New machine experience: Ninja not found (in VS, even though it can find CMake in the VS installation just fine)

[TheJCAB]

Brief Issue Summary

This is a basic ease-of-use user experience issue.

A fresh machine, with VS 2022 installed on it and ready to go. Open a CMake/Ninja project folder VSCode, and try to build. This happens:

...
[cmake] CMake Error: CMake was unable to find a build program corresponding to "Ninja".  CMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM is not set.  You probably need to select a different build tool.
[proc] The command: "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\Common7\IDE\CommonExtensions\Microsoft\CMake\CMake\bin\cmake.exe" *redacted* -G Ninja exited with code: 1

So... it can find "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\Common7\IDE\CommonExtensions\Microsoft\CMake\CMake\bin\cmake.exe" just fine (it's not in the PATH). But it can't be bothered to put, say, "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\Common7\IDE\CommonExtensions\Microsoft\CMake\Ninja" in the PATH when calling CMake.

This sounds like a relatively simple fix. Ninja is included in VS along with CMake, and it should be usable right out of the box, no?

Thanx!

CMake Tools Diagnostics

No response

Debug Log

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Additional Information

No response

[benmcmorran]

Thanks for the report! The suggestion sounds reasonable to me. As a workaround, are you able to launch VS Code from a Visual Studio Developer Command Prompt? That should have all the proper environment variables set for Ninja (and MSVC) to be easily discoverable.

@sinemakinci1 FYI this is related to our broader discussion about streamlining tool acquisition.

[Thomas1664]

I'm experiencing the same issue. As a result, I'm unable to build anything using Ninja. The suggested workaround is not viable because opening VS Dev CMD is too complicated for the simple task of just opening a folder. It should "just work".

[gcampbell-msft]

@Thomas1664 Could you provide exact repro steps for when you're seeing this? Are you using kits / presets? What type of project are you opening? Etc.

[Yingzi1234]

@gcampbell-msft We can reproduce this issue on latest VSCode and you can get the details below.

ENV:

1. VS: 17.11 Preview1.0
2. VSCode: 1.88.1
3. C/C++: v1.20.2
4. CMake tools: v0.0.17
5. Gcc: 13.2.20
6. Clang: 18.1.4

Repro steps:

1. Create any cmake project with c language.

2. Create main.c file:
   _#include <stdio.h>
   #ifdef _WIN32
   #include <windows.h>
   #endif
   int main()
   {
   #ifdef WIN32
   SetConsoleOutputCP(65001);
   #endif
   return 0;
   }

3. Create CMakeLists.txt:
   cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.20.0)
   project(t VERSION 0.1.0)
   aux_source_directory(. SRC)
   add_executable(t ${SRC})
   set(CPACK_PROJECT_NAME ${PROJECT_NAME})
   set(CPACK_PROJECT_VERSION ${PROJECT_VERSION})

4. Create CMakePresets.json file:
   {
   "version": 3,
   "configurePresets": [
   {
   "name": "gcc-base",
   "hidden": true,
   "generator": "Ninja",
   "binaryDir": "${sourceDir}/out/build/${presetName}",
   "installDir": "${sourceDir}/out/install/${presetName}",
   "environment": {
   "PATH": "C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/;$penv{path}"
   },
   "cacheVariables": {
   "CMAKE_C_COMPILER": "gcc.exe",
   "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": "g++.exe"
   },
   "condition": {
   "type": "equals",
   "lhs": "${hostSystemName}",
   "rhs": "Windows"
   },
   "vendor": {
   "microsoft.com/VisualStudioSettings/CMake/1.0": {
   "intelliSenseMode": "linux-gcc-x64"
   }
   }
   },
   {
   "name": "clang-base",
   "hidden": true,
   "generator": "Ninja",
   "binaryDir": "${sourceDir}/out/build/${presetName}",
   "installDir": "${sourceDir}/out/install/${presetName}",
   "environment": {
   "PATH": "C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/;$penv{path}"
   },
   "cacheVariables": {
   "CMAKE_C_COMPILER": "clang.exe",
   "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": "clang++.exe"
   },
   "condition": {
   "type": "equals",
   "lhs": "${hostSystemName}",
   "rhs": "Windows"
   },
   "vendor": {
   "microsoft.com/VisualStudioSettings/CMake/1.0": {
   "intelliSenseMode": "windows-clang-x64",
   "intelliSenseOptions": {
   "useCompilerDefaults": true
   }
   }
   }
   },
   {
   "name": "gcc-debug",
   "displayName": "gcc Debug",
   "inherits": "gcc-base",
   "architecture": {
   "value": "x64",
   "strategy": "external"
   },
   "cacheVariables": {
   "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "Debug"
   }
   },
   {
   "name": "clang-debug",
   "displayName": "clang Debug",
   "inherits": "clang-base",
   "architecture": {
   "value": "x64",
   "strategy": "external"
   },
   "cacheVariables": {
   "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "Debug"
   }
   }
   ]
   }

5. Click F1 to configure the project and select preset ”clang debug”, then build it

Expected result:
The project can be successfully built

Actual result:
The build will fail and the error message on the left will appear in the output window.
Output log：
[main] Building folder: Test1 clean
[main] Configuring project: Test1
[proc] Executing command: "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\Common7\IDE\CommonExtensions\Microsoft\CMake\CMake\bin\cmake.EXE" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=clang.exe -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=clang++.exe -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=C:/Users/v-cathyzhang/Desktop/Test1/out/install/clang-debug -SC:/Users/v-cathyzhang/Desktop/Test1 -BC:/Users/v-cathyzhang/Desktop/Test1/out/build/clang-debug -G Ninja
[cmake] CMake Error: CMake was unable to find a build program corresponding to "Ninja". CMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM is not set. You probably need to select a different build tool.
[cmake] -- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
[proc] The command: "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\Common7\IDE\CommonExtensions\Microsoft\CMake\CMake\bin\cmake.EXE" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=clang.exe -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=clang++.exe -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=C:/Users/v-cathyzhang/Desktop/Test1/out/install/clang-debug -SC:/Users/v-cathyzhang/Desktop/Test1 -BC:/Users/v-cathyzhang/Desktop/Test1/out/build/clang-debug -G Ninja exited with code: 1