CMake when run from within Visual Studio 2022 couldn't detect compiler

Question

So after installing VS 2022 and downloading and compiling boost 1.82, I was trying to get a test project running, one that is supposed to compile cross platform (new feature in VS 2022 or was it there in previous versions as well??). I created a new VC++ project and solution from within VS as File > New > Project > CMake Project.

And after modifying the CMakeLists.txt file as:

...
set (BOOST_ROOT "C:/boost/boost")
set (BOOST_INCLUDEDIR "C:/boost/boost/include")
set (BOOST_LIBRARYDIR "C:/boost/boost/stage/lib")
set (BOOST_MIN_VERSION "1.82.0")
set(Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS ON) 
set(Boost_USE_MULTITHREADED ON)  
set(Boost_USE_STATIC_RUNTIME OFF) 
set(Boost_DEBUG ON)
find_package(Boost ${BOOST_MIN_VERSION} COMPONENTS date_time REQUIRED)
if (NOT Boost_FOUND)
  message(FATAL_ERROR "Fatal error: Boost (version >= ${BOOST_MIN_VERSION}) required.")
endif()
include_directories(${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS}) 
link_directories(${Boost_LIBRARY_DIRS})
...

And then did Project > Delete Cache And Reconfigure

The trouble is that it is not able to find the boost libraries and I believe it is because it couldn't figure out what the compiler is:

....
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1862 ] Boost_VERSION_MAJOR = "1"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1863 ] Boost_VERSION_MINOR = "82"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1864 ] Boost_VERSION_PATCH = "0"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1865 ] Boost_VERSION_COUNT = "3"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1889 ] Boost_LIB_PREFIX = ""
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1890 ] Boost_NAMESPACE = "boost"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:953 ] _boost_COMPILER = "" (guessed)
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1926 ] _boost_MULTITHREADED = "-mt"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2004 ] _boost_ARCHITECTURE_TAG = "" (detected)
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2008 ] _boost_RELEASE_ABI_TAG = "-"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2009 ] _boost_DEBUG_ABI_TAG = "-d"
....

Here the _boost_COMPILER was detected as _boost_COMPILER = "" (guessed).

Any idea what could be wrong here.. VS is supposed to tell CMake about itself right since I am calling CMake from within it?

