MSIL". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [D:\a\8\s\$(SourceDir)\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration.vbproj]
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2182,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "KellermanSoftware.Compare-NET-Objects, Version=4.57.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=d970ace04cc85217, processorArchitecture=MSIL". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [D:\a\8\s\$(SourceDir)\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration.vbproj]
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2182,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration, Version=3.1.8.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=adb9793829ddae60, processorArchitecture=MSIL". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [D:\a\8\s\$(SourceDir)\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration.vbproj]
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2182,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Abstractions, Version=3.1.8.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=adb9793829ddae60, processorArchitecture=MSIL". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [D:\a\8\s\$(SourceDir)\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration.vbproj]
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2182,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Binder, Version=3.1.8.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=adb9793829ddae60, processorArchitecture=MSIL". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [D:\a\8\s\$(SourceDir)\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration.vbproj]
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2182,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection, Version=3.1.8.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=adb9793829ddae60, processorArchitecture=MSIL". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [D:\a\8\s\$(SourceDir)\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration.vbproj]
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2182,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.Abstractions, Version=3.1.8.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=adb9793829ddae60, processorArchitecture=MSIL". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [D:\a\8\s\$(SourceDir)\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration.vbproj]
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2182,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "Microsoft.Extensions.Http, Version=3.1.8.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=adb9793829ddae60, processorArchitecture=MSIL". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [D:\a\8\s\$(SourceDir)\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration.vbproj]
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2182,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "Microsoft.Extensions.Logging, Version=3.1.8.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=adb9793829ddae60, processorArchitecture=MSIL". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [D:\a\8\s\$(SourceDir)\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration.vbproj]
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2182,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Abstractions, Version=3.1.8.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=adb9793829ddae60, processorArchitecture=MSIL". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [D:\a\8\s\$(SourceDir)\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration.vbproj]
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2182,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "Microsoft.Extensions.Options, Version=3.1.8.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=adb9793829ddae60, processorArchitecture=MSIL". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [D:\a\8\s\$(SourceDir)\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration.vbproj]
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2182,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "Microsoft.Extensions.Primitives, Version=3.1.8.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=adb9793829ddae60, processorArchitecture=MSIL". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [D:\a\8\s\$(SourceDir)\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration.vbproj]
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2182,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "RestSharp, Version=106.11.4.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=598062e77f915f75, processorArchitecture=MSIL". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [D:\a\8\s\$(SourceDir)\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration.vbproj]
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2182,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "System.ComponentModel.Annotations, Version=4.2.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [D:\a\8\s\$(SourceDir)\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration.vbproj]
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2182,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "System.Text.Json, Version=4.0.1.2, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=cc7b13ffcd2ddd51, processorArchitecture=MSIL". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [D:\a\8\s\$(SourceDir)\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration.vbproj]
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2182,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "System.Threading.Tasks.Extensions, Version=4.2.0.1, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=cc7b13ffcd2ddd51, processorArchitecture=MSIL". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [D:\a\8\s\$(SourceDir)\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration.vbproj]
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2182,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "Xero.NetStandard.OAuth2, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, processorArchitecture=MSIL". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [D:\a\8\s\$(SourceDir)\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration.vbproj]
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2182,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "Xero.NetStandard.OAuth2Client, Version=1.3.1.0, Culture=neutral, processorArchitecture=MSIL". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [D:\a\8\s\$(SourceDir)\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration.vbproj]
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2182,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "Microsoft.CodeDom.Providers.DotNetCompilerPlatform". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [D:\a\8\s\$(SourceDir)\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration\XeroIntegration.vbproj]

This is my Agent's job YAML

pool:
  name: Azure Pipelines
  demands:
  - msbuild
  - visualstudio

#Your build pipeline references an undefined variable named ‘Parameters.solution’. Create or edit the build pipeline for this YAML file, define the variable on the Variables tab. See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=865972
#Your build pipeline references an undefined variable named ‘Parameters.solution’. Create or edit the build pipeline for this YAML file, define the variable on the Variables tab. See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=865972
#Your build pipeline references the ‘BuildPlatform’ variable, which you’ve selected to be settable at queue time. Create or edit the build pipeline for this YAML file, define the variable on the Variables tab, and then select the option to make it settable at queue time. See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=865971
#Your build pipeline references the ‘BuildConfiguration’ variable, which you’ve selected to be settable at queue time. Create or edit the build pipeline for this YAML file, define the variable on the Variables tab, and then select the option to make it settable at queue time. See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=865971
#Your build pipeline references the ‘BuildConfiguration’ variable, which you’ve selected to be settable at queue time. Create or edit the build pipeline for this YAML file, define the variable on the Variables tab, and then select the option to make it settable at queue time. See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=865971
#Your build pipeline references the ‘BuildPlatform’ variable, which you’ve selected to be settable at queue time. Create or edit the build pipeline for this YAML file, define the variable on the Variables tab, and then select the option to make it settable at queue time. See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=865971
#Your build pipeline references the ‘BuildConfiguration’ variable, which you’ve selected to be settable at queue time. Create or edit the build pipeline for this YAML file, define the variable on the Variables tab, and then select the option to make it settable at queue time. See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=865971
#Your build pipeline references an undefined variable named ‘Parameters.ArtifactName’. Create or edit the build pipeline for this YAML file, define the variable on the Variables tab. See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=865972

