CMakePresets with ninja are loading vcvars multiple times on preset change

[jeremicmilan]

Brief Issue Summary

When using ninja as a generator and when you change the configure preset it will automatically detect that ninja and cl are not in the path and it will load the appropriate vcvars, which is expected. However, after the change it will unload and reload every type of preset and for each preset type (configure, build, test, package, workflow). The expectation is for the vcvars (which is taking 5-10 seconds) to be ran only once per configure preset change, as the same Visual Studio development environment variables can be used for all presets.
This behavior is significantly impacting the experience of doing builds with multiple compilers on Windows. For comparison on Linux, initializing all types of presets takes less than a second.

Debug Log

Relevant logs:

[proc] The command: C:\Windows\System32\where.exe cl exited with code: 1
[preset] Using developer environment from Visual Studio (instance b89de9c3, version 17.8.34601.278, installed at "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise")
[visual-studio] Patch Windows SDK path from C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\x64 to C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.22621.0\x64 for C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat
[proc] The command: C:\Windows\System32\where.exe ninja exited with code: 1
[preset] Ninja is not set on PATH, trying to use C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\Common7\IDE\CommonExtensions\Microsoft\CMake\Ninja\ninja.exe
[driver] Switching to configure preset: windows-ninja-msvc-x64
[driver] Unsetting test preset
[driver] Switching to build preset: windows-ninja-msvc-x64-debug
[proc] The command: C:\Windows\System32\where.exe cl exited with code: 1
[preset] Using developer environment from Visual Studio (instance b89de9c3, version 17.8.34601.278, installed at "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise")
[visual-studio] Patch Windows SDK path from C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\x64 to C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.22621.0\x64 for C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat
[proc] The command: C:\Windows\System32\where.exe ninja exited with code: 1
[preset] Ninja is not set on PATH, trying to use C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\Common7\IDE\CommonExtensions\Microsoft\CMake\Ninja\ninja.exe
[driver] Switching to test preset: __defaultTestPreset__
[proc] The command: C:\Windows\System32\where.exe cl exited with code: 1
[preset] Using developer environment from Visual Studio (instance b89de9c3, version 17.8.34601.278, installed at "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise")
[visual-studio] Patch Windows SDK path from C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\x64 to C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.22621.0\x64 for C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat
[proc] The command: C:\Windows\System32\where.exe ninja exited with code: 1
[preset] Ninja is not set on PATH, trying to use C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\Common7\IDE\CommonExtensions\Microsoft\CMake\Ninja\ninja.exe
[driver] Switching to package preset: __defaultPackagePreset__
[proc] The command: C:\Windows\System32\where.exe cl exited with code: 1
[preset] Using developer environment from Visual Studio (instance b89de9c3, version 17.8.34601.278, installed at "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise")
[visual-studio] Patch Windows SDK path from C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\x64 to C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.22621.0\x64 for C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat
[proc] The command: C:\Windows\System32\where.exe ninja exited with code: 1
[preset] Ninja is not set on PATH, trying to use C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\Common7\IDE\CommonExtensions\Microsoft\CMake\Ninja\ninja.exe
[driver] Switching to workflow preset: __defaultWorkflowPreset__

Additional Information

CMakePresets.json:

