Enabling .NET Framework 4.5 on LightSwitch Server Projects

With LightSwitch in Visual Studio 2012 (a.k.a LightSwitch V2) your server projects target the .NET Framework 4.0. This was a conscious decision on the team’s part in order to allow V2 applications to be deployed to the same servers running V1 applications with no fuss. Additionally the LightSwitch runtime takes no dependency on .NET 4.5, just 4.0.

That said, you may want to take advantage of some enhancements in .NET 4.5 on the server side so here’s how you can do that. Keep in mind that this not “officially” supported. The team has not fully tested this scenario so your mileage may vary. In order to change the target framework in LightSwitch, you need to modify the server project file.

Here are the steps:

1. Close Visual Studio if you have your LightSwitch solution open
2. Navigate to your solution’s \Server folder
3. Edit the Server.vbproj (or csproj) file in a text editor like Notepad
4. Make the following change to the <TargetFrameworkVersion>: <TargetFrameworkVersion>v4.5</TargetFrameworkVersion>
5. Save the file & reopen Visual Studio
6. Compile & verify no errors

Now you will be able to take advantage of the new features in .NET 4.5. For more info see: What's New in the .NET Framework 4.5. Keep in mind you will need to deploy to a server that supports .NET 4.5. See the “Supported Server Operating Systems” section of .NET Framework System Requirements.

Enjoy!