CMake Error Failed to run MSBuild command - c++

Question

I am very new to CMake and try to build a minimum CMake file on Windows where I have installed Visual Studio 17 and 19. The C++ code is the bare minimum main.cpp:
#include<iostream>
int main()
{
std::cout << "Hello" << std::endl;
return 0;
}
The CMakeLists.txt file is also the minimum:
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.1)
project(hello)
add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} main.cpp)
When I run the CMake on the command line, I get this error and I do not know how to resolve it:
C:\SampleProject\build>cmake ./../src
-- Building for: Visual Studio 15 2017
CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:3 (project):
Failed to run MSBuild command:
MSBuild.exe
to get the value of VCTargetsPath:
The system cannot find the file specified

Answer 1

By default VC++ tools aren't on the PATH, they are added to the PATH by the vcvarsall.bat script.
Run cmake from a "x64 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS 2019" (it's a shortcut to vcvarsall.bat that Visual Studio installs in the Start Menu).
Bonus note:
When not using Visual Studio integration, you might want to consider Ninja as the alternative build system to MSBuild. It's more CMake-friendly because it doesn't require the Debug/Release duality of configuration (which is the source of headache when working with CMake).
Download ninja.exe, add it to the PATH
Use the Ninja CMake generator: cmake -G Ninja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug ..
Enjoy easy and fast builds using the ninja command.
To build a Release version, re-run cmake with -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release (so this works very much the same as on other platforms, e.g. Linux).
Ninja also integrates well with the VSCode CMake extension (note: VSCode != VS).