EDIT: Attaching entire output from CMake

1> CMake generation started for default configuration: 'x64-Debug'.
1> Command line: "C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe" /c "%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\chcp.com 65001 >NUL && "C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT VISUAL STUDIO\2022\COMMUNITY\COMMON7\IDE\COMMONEXTENSIONS\Microsoft\CMake\CMake\bin\cmake.exe"  -G "Ninja"  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:STRING="Debug" -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH="C:\Users\johns\source\repos\LogMon\out\install\x64-Debug" -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER:FILEPATH="C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/VC/Tools/MSVC/14.34.31933/bin/Hostx64/x64/cl.exe" -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER:FILEPATH="C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/VC/Tools/MSVC/14.34.31933/bin/Hostx64/x64/cl.exe"  -DCMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM="C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT VISUAL STUDIO\2022\COMMUNITY\COMMON7\IDE\COMMONEXTENSIONS\Microsoft\CMake\Ninja\ninja.exe" "C:\Users\johns\source\repos\LogMon" 2>&1"
1> Working directory: C:\Users\johns\source\repos\LogMon\out\build\x64-Debug
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1689 ] _boost_TEST_VERSIONS = <unset>
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1690 ] Boost_USE_MULTITHREADED = "ON"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1691 ] Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS = "ON"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1692 ] Boost_USE_STATIC_RUNTIME = "OFF"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1693 ] Boost_ADDITIONAL_VERSIONS = <unset>
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1694 ] Boost_NO_SYSTEM_PATHS = <unset>
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1726 ] BOOST_ROOT = "C:/boost/boost"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1727 ] ENV{BOOST_ROOT} = <unset>
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1728 ] BOOST_INCLUDEDIR = "C:/boost/boost/include"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1729 ] ENV{BOOST_INCLUDEDIR} = <unset>
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1730 ] BOOST_LIBRARYDIR = "C:/boost/boost/stage/lib"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1731 ] ENV{BOOST_LIBRARYDIR} = <unset>
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1803 ] _boost_INCLUDE_SEARCH_DIRS = "C:/boost/boost/include;C:/boost/boost/include;C:/boost/boost;PATHS;C:/boost/include;C:/boost;/sw/local/include"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1804 ] _boost_PATH_SUFFIXES = <unset>
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1819 ] location of version.hpp: C:/boost/boost/boost/version.hpp
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1859 ] Boost_VERSION = "108200"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1860 ] Boost_VERSION_STRING = "1.82.0"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1861 ] Boost_VERSION_MACRO = "108200"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1862 ] Boost_VERSION_MAJOR = "1"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1863 ] Boost_VERSION_MINOR = "82"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1864 ] Boost_VERSION_PATCH = "0"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1865 ] Boost_VERSION_COUNT = "3"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1889 ] Boost_LIB_PREFIX = "lib"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1890 ] Boost_NAMESPACE = "boost"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:953 ] _boost_COMPILER = "" (guessed)
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1926 ] _boost_MULTITHREADED = "-mt"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2004 ] _boost_ARCHITECTURE_TAG = "" (detected)
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2008 ] _boost_RELEASE_ABI_TAG = "-"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2009 ] _boost_DEBUG_ABI_TAG = "-d"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2069 ] _boost_LIBRARY_SEARCH_DIRS_RELEASE = "C:/boost/boost/stage/lib;C:/boost/boost/lib;C:/boost/boost/stage/lib;C:/boost/boost/lib;C:/boost/boost/../lib;C:/boost/boost/stage/lib;PATHS;C:/boost/lib;C:/boost;/sw/local/lib"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2070 ] _boost_LIBRARY_SEARCH_DIRS_DEBUG = "C:/boost/boost/stage/lib;C:/boost/boost/lib;C:/boost/boost/stage/lib;C:/boost/boost/lib;C:/boost/boost/../lib;C:/boost/boost/stage/lib;PATHS;C:/boost/lib;C:/boost;/sw/local/lib"
1> [CMake] CMake Warning at C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1384 (message):
1> [CMake]   New Boost version may have incorrect or missing dependencies and imported
1> [CMake]   targets
1> [CMake] Call Stack (most recent call first):
1> [CMake]   C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1507 (_Boost_COMPONENT_DEPENDENCIES)
1> [CMake]   C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2118 (_Boost_MISSING_DEPENDENCIES)
1> [CMake]   CMakeLists.txt:14 (find_package)
1> [CMake] 
1> [CMake] 
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2255 ] Searching for DATE_TIME_LIBRARY_RELEASE: libboost_date_time-mt-1_82;libboost_date_time-mt;libboost_date_time-mt;libboost_date_time-mt;libboost_date_time
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2310 ] Searching for DATE_TIME_LIBRARY_DEBUG: libboost_date_time-mt-d-1_82;libboost_date_time-mt-d;libboost_date_time-mt-d;libboost_date_time-mt;libboost_date_time
1> [CMake] CMake Error at C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindPackageHandleStandardArgs.cmake:230 (message):
1> [CMake]   Could NOT find Boost (missing: date_time) (found suitable version "1.82.0",
1> [CMake]   minimum required is "1.82.0")
1> [CMake] Call Stack (most recent call first):
1> [CMake]   C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindPackageHandleStandardArgs.cmake:594 (_FPHSA_FAILURE_MESSAGE)
1> [CMake]   C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2376 (find_package_handle_standard_args)
1> [CMake]   CMakeLists.txt:14 (find_package)
1> [CMake] -- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
1> 'C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe' '/c "%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\chcp.com 65001 >NUL && "C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT VISUAL STUDIO\2022\COMMUNITY\COMMON7\IDE\COMMONEXTENSIONS\Microsoft\CMake\CMake\bin\cmake.exe"  -G "Ninja"  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:STRING="Debug" -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH="C:\Users\johns\source\repos\LogMon\out\install\x64-Debug" -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER:FILEPATH="C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/VC/Tools/MSVC/14.34.31933/bin/Hostx64/x64/cl.exe" -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER:FILEPATH="C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/VC/Tools/MSVC/14.34.31933/bin/Hostx64/x64/cl.exe"  -DCMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM="C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT VISUAL STUDIO\2022\COMMUNITY\COMMON7\IDE\COMMONEXTENSIONS\Microsoft\CMake\Ninja\ninja.exe" "C:\Users\johns\source\repos\LogMon" 2>&1"' execution failed with error: ''C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe' '/c "%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\chcp.com 65001 >NUL && "C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT VISUAL STUDIO\2022\COMMUNITY\COMMON7\IDE\COMMONEXTENSIONS\Microsoft\CMake\CMake\bin\cmake.exe"  -G "Ninja"  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:STRING="Debug" -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH="C:\Users\johns\source\repos\LogMon\out\install\x64-Debug" -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER:FILEPATH="C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/VC/Tools/MSVC/14.34.31933/bin/Hostx64/x64/cl.exe" -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER:FILEPATH="C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/VC/Tools/MSVC/14.34.31933/bin/Hostx64/x64/cl.exe"  -DCMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM="C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT VISUAL STUDIO\2022\COMMUNITY\COMMON7\IDE\COMMONEXTENSIONS\Microsoft\CMake\Ninja\ninja.exe" "C:\Users\johns\source\repos\LogMon" 2>&1"' returned with exit code: 1'.

