MSBuildWorkspace 2.8.2 doesn't work out of the box with VS 15.8.1

[ziriax]

Maybe this is not a bug, but I'm reporting it here anyway, for feedback.

Version Used:

Visual Studio 2017 Professional 15.8.1

<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.CodeAnalysis" Version="2.8.2" />
<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Build.Locator" Version="1.0.18" />

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Create a new .NET Framework console app (I tried 4.6.2 and 4.7.1, same behavior)
2. Add the above package references to the csproj file
3. Modify Program.cs to call

Microsoft.Build.Locator.MSBuildLocator.RegisterDefaults();
Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.MSBuild.MSBuildWorkspace.Create();

Expected Behavior:
The program runs without throwing any exceptions.

Actual Behavior:
The program throws a ReflectionTypeLoadException exception, with nested LoaderExceptions:
Could not load file or assembly 'System.Collections.Immutable, Version=1.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a' or one of its dependencies. The located assembly's manifest definition does not match the assembly reference. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131040)

Note that when building you indeed get a warning some incorrect version, but the csproj file contains

<AutoGenerateBindingRedirects>true</AutoGenerateBindingRedirects>

so I was expecting this to be no problem.

Workaround:

Also add

<PackageReference Include="System.Collections.Immutable" Version="1.5.0"/>

to your csproj file

This seems very related to #17705 (possibly a duplicate?)

Note that I wasn't able to use 2.9, because I then got bitten by #29122

[DustinCampbell]

@ziriax : Making a version of MSBuildWorkspace prior to 2.9 work with VS 2017 is a bit tricky. I think your workaround is probably the right one. However, I don't think this is really an MSBuildWorkspace issue that we can solve.

[ziriax]

With VS15.8.5, another workaround is needed, you need to import the System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow package.