Error MSB3644: The reference assemblies for framework “.NETFramework,Version=v4.5” were not found. To resolve this, install the SDK or Targeting Pack for this framework version or retarget your application to a version of the framework for which you have the SDK or Targeting Pack installed
For some reason, the oldest version of .NET Framework for which a developer pack is available is 4.5.1.
I could just retarget my libraries to .NET Framework 4.5.1, but I just don’t want to.
Luckily, there is an easy solution!
1) Extract the .nupkg from Microsoft.NETFramework.ReferenceAssemblies.net45 NuGet package.
2) Then, copy the files from that package build\.NETFramework\v4.5\ to C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.5
That’s it!
Visual Studio can now build projects that target .NET Framework 4.5.
I hope this helps someone, because I couldn’t find any useful information about this on the web!