### Author:  [@jaquilio](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/jaquilio)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2023, 8:49pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/externalproject-add-error-msb1009-project-file-does-not-exist/8893/5 "2023-09-06T20:49:16Z")
I added “INSTALL\_COMMAND cmake --install \” within the ExternalProject\_Add and that built without errors.
(1) Can you please explain why this results in no errors while earlier without it, the error I originally reported was getting triggered? I would like to understand this clearly so I can debug and fix issues like this in future.
(2) In the output window, I see the following. I am building the debug configuration, but, the line there says _Install configuration: “Release”_
```auto
QPOISSON_RECON_LIB.vcxproj -> C:\qlabRoot\build\External\poissonRecon\poissonRecon\Debug\QPOISSON_RECON_LIB.lib
Performing install step for 'poissonRecon'
-- Install configuration: "Release"
```
Thanks!
---
### Author:  [@ben.boeckel](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/ben.boeckel)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2023, 9:35pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/externalproject-add-error-msb1009-project-file-does-not-exist/8893/6 "2023-09-06T21:35:31Z")
My guess is that the `BINARY_DIR` setting with a genex is confusing things. This is probably worth [an issue](https://gitlab.kitware.com/cmake/cmake/-/issues) with a minimal reproducer to update docs or the implementation, depending on the root cause.
Cc: @craig.scott
---
### Author:  [@craig.scott](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/craig.scott)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2023, 9:50pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/externalproject-add-error-msb1009-project-file-does-not-exist/8893/7 "2023-09-06T21:50:02Z")
The `INSTALL_DIR` option is not the most intuitive. It does NOT control where things are installed. All it does is provide a value for the `` placeholder. It is up to the project to provide an `INSTALL_COMMAND` if they want to install to anywhere other than the default location.
I’ve often found this behavior to be really unintuitive. It would be nice to eventually make `INSTALL_DIR` affect where things get installed if the `INSTALL_COMMAND` isn’t given, but I suspect there are difficulties with the implementation of that. I don’t have the bandwidth to pursue this one, but if someone wants to investigate and put up a merge request, I’ll make time to review it.
---
### Author:  [@ben.boeckel](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/ben.boeckel)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2023, 10:23pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/externalproject-add-error-msb1009-project-file-does-not-exist/8893/8 "2023-09-06T22:23:25Z")
I don’t think `INSTALL_DIR` is relevant here as it seems to be the working directory of the command which is confused (based on the “no such `.*proj` file” error at least). That’s why I think a minimal reproducer would be good to have here (this starts off really close to one; I think a “dummy” project may be more suitable though).
---
### Author:  [@jaquilio](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/jaquilio)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2023, 11:44pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/externalproject-add-error-msb1009-project-file-does-not-exist/8893/10 "2023-09-06T23:44:02Z")
To create a minimal reproducer, I just placed the CMakeLists.txt I had posted in my original post above in a separate folder to make it a stand-alone file. With that I still get an error, though the error now is **error : unknown target ‘install’**
I am pasting below the CMakeLists.txt again as a minimal reproducer example. I am building this on a Windows 11 machine using the latest version (17.7.3) of Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition.
```auto
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.24)
project(poissonRecon)
include(ExternalProject)
get_property(isMultiConfig GLOBAL PROPERTY GENERATOR_IS_MULTI_CONFIG)
if (NOT isMultiConfig)
if (NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE
Debug
CACHE STRING "" FORCE)
endif ()
set(build_type_dir ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE})
set(build_type_arg -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=$)
else ()
set(build_config_arg --config=$)
endif ()
message("poissonRecon: CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX: ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}")
message("poissonRecon: CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE: ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}")
message("poissonRecon: CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR: ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}")
ExternalProject_Add(
poissonRecon
GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/CloudCompare/PoissonRecon.git
GIT_TAG 85c010229a1c5f2e186488290c2f93fec7da4ad5
BINARY_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/poissonRecon/${build_type_dir}
INSTALL_DIR ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/poissonRecon/${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}
CMAKE_COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND}
CMAKE_ARGS ${build_type_arg} -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=
BUILD_COMMAND cmake --build ${build_config_arg}
)
```
---
### Author:  [@ben.boeckel](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/ben.boeckel)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2023, 1:18am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/externalproject-add-error-msb1009-project-file-does-not-exist/8893/11 "2023-09-13T01:18:30Z")
Thanks.
> [@jaquilio](#):
>
> error : unknown target ‘install’
An `install(FILES)` or something in the example project should resolve that at least.