We have an older UE C++ project, created with 4.26. Currently we cannot create solution files from the .uproject file via Version Selector Tool (context menu).
The error I get is the same as when trying to generate a solution from a UE 4.27 project, I suspect it’s the same issue because:
"Building UnrealBuildTool in D:/Program Files/Epic Games/UE_4.27...
Running: C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\MSBuild.exe /nologo /verbosity:quiet “D:/Program Files/Epic Games/UE_4.27/Engine/Source/Programs/UnrealBuildTool/UnrealBuildTool.csproj” /property:Configuration=Development /property:Platform=AnyCPU
Missing D:/Program Files/Epic Games/UE_4.27/Engine/Binaries/DotNET/UnrealBuildTool/UnrealBuildTool.exe after build"
The path to UnrealBuildTool.exe in the message would be correct for UE 5.x (checked in my 5.3 and 5.7 installation), but for 4.26 and 4.27 it would be “D:/Program Files/Epic Games/UE_4.27/Engine/Binaries/DotNET/UnrealBuildTool.exe”.
As a workaround we are calling the 4.x UnrealBuildTool executables via script right now, in short:
“D:/Program Files/Epic Games/UE_4.27/Engine/Binaries/DotNET/UnrealBuildTool.exe -projectfiles -project=“myProject.uproject” -game -engine -progress”
This way we are able to still create solution files.
I am still wondering if this is a bug or expected behavior, in other words is 4.x not supported anymore in that way?
Hi Manuel,
Thank you for the report and repro steps. I was able to reproduce this behavior here, and it is most likely a bug, since UE 4.27 should still be supported.
The issue seems to be related to CL 15991592 (GitHub commit b7ea6c), which made changes that affected “UnrealVersionSelector.exe” used by the right-click context menu option. The commit message reads: “Fixed (an unused) fallback path for proper path to UBT”. But the fallback path was actually in use by UE 4.27, and the change broke it. I might be wrong, though, because this commit is from April 2021, and I’m reasonably sure that I have already generated 4.27 project files plenty of times earlier in 2025. In any case, I will file an internal bug report for the devs.
The good news is that you can manually point to the path where UnrealBuildTool.exe should be found, which should fix this problem. Try editing file <UE_4.27_PATH>/Engine/Config/BaseEngine.ini and adding the following lines:
[PlatformPaths]
UnrealBuildTool=Engine/Binaries/DotNET/UnrealBuildTool.exe
Please let me know if the change above works for you. And I’ll get back to you soon with a tracking number for the bug report.
Best regards,
Vitor
Hi Vitor,
thanks for the response. Adding those lines to the .ini file works (tried it both in 4.27 and a 4.26 source build)
I can confirm that this issue did not appear for us until sometime in late November this year. Up until then we were also able to generate solution files for those older projects.
Thanks for the quick help.
Best,
Manuel
I’m glad it worked! And thanks for confirming that this only started happening very recently.
Here’s the tracking number for the bug report: UE-356714. The link should become accessible once the engine devs mark it as public.
All the best,
Vitor