Answer 1

After skimming through the entire log the issue seems to be elsewhere than you'd expect.

...
find_package(Boost ${BOOST_MIN_VERSION} COMPONENTS date_time REQUIRED) #<---
...

It says so at the bottom of the log:

#Missing date_time... i.e. it can't find a REQUIRED component
1> [CMake]   Could NOT find Boost (missing: date_time) (found suitable version "1.82.0",
1> [CMake]   minimum required is "1.82.0")

To properly debug this issue I would recommend going through the paths outputed by these variables here:

1> [...] _boost_LIBRARY_SEARCH_DIRS_RELEASE = "C:/boost/boost/stage/lib;C:/boost/boost/lib;C:/boost/boost/stage/lib;C:/boost/boost/lib;C:/boost/boost/../lib;C:/boost/boost/stage/lib;PATHS;C:/boost/lib;C:/boost;/sw/local/lib"
1> [...] _boost_LIBRARY_SEARCH_DIRS_DEBUG = "C:/boost/boost/stage/lib;C:/boost/boost/lib;C:/boost/boost/stage/lib;C:/boost/boost/lib;C:/boost/boost/../lib;C:/boost/boost/stage/lib;PATHS;C:/boost/lib;C:/boost;/sw/local/lib"

and double check that these libraries are present in the directories (they probably wont)

1> [...] Searching for DATE_TIME_LIBRARY_RELEASE: libboost_date_time-mt-1_82;libboost_date_time-mt;libboost_date_time-mt;libboost_date_time-mt;libboost_date_time
1> [...] Searching for DATE_TIME_LIBRARY_DEBUG: libboost_date_time-mt-d-1_82;libboost_date_time-mt-d;libboost_date_time-mt-d;libboost_date_time-mt;libboost_date_time

I would then check if these libraries exist in the boost folder at all. Chances are they won't and it will most likely be because they are either part of a different component or are just missing from your boost installation.

Try including whole boost to see if that is the case:

find_package(Boost ${BOOST_MIN_VERSION})

Hope it helps!

EDIT: I've managed to replicate your issue and truly it is due to the undetected compiler most likely. As when building the boost it appends the compiler as a suffix (or somewhere mid name) to the library. I.e. if you check the lib dir you can deduct which compiler was being used and perhaps force set the variable through set(Boost_COMPILER "-vcXYZ").

Note that the libboost_date_time-mt-d-1_82 is missing the compiler due to this unset variable. It should look like libboost_date_time-vc142-mt-d-1_82 (if you compiled with vc142)