{
  "version": 8,
  "configurePresets": [
    {
      "name": "base",
      "hidden": true,
      "binaryDir": "${sourceDir}/out/build/${presetName}",
      "installDir": "${sourceDir}/out/install/${presetName}",
      "cacheVariables": {
        "CMAKE_DIR": "${fileDir}"
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "windows-x64",
      "hidden": true,
      "inherits": "base",
      "condition": {
        "type": "equals",
        "lhs": "${hostSystemName}",
        "rhs": "Windows"
      },
      "architecture": {
        "value": "x64",
        "strategy": "external"
      },
      "toolset": {
        "value": "v143,host=x64",
        "strategy": "external"
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "windows-ninja-x64",
      "hidden": true,
      "inherits": "windows-x64",
      "generator": "Ninja Multi-Config"
    },
    {
      "name": "windows-ninja-clang-x64",
      "displayName": "Windows Ninja Clang x64",
      "inherits": "windows-ninja-x64",
      "cacheVariables": {
        "CMAKE_C_COMPILER": "clang-cl.exe",
        "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": "clang-cl.exe"
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "windows-ninja-msvc-x64",
      "displayName": "Windows Ninja MSVC x64",
      "inherits": "windows-ninja-x64",
      "cacheVariables": {
        "CMAKE_C_COMPILER": "cl.exe",
        "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": "cl.exe"
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "windows-vs-msvc-x64",
      "displayName": "Windows VS MSVC x64",
      "description": "Generates Visual Studio solution and project files. Slower build than ninja.",
      "inherits": "windows-x64",
      "generator": "Visual Studio 17 2022"
    },
    {
      "name": "linux-ninja-x64",
      "hidden": true,
      "inherits": "base",
      "condition": {
        "type": "equals",
        "lhs": "${hostSystemName}",
        "rhs": "Linux"
      },
      "generator": "Ninja Multi-Config",
      "cacheVariables": {
        "CMAKE_C_FLAGS": "-m64",
        "CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS": "-m64"
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "linux-ninja-clang-x64",
      "displayName": "Linux Ninja Clang x64",
      "inherits": "linux-ninja-x64",
      "cacheVariables": {
        "CMAKE_C_COMPILER": "/usr/bin/clang",
        "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": "/usr/bin/clang++"
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "linux-ninja-gcc-x64",
      "displayName": "Linux Ninja GCC x64",
      "inherits": "linux-ninja-x64",
      "cacheVariables": {
        "CMAKE_C_COMPILER": "/usr/bin/gcc",
        "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": "/usr/bin/g++"
      }
    }
  ],
  "buildPresets": [
    {
      "name": "windows-ninja-clang-x64-debug",
      "displayName": "Windows Ninja Clang x64 Debug",
      "configurePreset": "windows-ninja-clang-x64",
      "configuration": "Debug"
    },
    {
      "name": "windows-ninja-clang-x64-release",
      "displayName": "Windows Ninja Clang x64 Release",
      "configurePreset": "windows-ninja-clang-x64",
      "configuration": "Release"
    },
    {
      "name": "windows-ninja-clang-x64-RelWithDebInfo",
      "displayName": "Windows Ninja Clang x64 RelWithDebInfo",
      "configurePreset": "windows-ninja-clang-x64",
      "configuration": "RelWithDebInfo"
    },
    {
      "name": "windows-ninja-msvc-x64-debug",
      "displayName": "Windows Ninja MSVC x64 Debug",
      "configurePreset": "windows-ninja-msvc-x64",
      "configuration": "Debug"
    },
    {
      "name": "windows-ninja-msvc-x64-release",
      "displayName": "Windows Ninja MSVC x64 Release",
      "configurePreset": "windows-ninja-msvc-x64",
      "configuration": "Release"
    },
    {
      "name": "windows-ninja-msvc-x64-RelWithDebInfo",
      "displayName": "Windows Ninja MSVC x64 RelWithDebInfo",
      "configurePreset": "windows-ninja-msvc-x64",
      "configuration": "RelWithDebInfo"
    },
    {
      "name": "windows-vs-msvc-x64-debug",
      "displayName": "Windows VS MSVC x64 Debug",
      "configurePreset": "windows-vs-msvc-x64",
      "configuration": "Debug"
    },
    {
      "name": "windows-vs-msvc-x64-release",
      "displayName": "Windows VS MSVC x64 Release",
      "configurePreset": "windows-vs-msvc-x64",
      "configuration": "Release"
    },
    {
      "name": "windows-vs-msvc-x64-RelWithDebInfo",
      "displayName": "Windows VS MSVC x64 RelWithDebInfo",
      "configurePreset": "windows-vs-msvc-x64",
      "configuration": "RelWithDebInfo"
    },
    {
      "name": "linux-ninja-clang-x64-debug",
      "displayName": "Linux Ninja Clang x64 Debug",
      "configurePreset": "linux-ninja-clang-x64",
      "configuration": "Debug"
    },
    {
      "name": "linux-ninja-clang-x64-release",
      "displayName": "Linux Ninja Clang x64 Release",
      "configurePreset": "linux-ninja-clang-x64",
      "configuration": "Release"
    },
    {
      "name": "linux-ninja-clang-x64-RelWithDebInfo",
      "displayName": "Linux Ninja Clang x64 RelWithDebInfo",
      "configurePreset": "linux-ninja-clang-x64",
      "configuration": "RelWithDebInfo"
    },
    {
      "name": "linux-ninja-gcc-x64-debug",
      "displayName": "Linux Ninja GCC x64 Debug",
      "configurePreset": "linux-ninja-gcc-x64",
      "configuration": "Debug"
    },
    {
      "name": "linux-ninja-gcc-x64-release",
      "displayName": "Linux Ninja GCC x64 Release",
      "configurePreset": "linux-ninja-gcc-x64",
      "configuration": "Release"
    },
    {
      "name": "linux-ninja-gcc-x64-RelWithDebInfo",
      "displayName": "Linux Ninja GCC x64 RelWithDebInfo",
      "configurePreset": "linux-ninja-gcc-x64",
      "configuration": "RelWithDebInfo"
    }
  ]
}

