MSB4067: The element <#text> beneath element <Target> is unrecognized - visual-studio

Question

From the visual studio, I am able to compile code successfully but when I am trying to compile code using MSBuild, it throws me error like below
MSB4067: The element <#text> beneath element Target is unrecognized.
Please note: I am building code using MSBuild in release mode, the code which I have added for AfterTarget is only for Debug mode.
If I remove code i.e. than it is working fine.
Here is my csproj file
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="12.0" DefaultTargets="Build"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<PropertyGroup>
<Configuration Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == '' ">Debug</Configuration>
<Platform Condition=" '$(Platform)' == '' ">AnyCPU</Platform>
<ProductVersion>8.0.30703</ProductVersion>
<SchemaVersion>2.0</SchemaVersion>
<ProjectGuid>{B9B35177-B239-41A9-946F-3BB1CC14BD3B}</ProjectGuid>
<OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
<AppDesignerFolder>Properties</AppDesignerFolder>
<RootNamespace>ABC.MyProject.Engine</RootNamespace>
<AssemblyName>ABC.MyProject.Engine</AssemblyName>
<TargetFrameworkVersion>v4.5.2</TargetFrameworkVersion>
<FileAlignment>512</FileAlignment>
<TargetFrameworkProfile />
</PropertyGroup>
<PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Debug|AnyCPU' ">
<DebugSymbols>true</DebugSymbols>
<DebugType>full</DebugType>
<Optimize>false</Optimize>
<OutputPath>bin\Debug\</OutputPath>
<DefineConstants>DEBUG;TRACE</DefineConstants>
<ErrorReport>prompt</ErrorReport>
<WarningLevel>4</WarningLevel>
<Prefer32Bit>false</Prefer32Bit>
</PropertyGroup>
<PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Release|AnyCPU' ">
<DebugType>pdbonly</DebugType>
<Optimize>true</Optimize>
<OutputPath>bin\Release\</OutputPath>
<DefineConstants>TRACE</DefineConstants>
<ErrorReport>prompt</ErrorReport>
<WarningLevel>4</WarningLevel>
<Prefer32Bit>false</Prefer32Bit>
</PropertyGroup>
<PropertyGroup>
<StartupObject />
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<Reference Include="ABCDataAccess, Version=2017.2.1.0, Culture=neutral, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
<SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
<HintPath>..\lib\internal\ABCDataAccess.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="ABCNotifier, Version=2016.2.2.0, Culture=neutral, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
<SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
<HintPath>..\lib\internal\ABCNotifier.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="ABCScheduler, Version=2016.2.2.0, Culture=neutral, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
<SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
<HintPath>..\lib\internal\ABCScheduler.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="log4net">
<HintPath>..\lib\thirdparty\log4net.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System" />
<Reference Include="System.configuration" />
<Reference Include="System.Core" />
<Reference Include="System.Xml.Linq" />
<Reference Include="System.Data.DataSetExtensions" />
<Reference Include="Microsoft.CSharp" />
<Reference Include="System.Data" />
<Reference Include="System.Xml" />
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<Compile Include="core.cs" />
<Compile Include="Model\FileInstance.cs" />
<Compile Include="Model\FileLifeCycle.cs" />
<Compile Include="Model\StateExecutor.cs" />
<Compile Include="Properties\AssemblyInfo.cs" />
<Compile Include="Properties\Settings.Designer.cs">
<AutoGen>True</AutoGen>
<DesignTimeSharedInput>True</DesignTimeSharedInput>
<DependentUpon>Settings.settings</DependentUpon>
</Compile>
<Compile Include="Enterprise\Implementation\FileKarmaHandler.cs" />
<Compile Include="Enterprise\Implementation\FileKarma.cs" />
<Compile Include="Enterprise\Implementation\FileLifeCycleData.cs" />
<Compile Include="Enterprise\Interface\IFileLifeCycleData.cs" />
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<None Include="app.config" />
<None Include="Properties\Settings.settings">
<Generator>SettingsSingleFileGenerator</Generator>
<LastGenOutput>Settings.Designer.cs</LastGenOutput>
</None>
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<ProjectReference Include="..\Core\ABC.MyProject.Core.csproj">
<Project>{E1B4DF28-23C5-4865-B7B7-51707D2116E3}</Project>
<Name>ABCCore</Name>
</ProjectReference>
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<Content Include="Config\Archiver.xml" />
<Content Include="Config\ABClog.xml" />
<Content Include="Config\DataAccess.xml" />
<Content Include="Config\Notifier.xml" />
<Content Include="Config\Security.xml" />
</ItemGroup>
<Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
<PropertyGroup>
<PreBuildEvent>
rmdir config
mkdir config
rmdir sqls
mkdir sqls
rmdir templates
mkdir templates
exit 0
</PreBuildEvent>
</PropertyGroup>
<PropertyGroup>
<PostBuildEvent>
copy $(ProjectDir)Config\*.xml config\
copy $(ProjectDir)..\lib\thirdparty\*.* $(ProjectDir)\bin\$(Configuration)\
copy $(ProjectDir)..\Core\Config\*.xml config\
copy $(ProjectDir)..\Core\sqls\*.* sqls\
</PostBuildEvent>
</PropertyGroup>
<UsingTask TaskName="XmlPreprocess" AssemblyFile="..\lib\msbuild\lib\XmlPreprocess.MSBuildTasks.dll" />
<Target Name="AfterBuild" Condition="'$(Configuration)' == 'Debug' ">
 
