SQL Server Database Project SqlBuildTask failing after installing SSMS 2012 SP1? Here's how to fix it (Update your SSDT)

Michael Mairegger's Blog - Error 04018: The “SqlBuildTask” task failed unexpectedly

I intend to use a SQL Server Database Project in my Visual Studio Solution to manage the database. This is a very nice feature and you should try it. Nevertheless, after upgrading the SQL Server Management Studio 2012 to SP1 I was not able to build the SQL Server Database Project anymore. I always got the following error message:

Error 2 04018: The “SqlBuildTask” task failed unexpectedly. System.MissingMethodException: Method not found: ‘Void Microsoft.Data.Tools.Schema.SchemaModel.DataSchemaModel.Serialize(System.IO.TextWriter, System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable`1<System.Type>)’. ...

After a few attempts, I found the solution. I just downloaded and installed the new version of SQL Server Data Tools and the exception has disappeared.

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Microsoft SQL Server Data Tools

Download SQL Server Data Tools - December 2012

The SSDT - December 2012 update contains several improvements::

• Database Unit Testing
• Integration of SSDT Power Tools
• Updated Data-Tier Application Framework
• Bug fixes to customer-reported issues

This release is available for both Visual Studio 2012 and Visual Studio 2010:

Download SSDT for Visual Studio 2012

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SQL Server Data Tools - December 2012 update (Visual Studio 2012)

• If you already have the Professional, Ultimate, or Premium Edition of Visual Studio 2012 and didn't opt out of installing SQL Server Data Tools during setup, then your machine has an existing installation of SSDT. Installing the SSDT - December 2012 update will replace these SSDT bits with a newer version.
• If you do not have Visual Studio 2012 Professional Edition or above, SSDT will install the Visual Studio 2012 Integrated Shell and install SSDT - December 2012 on top of it. The Integrated Shell will only contain SSDT, and does not include VS programming languages and the features that support their respective project systems. The database functionality of Express SKUs of Visual Studio 2012 will also be updated when SSDT - December 2012 is installed.

Supported Operating Systems

• Windows 7 SP1 (x86 and x64)
• Windows 8 (x86 and x64)
• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (x64)
• Windows Server 2012 (x64)

Download and Install SQL Server Data Tools

• Download SQL Server Data Tools for Visual Studio 2012

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I just ran into this and Michael's post saved me hours of "what the heck" and hair pulling, so I wanted to highlight it and give him a huge shout-out. Also I wanted to cache it here because I know I'm going to need this again...