CMake Tools Diagnostics

{
  "os": "win32",
  "vscodeVersion": "1.86.2",
  "cmtVersion": "1.17.17",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "folder": "<scrubbed>",
      "cmakeVersion": "3.28.3",
      "configured": true,
      "generator": "Ninja Multi-Config",
      "usesPresets": true,
      "compilers": {
        "C": "cl.exe",
        "CXX": "cl.exe"
      }
    }
  ],
  "cpptoolsIntegration": {
    "isReady": true,
    "hasCodeModel": true,
    "activeBuildType": "Debug",
    "buildTypesSeen": [
      "Debug",
      "Release",
      "RelWithDebInfo"
    ],
    "requests": [],
    "responses": [],
    "partialMatches": [],
    "targetCount": 14,
    "executablesCount": 2,
    "librariesCount": 9,
    "targets": [<scrubbed>]
  },
  "settings": [
    {
      "communicationMode": "automatic",
      "useCMakePresets": "auto",
      "configureOnOpen": false
    }
  ]
}

[gcampbell-msft]

@jeremicmilan Thank you for notifying us of this. That is definitely not desirable to see this much output, and more importantly, to see a big slowdown when switching between presets and/or saving updates to presets.

We will investigate this, and based on workload and backlog, prioritize this so we don't have bad performance.

[nmoreaud]

I confirm that I have this behavior too, initialization is very slow.

But more globally, choosing an MS compiler version with CMake/Ninja and make it work on multiple IDEs is not an easy task.
Ex :

• If I call vcvars from a batch script and then run code, it works well... except if VSCode was already open on a WSL project. Then the environment variables seem to be shared between the 2 windows.
• Ex: Edit User-Local CMake Kits command doesn't exist (probably because I use cmake presets?): https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-cmake-tools/blob/main/docs/kits.md#user-local-kits
• We need to set redundant information, ex to say "use VS2022 toolset + VS2019 compiler + 64bits + Ninja MultiConfig":

        {
            "name": "windows",
            "cacheVariables": {
                "CMAKE_C_COMPILER": "cl.exe",
                "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": "cl.exe",
                "CMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM": "ninja.exe"
            },
            "binaryDir": "${sourceDir}/build",
            "condition": {
                "type": "equals",
                "lhs": "${hostSystemName}",
                "rhs": "Windows"
            },
            "generator": "Ninja Multi-Config",
            "toolset": {
                "value": "v143,version=14.2,host=x64",
                "strategy": "external"
            },
            "architecture": {
                "value": "x64",
                "strategy": "external"
            }
        }

The documentation is very light on the subject, maybe a tutorial/use case example would help.

[nmoreaud]

Also, I wonder if vcvars result could be put in a cache file, because it is slow.
I did this before finding about CMakePresets toolset support:

setenv.ps1:

if (!(Test-Path $PSScriptRoot\build\vcvars.txt)) {
    if (!(Test-Path $PSScriptRoot\build)) {
        mkdir $PSScriptRoot\build
    }
    # vs2022 compiles with 2019 tools + recent CMake
    cmd.exe /c "call `"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Professional\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvars64.bat`" -vcvars_ver=14.2 && set > $PSScriptRoot\build\vcvars.txt"
}

Get-Content "$PSScriptRoot\build\vcvars.txt" | Foreach-Object {
    if ($_ -match "^(.*?)=(.*)$") {
        Set-Content "env:\$($matches[1])" $matches[2]
    }
}

[gcampbell-msft]

@nmoreaud Thanks for the follow up. I can confirm that we know about this issue and have a fix. We had been waiting for some other changes that we planned to initiate it, but to confirm that what I have locally fixes the issues, could you test with this vsix?

cmake-tools.zip

You'll need to download it, change the extension to .vsix, and then install it manually. Thanks!