How to convert MVC5 project to SDK style

Question

I have an MVC 5 web project (referencing Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc (5.2.8) and Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.WebHost (5.2.8)) and I would like to convert the project file to SDK style. I know this is not officially supported but I have heard that it can be managed. It is not desirable to convert the project all the way to .net core at this time.

Below is code snippet of the project file. It is a standard MVC5 project created from visual studio:

<Project ToolsVersion="15.0" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
  <Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\$(MSBuildToolsVersion)\Microsoft.Common.props" Condition="Exists('$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\$(MSBuildToolsVersion)\Microsoft.Common.props')" />
  <PropertyGroup>
    <Configuration Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == '' ">Debug</Configuration>
    <Platform Condition=" '$(Platform)' == '' ">AnyCPU</Platform>
    <ProductVersion>
    </ProductVersion>
    <SchemaVersion>2.0</SchemaVersion>
    <ProjectGuid>{BC1FDFD9-8B07-49BB-811B-26BFF6D07084}</ProjectGuid>
    <ProjectTypeGuids>{349c5851-65df-11da-9384-00065b846f21};{fae04ec0-301f-11d3-bf4b-00c04f79efbc}</ProjectTypeGuids>
    <OutputType>Library</OutputType>
    <AppDesignerFolder>Properties</AppDesignerFolder>
    <RootNamespace>WebApplication1</RootNamespace>
    <AssemblyName>WebApplication1</AssemblyName>
    <TargetFrameworkVersion>v4.8</TargetFrameworkVersion>
    <UseIISExpress>true</UseIISExpress>
    <Use64BitIISExpress />
    <IISExpressSSLPort />
    <IISExpressAnonymousAuthentication />
    <IISExpressWindowsAuthentication />
    <IISExpressUseClassicPipelineMode />
    <UseGlobalApplicationHostFile />
    <NuGetPackageImportStamp>
    </NuGetPackageImportStamp>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Debug|AnyCPU' ">
    <DebugSymbols>true</DebugSymbols>
    <DebugType>full</DebugType>
    <Optimize>false</Optimize>
    <OutputPath>bin\</OutputPath>
    <DefineConstants>DEBUG;TRACE</DefineConstants>
    <ErrorReport>prompt</ErrorReport>
    <WarningLevel>4</WarningLevel>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Release|AnyCPU' ">
    <DebugSymbols>true</DebugSymbols>
    <DebugType>pdbonly</DebugType>
    <Optimize>true</Optimize>
    <OutputPath>bin\</OutputPath>
    <DefineConstants>TRACE</DefineConstants>
    <ErrorReport>prompt</ErrorReport>
    <WarningLevel>4</WarningLevel>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Reference Include="Microsoft.CodeDom.Providers.DotNetCompilerPlatform, Version=3.6.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
      <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.CodeDom.Providers.DotNetCompilerPlatform.3.6.0\lib\net45\Microsoft.CodeDom.Providers.DotNetCompilerPlatform.dll</HintPath>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="Microsoft.CSharp" />
    <Reference Include="Microsoft.Web.Infrastructure, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
      <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.Web.Infrastructure.2.0.0\lib\net40\Microsoft.Web.Infrastructure.dll</HintPath>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="Newtonsoft.Json, Version=13.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=30ad4fe6b2a6aeed, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
      <HintPath>..\packages\Newtonsoft.Json.13.0.1\lib\net45\Newtonsoft.Json.dll</HintPath>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Net.Http" />
    <Reference Include="System.Net.Http.Formatting, Version=5.2.8.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
      <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Client.5.2.8\lib\net45\System.Net.Http.Formatting.dll</HintPath>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Web.DynamicData" />
    <Reference Include="System.Web.Entity" />
    <Reference Include="System.Web.ApplicationServices" />
    <Reference Include="System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations" />
    <Reference Include="System" />
    <Reference Include="System.Data" />
    <Reference Include="System.Core" />
    <Reference Include="System.Data.DataSetExtensions" />
    <Reference Include="System.Web.Extensions" />
    <Reference Include="System.Web.Helpers, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
      <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.WebPages.3.2.8\lib\net45\System.Web.Helpers.dll</HintPath>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Web.Http, Version=5.2.8.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
      <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Core.5.2.8\lib\net45\System.Web.Http.dll</HintPath>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Web.Http.WebHost, Version=5.2.8.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
      <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.WebHost.5.2.8\lib\net45\System.Web.Http.WebHost.dll</HintPath>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Web.Mvc, Version=5.2.8.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
      <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.5.2.8\lib\net45\System.Web.Mvc.dll</HintPath>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Web.Razor, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
      <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.Razor.3.2.8\lib\net45\System.Web.Razor.dll</HintPath>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Web.WebPages, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