steps:
- task: NuGetToolInstaller@1
  displayName: 'Use NuGet 5.8.1'
  inputs:
    versionSpec: 5.8.1
    checkLatest: true

- task: NuGetCommand@2
  displayName: 'NuGet restore'
  inputs:
    restoreSolution: '$(Parameters.solution)'
    feedsToUse: config
    nugetConfigPath: '$/XeroAppTest/XeroIntegration/nuget.config'

- task: VSBuild@1
  displayName: 'Build solution'
  inputs:
    solution: '$(Parameters.solution)'
    msbuildArgs: '/p:DeployOnBuild=true /p:WebPublishMethod=Package /p:PackageAsSingleFile=true /p:SkipInvalidConfigurations=true /p:PackageLocation="$(build.artifactstagingdirectory)\\"'
    platform: '$(BuildPlatform)'
    configuration: '$(BuildConfiguration)'
    restoreNugetPackages: true

- task: VSTest@2
  displayName: 'Test Assemblies'
  inputs:
    testAssemblyVer2: |
     **\$(BuildConfiguration)\*test*.dll
     !**\obj\**
    platform: '$(BuildPlatform)'
    configuration: '$(BuildConfiguration)'
  enabled: false

- task: PublishSymbols@2
  displayName: 'Publish symbols path'
  inputs:
    SearchPattern: '**\bin\**\*.pdb'
    PublishSymbols: false
  enabled: false
  continueOnError: true

- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
  displayName: 'Publish Artifact'
  inputs:
    PathtoPublish: '$(build.artifactstagingdirectory)'
    ArtifactName: '$(Parameters.ArtifactName)'
  condition: succeededOrFailed()

Below is the packages.config

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<packages>
  <package id="CompareNETObjects" version="4.57.0" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="IdentityModel" version="4.0.0" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="JsonSubTypes" version="1.5.2" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Bcl.AsyncInterfaces" version="1.1.1" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="Microsoft.CodeDom.Providers.DotNetCompilerPlatform" version="2.0.1" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration" version="3.1.8" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Abstractions" version="3.1.8" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Binder" version="3.1.8" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection" version="3.1.8" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.Abstractions" version="3.1.8" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Extensions.Http" version="3.1.8" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Extensions.Logging" version="3.1.8" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Abstractions" version="3.1.8" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Extensions.Options" version="3.1.8" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Extensions.Primitives" version="3.1.8" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="Newtonsoft.Json" version="12.0.1" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="RestSharp" version="106.11.4" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="System.Buffers" version="4.5.1" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="System.ComponentModel.Annotations" version="4.7.0" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="System.Memory" version="4.5.4" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="System.Numerics.Vectors" version="4.5.0" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="System.Runtime.CompilerServices.Unsafe" version="4.7.1" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="System.Text.Encodings.Web" version="4.7.1" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="System.Text.Json" version="4.7.2" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="System.Threading.Tasks.Extensions" version="4.5.4" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="System.ValueTuple" version="4.5.0" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="Xero.NetStandard.OAuth2" version="3.16.1" targetFramework="net472" />
  <package id="Xero.NetStandard.OAuth2Client" version="1.3.1" targetFramework="net472" />
</packages>

And finally, this is my nuget.config

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
  <packageSources>
    <add key="My Packages" value="https://dev.azure.com/mycompany/XeroAppTest/_versionControl?path=$/XeroAppTest/XeroIntegration/packages" />
    <add key="NuGet official package source" value="https://nuget.org/api/v2/" />
  </packageSources>
  <activePackageSource>
    <add key="All" value="(Aggregate source)" />
  </activePackageSource>
</configuration>

Answer 1

For anyone, having the same issue like mine, I found an issue, rookie mistake. The reason mine is failing is because I also checked in the packages folder that is on my local machine. When I deleted the folder from my repo, the pipeline builds ok. Thank you everyone