Building with Mono is broken due to not implemented features

[proger]

After running nuget restore:

Microsoft.Orleans.Templates.Interfaces.targets: error : Error executing task WriteLinesToFile: Error converting Property named 'Lines' with value '/d:$([MSBuild]::Escape($(DefineConstants)))' to type Microsoft.Build.Framework.ITaskItem[]: The requested feature is not implemented

% pwd
/Users/vladki/src/orleans/Samples/HelloWorldNuget
% xbuild
XBuild Engine Version 12.0
Mono, Version 3.12.1.0
Copyright (C) 2005-2013 Various Mono authors

Build started 4/15/2015 10:17:23 AM.
__________________________________________________
Project "/Users/vladki/src/orleans/Samples/HelloWorldNuget/HelloWorldNuget.sln" (default target(s)):
    Target ValidateSolutionConfiguration:
        Building solution configuration "Debug|Any CPU".
    Target Build:
        Project "/Users/vladki/src/orleans/Samples/HelloWorldNuget/HelloWorldNugetInterfaces/HelloWorldNugetInterfaces.csproj" (default target(s)):
            Target PrepareForBuild:
                Configuration: Debug Platform: AnyCPU
            Target OrleansClientPreprocessing:
                [OrleansClientPreprocessing] - Project=
                [OrleansClientPreprocessing] 
                - CodeGenToolExeDir=/Users/vladki/src/orleans/Samples/HelloWorldNuget/HelloWorldNugetInterfaces/../tools
                - OrleansReferencesBase=
                - OrleansSDK=
                - Using CodeGenToolExe location=/Users/vladki/src/orleans/Samples/HelloWorldNuget/HelloWorldNugetInterfaces/../tools/ClientGenerator.exe
                [OrleansClientPreprocessing] - Code-gen args file=obj/Debug/HelloWorldNugetInterfaces.codegen.args.txt
/Users/vladki/src/orleans/Samples/HelloWorldNuget/packages/Microsoft.Orleans.Templates.Interfaces.1.0.5/build/Microsoft.Orleans.Templates.Interfaces.targets: error : Error executing task WriteLinesToFile: Error converting Property named 'Lines' with value '/d:$([MSBuild]::Escape($(DefineConstants)))' to type Microsoft.Build.Framework.ITaskItem[]: The requested feature is not implemented.
                Build FAILED.
                Errors:
                /Users/vladki/src/orleans/Samples/HelloWorldNuget/HelloWorldNuget.sln (default targets) ->
                (Build target) ->
                /Users/vladki/src/orleans/Samples/HelloWorldNuget/HelloWorldNugetInterfaces/HelloWorldNugetInterfaces.csproj (default targets) ->
                /Users/vladki/src/orleans/Samples/HelloWorldNuget/packages/Microsoft.Orleans.Templates.Interfaces.1.0.5/build/Microsoft.Orleans.Templates.Interfaces.targets (OrleansClientPreprocessing target) ->
                    /Users/vladki/src/orleans/Samples/HelloWorldNuget/packages/Microsoft.Orleans.Templates.Interfaces.1.0.5/build/Microsoft.Orleans.Templates.Interfaces.targets: error : Error executing task WriteLinesToFile: Error converting Property named 'Lines' with value '/d:$([MSBuild]::Escape($(DefineConstants)))' to type Microsoft.Build.Framework.ITaskItem[]: The requested feature is not implemented.
                     0 Warning(s)
                     1 Error(s)
                Time Elapsed 00:00:00.3307040

Is there any way of using Orleans on non-Windows? Perhaps any hacks I can use to run codegen outside of xbuild? (I'm new to .NET and thought that Orleans would be a great gateway drug for me)

[proger]

I've added a bunch of hacks (mostly removed random stuff I saw in error messages) to my forked branch: https://github.com/proger/orleans/commits/build-hacks

Build log: https://gist.github.com/37ec69822fcc97b6cad0

mono ./HelloWorldNuget/obj/HelloWorldNuget.exe |& gist -p: https://gist.github.com/5dd2a8e2ec544a759538 (which probably means that stuff works now, I just now have to properly configure it)

[proger]

A ton of errors I got after running HelloWorldNuget: https://gist.github.com/proger/0db51e7b08cff6746b4b

[akoeplinger]

xbuild has a bunch of bugs that make compiling Orleans with it difficult. I fixed some of them in Mono master, so you should first try getting a recent build. With some changes in my fork I could get it to build, though it's not updated and some of those changes have since been applied by the team upstream. As MSBuild got open-sourced recently, it is expected that xbuild will be replaced in the future, so it may not matter for long.

[proger]

This is great, thanks a lot! I'll try shortly.

[jthelin]

Getting Orleans to work correctly with xbuild / mono is very much still a work in progress, as @akoeplinger mentions, but is definitely on the TODO list.

[gabikliot]

Check this out: https://github.com/chgeuer/docker-playground/blob/master/docker-readme.md

[sergeybykov]

Considering the push for .NET Core compatibility, looks like we won't be spending any effort on Mono. Although we are open to fixes that would help with Mono compatibility.

[proger]

Thanks for the update!

I assume the place to track this is #2145

[sergeybykov]

Yes, that's the initial one.