<PropertyGroup>
<ConfigValuesSpreadsheetFileLocation>
..\lib\msbuild\config\Settings.xls
</ConfigValuesSpreadsheetFileLocation>
</PropertyGroup>
<XmlPreprocess
ToolPath="..\lib\msbuild\lib\"
InputFiles="..\Core\Config\AlertParams.xml"
OutputFiles="bin\Debug\config\AlertParams.xml"
SpreadsheetFiles="$(ConfigValuesSpreadsheetFileLocation)"
Environment="$(Configuration)"
Clean="true"
Validate="true" />
 
<XmlPreprocess
ToolPath="..\lib\msbuild\lib\"
InputFiles="..\Core\Config\CoreParams.xml"
OutputFiles="bin\Debug\config\CoreParams.xml"
SpreadsheetFiles="$(ConfigValuesSpreadsheetFileLocation)"
Environment="$(Configuration)"
Clean="true"
Validate="true" />
 
<XmlPreprocess
ToolPath="..\lib\msbuild\lib\"
InputFiles="..\Core\Config\StateParams.xml"
OutputFiles="bin\Debug\config\StateParams.xml"
SpreadsheetFiles="$(ConfigValuesSpreadsheetFileLocation)"
Environment="$(Configuration)"
Clean="true"
Validate="true" />
 
<XmlPreprocess
ToolPath="..\lib\msbuild\lib\"
InputFiles="Config\Archiver.xml"
OutputFiles="bin\Debug\config\Archiver.xml"
SpreadsheetFiles="$(ConfigValuesSpreadsheetFileLocation)"
Environment="$(Configuration)"
Clean="true"
Validate="true" />
 
<XmlPreprocess
ToolPath="..\lib\msbuild\lib\"
InputFiles="Config\DataAccess.xml"
OutputFiles="bin\Debug\config\DataAccess.xml"
SpreadsheetFiles="$(ConfigValuesSpreadsheetFileLocation)"
Environment="$(Configuration)"
Clean="true"
Validate="true" />
 
<XmlPreprocess
ToolPath="..\lib\msbuild\lib\"
InputFiles="app.config"
OutputFiles="bin\Debug\app.config"
SpreadsheetFiles="$(ConfigValuesSpreadsheetFileLocation)"
Environment="$(Configuration)"
Clean="true"
Validate="true" />
</Target>
</Project>

Answer 1

I've seen this error happen when the XML is somehow malformed, such as having a duplicated > character.
To troubleshoot it you can remove XML nodes from your csproj until the error goes away (it should be right at the build start) and repeat until you narrow down to the specific line with the XML issue.

Answer 2

Look out for merge/conflict markers from your source control. I just ran into a GIT marker that was causing this error.

Answer 3

MSB4067: The element <#text> beneath element is unrecognized
First, you should use the MSBuild from the Visual Studio not from the .Net Framework.
That because starting with Visual Studio 2013, the 2013 version of MSBuild will ship as a part of Visual Studio instead of the .NET Framework. Check this blog for details. So you should use the MSBuild from:
C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\12.0\Bin\MSBuild.exe
Second, you should provide configuration parameter /P:configuration=Release when you build the project via MSBuild in release mode, the command looks like:
msbuild "YourProjectPath.csproj" /P:configuration=Release
Hope this helps.