msbuild Link step doesn't run - c++

Question

I'm trying to build a very simple C program using MSBuild. Previously this was put together by an intern using Visual Studio but we are not going to be using VS here and I want this built with MSBuild so I can automate it.
I have constructed my vcxproj file from scratch following the walkthrough on MSDN and the other reference docs there. I am able to compile the obj files no problem but the Link step never seems to run so I am not getting an executable output.
There is a function called main in AppDrv.c files, is it safe to assume that will be detected by the linker as the entry point, or do I need to tell msbuild manually some how that this is there?
Here is the entirety of my vcxproj. I can't find anything in the docs that says I need to tell it to link, shouldn't it happen automatically if the CL step completes OK? Do I need to somehow explicitly list the obj files to link, or can MSBuild figure that out on its own?
<Project DefaultTargets="Build" ToolsVersion="14.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<ItemGroup>
<ProjectConfiguration Include="Debug|Win32">
<Configuration>Debug</Configuration>
<Platform>Win32</Platform>
</ProjectConfiguration>
<ProjectConfiguration Include="Release|Win32">
<Configuration>Release</Configuration>
<Platform>Win32</Platform>
</ProjectConfiguration>
</ItemGroup>
<Import Project="$(VCTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Cpp.default.props" />
<PropertyGroup>
<ConfigurationType>Console</ConfigurationType>
<PlatformToolset>v140</PlatformToolset>
</PropertyGroup>
<Import Project="$(VCTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Cpp.props" />
<!--Import Project="$(UserRootDir)\Microsoft.Cpp.$(Platform).user.props" Condition="exists('$(UserRootDir)\Microsoft.Cpp.$(Platform).user.props')" Label="LocalAppDataPlatform" /-->
<PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|Win32'">
<LinkIncremental>false</LinkIncremental>
<IncludePath>$(UniversalCRT_IncludePath)$(ProjectDir)helper\include;$(WindowsSDK_IncludePath)$(VC_IncludePath)</IncludePath>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|Win32'">
<ClCompile>
<PrecompiledHeader>
</PrecompiledHeader>
<CompileAs>CompileAsC</CompileAs>
<WarningLevel>TurnOffAllWarnings</WarningLevel>
<Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
<PreprocessorDefinitions>WIN32;_DEBUG;_WINDOWS;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
</ClCompile>
<Link>
<SubSystem>Console</SubSystem>
<GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
<OutputFile>slip_windows_helper.exe</OutputFile>
<ShowProgress>LinkVerbose</ShowProgress>
</Link>
</ItemDefinitionGroup>
<PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|Win32'">
<LinkIncremental>false</LinkIncremental>
<IncludePath>$(UniversalCRT_IncludePath)$(ProjectDir)helper\include;$(WindowsSDK_IncludePath)$(VC_IncludePath)</IncludePath>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|Win32'">
<ClCompile>
<CompileAs>CompileAsC</CompileAs>
<WarningLevel>TurnOffAllWarnings</WarningLevel>
<PrecompiledHeader>
</PrecompiledHeader>
<Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
<FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
<IntrinsicFunctions>true</IntrinsicFunctions>
<PreprocessorDefinitions>WIN32;NDEBUG;_WINDOWS;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
</ClCompile>
<Link>
<SubSystem>Console</SubSystem>
<GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
<EnableCOMDATFolding>true</EnableCOMDATFolding>
<OptimizeReferences>true</OptimizeReferences>
</Link>
</ItemDefinitionGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<ClCompile Include="$(ProjectDir)helper\src\AppDrv.c" />
<ClCompile Include="$(ProjectDir)helper\src\Buffers.c" />
<ClCompile Include="$(ProjectDir)helper\src\SingleThreadAsync.c" />
<ClCompile Include="$(ProjectDir)helper\src\Slip.c" />
<ClCompile Include="$(ProjectDir)helper\src\Utils.c" />
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<ClInclude Include="$(ProjectDir)helper\include\AppDrv.h" />
<ClInclude Include="$(ProjectDir)helper\include\Buffers.h" />
<ClInclude Include="$(ProjectDir)helper\include\SingleThreadAsync.h" />
<ClInclude Include="$(ProjectDir)helper\include\Slip.h" />
<ClInclude Include="$(ProjectDir)helper\include\Utils.h" />
<ClInclude Include="$(ProjectDir)helper\include\SharedHeader.h" />
</ItemGroup>
<Import Project="$(VCTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Cpp.Targets" />
<Target Name="Info">
<Message Text="Target to output MSBuild information" />
<Message Text="OutputAssembly: $(OutputAssembly)" />
<Message Text="VCTargetsPath: $(VCTargetsPath)" />
<Message Text="Includes: $(IncludePath)" />
<Message Text="VC_IncludePath:$(VC_IncludePath)" />
<Message Text="WindowsSDK_IncludePath:$(WindowsSDK_IncludePath)" />
<Message Text="the property config is: $(Configuration)" />
<Message Text="final output directory: $(OutDir)" />
</Target>
</Project>
Here is the command I'm using to launch the build:
MSBuild.exe slipwinhelper.vcxproj /p:configuration=Debug /p:platform=Win32 /p:OutDir=target\ /nologo /t:Clean;Build;Info
UPDATE:
I got it to run the link task by overriding the AfterBuild event:
<Target Name="AfterBuild">
<Link Sources="Debug\AppDrv.obj;Debug\Buffers.obj;Debug\SingleThreadAsync.obj;Debug\Slip.obj;Debug\Utils.obj" />
</Target>
But now it is giving me unresolved externals on SetupApi calls in the code. I have tried changing the SubSystem to Windows, that doesn't seem to work.

Answer 1

A quick comparision with a VS generated files shows a bunch of differences/lacking properties, including the file from VS having
<ConfigurationType>Application</ConfigurationType>
whereas you are speciyfing Console which is not something msbuild recognizes.