NAME

       xbuild - Mono's tool to build MSBuild project files

SYNOPSIS

       xbuild [option] [project-file]

DESCRIPTION

       xbuild  can  be used to build MSBuild project files. Integrated Development Environments like MonoDevelop
       and "Microsoft Visual Studio .NET" use msbuild project file format.

       xbuild takes the path of the project or solution file to build, as the main  argument.   If  no  file  is
       specified  then  it tries to build any solution file or project file in the current directory, that has a
       *proj extension.

OPTIONS

       /target:T1[,TN]
              List of targets to build

       /property:Name=Value
              Set or override project properties

       /logger:<logger>
              Custom logger to log build events

       /toolsversion:version , /tv:version
              Specify the toolset version to use.

              Eg. /tv:4.0
                  This would cause 4.0 version of the Microsoft.Common.targets (among others) to be  used.  This
              overrides
                  the value specified in a project file.

              Valid values: 2.0, 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0

       /verbosity:<level>
              Logger verbosity level : quiet, minimal, normal, detailed, diagnostic

       /validate
              Validate the project file against the schema

       /validate:<schema>
              Validate the project file against the specified schema

       /consoleloggerparameters:<params> , /clp:<params>
              Parameters  for the console logger : PerfomanceSummary, Summary, NoSummary, NoItemAndPropertyList,
              Verbosity

       /filelogger[n] , /fl[n]
              Logs the output to a file,  named  'msbuild.log'  by  default.  If  the  optional  number  'n'  is
              specified,  then  it logs to 'msbuild[n].log' . Parameters for this logger, including the log file
              name can be specified via a corresponding /flp[n] option. Default verbosity for  file  loggers  is
              'detailed. 'n' can be between 1-9.

       /fileloggerparameters[n]:<params> , /flp[n]:<params>
              Parameters  for a file logger. This implies a corresponding /fl[n]. 'n' can be between 1-9, and is
              used to add upto 10 file loggers. Parameters can  be,  besides  the  ones  available  for  console
              logger:

              LogFile=<file>
                     File to which the build log will be written.

              Append If this is used, then the log file is appended to, else a new one will be created.

              Encoding=<encoding>
                     Encoding to use for the log file, eg. UTF-8, ASCII.

              Eg: xbuild foo.csproj /flp:Verbosity=normal "/flp1:LogFile=build.log;Append;Encoding=ASCII"

       /nologo
              Don't show the initial xbuild banner

       /help  Show xbuild usage

       /version
              Display xbuild version

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       XBUILD_EMIT_SOLUTION
              If this variable is set, then the project file generated from a solution file is emitted.

       XBUILD_LOG_REFERENCE_RESOLVER
              References  are  resolved  by trying a list of assembly search paths ($(AssemblySearchPaths)).  If
              xbuild is unable to resolve a reference, then it logs details of  why  the  various  search  paths
              failed.  If  this  variable  is  set, then it logs the same even for references that were resolved
              successfully. These logs show up if the verbosity is set to detailed or higher.

       MSBuildExtensionsPath
              MSBuild extensions are usually installed in $(MSBuildExtensionsPath),  which  xbuild  resolves  to
              $prefix/lib/mono/xbuild . When used in Import, like:

                <Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\TestTargets.targets"/>

              xbuild tries various values for the msbuild property $(MSBuildExtensionsPath), in order:

                1. Paths specified in the environment variable $MSBuildExtensionsPath.
                2. /Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/External/xbuild on Mac OSX.
                3. $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/xbuild/tasks (or Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData)
                4. $prefix/lib/mono/xbuild (default location)

              Anywhere  else  in  the project files, $(MSBuildExtensionsPath) will always resolve to the default
              location.  This  is  a  xbuild-only  feature.   This  is  also  applicable  for   the   properties
              $(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)  and $(MSBuildExtensionsPath64), and the environment variables have the
              corresponding names - MSBuildExtensionsPath32/64 .

       XBUILD_FRAMEWORK_FOLDERS_PATH
              With   ToolsVersion   4.0,   projects   can   target   arbitrary    frameworks    referenced    by
              TargetFrameworkMoniker, which is of the format:

                Identifier,Version=<version>[,Profile=<profile>]

              Eg. ".NETFramework,Version=v4.0"

              The 3 parts of the moniker are given by the msbuild properties:

                $(TargetFrameworkIdentifier), $(TargetFrameworkVersion) and $(TargetFrameworkProfile)

              This moniker maps to a framework description file on disk:

                <framework_root>/Identifier/Version/[Profile]/RedistList/FrameworkList.xml

              This file is used to determine the path where to find the framework assemblies for this particular
              framework.

              Framework root here is configurable and is resolved in the following order:

                1. Paths specified in the environment variable $XBUILD_FRAMEWORK_FOLDERS_PATH
                2. /Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/External/xbuild-frameworks on Mac OSX.
                3. MSBuild property $(TargetFrameworkRoot)
                4. $prefix/lib/mono/xbuild-frameworks (default location)

              XBuild tries the paths given above, in order, till it finds a FrameworkList.xml for  the  moniker.
              Running with /v:detailed or higher verbosity will show the various paths that it tries.

              The FrameworkList.xml itself just has a root element like:

                <FileList       Name=".NET     Framework     3.5"     TargetFrameworkDirectory="..\..\..\..\3.5"
              IncludeFramework="v3.0">
                </FileList>

              Here the TargetFrameworkDirectory attribute specifies the directory where the assemblies for  this
              particular  framework  can  be found. If this is not set, then the parent of the folder containing
              the xml file is taken as the framework directory.

              IncludeFramework  attribute  specifies  the   version   of   a   framework   (under   the   *same*
              $(TargetFrameworkIdentifier))  which  should  be  included  in  the final list of Target framework
              directories.

       XBUILD_COLORS
              If this variable is set, it contains a string of the form "type=foreground,type=.." that specifies
              which color to use to display errors/warnings etc on some terminals. Type here can be:

                   errors, warnings, messages or events

                   events: These are project/target/task start and end event
                           messages.

              The  possible  colors  for  foreground  are:  black,  red,  brightred, green, brightgreen, yellow,
              brightyellow,  blue,  brightblue,  magenta,  brightmagenta,  cyan,  brightcyan,  grey,  white  and
              brightwhite.

              For example, you could set this variable from your shell:
                   export XBUILD_COLORS
                   XBUILD_COLORS=errors=brightred,warnings=blue

              You can disable the built-in color scheme by setting this variable to "disable".

NOTES

       On    Mac    OSX,    for    locating    pkg-config    (.pc)   files,   xbuild   additionally   looks   in
       "/Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/External/pkgconfig" .

SEE ALSO

       mono(1),mcs(1)

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) 2011 Novell, Inc (http://www.novell.com)

MAILING LISTS

       Visit http://lists.ximian.com/mailman/listinfo/mono-devel-list for details.

WEB SITE

       Visit: http://www.mono-project.com for details

                                                                                                       xbuild(1)