      <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.WebPages.3.2.8\lib\net45\System.Web.WebPages.dll</HintPath>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Web.WebPages.Deployment, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
      <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.WebPages.3.2.8\lib\net45\System.Web.WebPages.Deployment.dll</HintPath>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Web.WebPages.Razor, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
      <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.WebPages.3.2.8\lib\net45\System.Web.WebPages.Razor.dll</HintPath>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Xml.Linq" />
    <Reference Include="System.Drawing" />
    <Reference Include="System.Web" />
    <Reference Include="System.Xml" />
    <Reference Include="System.Configuration" />
    <Reference Include="System.Web.Services" />
    <Reference Include="System.EnterpriseServices" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Content Include="Global.asax" />
    <Content Include="Web.config" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Compile Include="App_Start\RouteConfig.cs" />
    <Compile Include="App_Start\WebApiConfig.cs" />
    <Compile Include="Global.asax.cs">
      <DependentUpon>Global.asax</DependentUpon>
    </Compile>
    <Compile Include="Properties\AssemblyInfo.cs" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Content Include="Views\web.config" />
    <None Include="packages.config" />
    <None Include="Web.Debug.config">
      <DependentUpon>Web.config</DependentUpon>
    </None>
    <None Include="Web.Release.config">
      <DependentUpon>Web.config</DependentUpon>
    </None>
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Folder Include="App_Data\" />
    <Folder Include="Controllers\" />
    <Folder Include="Models\" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <PropertyGroup>
    <VisualStudioVersion Condition="'$(VisualStudioVersion)' == ''">10.0</VisualStudioVersion>
    <VSToolsPath Condition="'$(VSToolsPath)' == ''">$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v$(VisualStudioVersion)</VSToolsPath>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <Import Project="$(MSBuildBinPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
  <Import Project="$(VSToolsPath)\WebApplications\Microsoft.WebApplication.targets" Condition="'$(VSToolsPath)' != ''" />
  <Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v10.0\WebApplications\Microsoft.WebApplication.targets" Condition="false" />
  <ProjectExtensions>
    <VisualStudio>
      <FlavorProperties GUID="{349c5851-65df-11da-9384-00065b846f21}">
        <WebProjectProperties>
          <UseIIS>True</UseIIS>
          <AutoAssignPort>True</AutoAssignPort>
          <DevelopmentServerPort>50762</DevelopmentServerPort>
          <DevelopmentServerVPath>/</DevelopmentServerVPath>
          <IISUrl>http://localhost:50762/</IISUrl>
          <NTLMAuthentication>False</NTLMAuthentication>
          <UseCustomServer>False</UseCustomServer>
          <CustomServerUrl>
          </CustomServerUrl>
          <SaveServerSettingsInUserFile>False</SaveServerSettingsInUserFile>
        </WebProjectProperties>
      </FlavorProperties>
    </VisualStudio>
  </ProjectExtensions>
  <Import Project="..\packages\Microsoft.CodeDom.Providers.DotNetCompilerPlatform.3.6.0\build\net472\Microsoft.CodeDom.Providers.DotNetCompilerPlatform.targets" Condition="Exists('..\packages\Microsoft.CodeDom.Providers.DotNetCompilerPlatform.3.6.0\build\net472\Microsoft.CodeDom.Providers.DotNetCompilerPlatform.targets')" />
  <Target Name="EnsureNuGetPackageBuildImports" BeforeTargets="PrepareForBuild">
    <PropertyGroup>
      <ErrorText>This project references NuGet package(s) that are missing on this computer. Use NuGet Package Restore to download them.  For more information, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=322105. The missing file is {0}.</ErrorText>
    </PropertyGroup>
    <Error Condition="!Exists('..\packages\Microsoft.CodeDom.Providers.DotNetCompilerPlatform.3.6.0\build\net472\Microsoft.CodeDom.Providers.DotNetCompilerPlatform.targets')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', '..\packages\Microsoft.CodeDom.Providers.DotNetCompilerPlatform.3.6.0\build\net472\Microsoft.CodeDom.Providers.DotNetCompilerPlatform.targets'))" />
  </Target>
  <!-- To modify your build process, add your task inside one of the targets below and uncomment it. 
       Other similar extension points exist, see Microsoft.Common.targets.
  <Target Name="BeforeBuild">
  </Target>
  <Target Name="AfterBuild">
  </Target>
  -->
</Project>

Has anyone done this time of conversion before staying on net48?

Answer 1

Officially, it is not supported. You can track the state of it here on issue #2670 in dotnet/project-system

However, there is some light in this tunnel - in this issue comments, you can find links to a huge work of CZEMacLeod that actually seems to have achieved almost full support.

So, try this little gem: https://github.com/CZEMacLeod/MSBuild.SDK.SystemWeb - the docs are there (on main repo readme) and examples are in that repo itself ('samples' folder). With his toolset, you should be able to create a working sdk-style csproj file for a new mvc5 app, and then you can fill it with your things from old project.

NB to reviewers: this almost link-only answer actually has some merit here. There's no point in copy-pasting anything here, since if that repo is down, all the tools and MSBuild build targets/etc will be gone as well, so any code samples or explanations that could fit in an answer would be useless anyways.