CMake does not find Visual C++ compiler

After installing Visual Studio 2015 and running CMake on a previous project, CMake errors stating that it could not find the C compiler.

The C compiler identification is unknown
The CXX compiler identification is unknown
CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:4 (PROJECT):
  No CMAKE_C_COMPILER could be found.

CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:4 (PROJECT):
  No CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER could be found.

I went searching for cl.exe in the Visual Studio folder,C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0, and could not find it.

How do I set up CMake to work on Windows with Visual Studio 2015?

Solution 1:

I have found the solution. While the Visual Studio IDE installed successfully it did not install any build tools and therefore did not install the C++ compiler.

By attempting to manually create a C++ project in the Visual Studio 2015 GUI I was able to prompt it to download the C++ packages. CMake was then able to find the compiler without any difficulty.

Solution 2:

Here is the solution that worked for me:

1. Open Visual Studio command prompt tool (as an administrator). On windows 10 it might be called 'Developer command prompt'.
2. Navigate to where you have the CMake executable
3. Run Cmake.exe
4. Proceed as usual to select build and source folder
5. Select the appropriate Visual Studio compiler and hit the configure button

Hopefully it should run without problems.