msbuild suceeded for net48 and net462 solutions but no dll files generated about dotnet-framework-docker

[MichaelSimons]

@lbussell, Can you please investigate the size and include it here?

[mthalman]

[Triage]

This is the key bit of info: dotnet/fsharp#15878 (comment). The F# workload is not installed in the SDK. The workload name is Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.FSharp.MSBuild

The workload's size is unknown. That should be determined first before adding it.

[MichaelSimons]

To provide some additional background on what goes into the decision making process on what is included in the SDK images and what isn't. Our philosophy is to include the common set of workloads that generally satisfies a broad set of use cases. For use cases outside of this, it is expected customers will add the additional workloads/components they need on top of the .NET images. Without this approach, the .NET images could grow rather uncontrollably and therefore would become more undesirable for a lot of customers.

Regarding the F# workload specifically, there have only been one other request for it (#762)

[lbussell]

@shikhar456, I was able to reproduce the issue using your repo.

Adding the Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.FSharp.MSBuild VS Workload to the mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/framework/sdk:4.8 image does not make the build work with the existing Dockerfile, however the error message is more helpful. It still needs a NuGet restore.

Try replacing your RUN msbuild ConsoleApplication1.sln instruction with:

RUN dotnet restore && dotnet publish ConsoleApplication1.sln -c Release -o out --no-restore

Which then outputs ConsoleApplication1.exe to the out folder. This should work even without installing the F# workload. You can look at our dotnetapp sample Dockerfile for an example of how to apply this pattern if you're trying to containerize your Fsharp app.

@MichaelSimons: Can you please investigate the size and include it here?

It's a ~216 MB or roughly 5% increase on top of the .NET Framework SDK's image layers. @KevinRansom, is the F# Workload the most optimal way to add F# to a .NET Framework build image? Would there be any issue just relying on NuGet restore for this? How can we improve the UX that @shikhar456 is running into above? (no msbuild output).

[lbussell]

[Triage] Closing this as not planned since adding the FSharp Workload does not address the issue. Our guidance is to use the dotnet CLI which is included in the .NET Framework SDK images. It would be up to the FSharp team to improve the UX of the error message in this situation.