bazel: builds fail with --cpu=x64_windows_msvc

Please provide the following information. The more we know about your system and use case, the more easily and likely we can help.

Description of the problem / feature request / question:

I can’t build any cc_library targets when I pass --cpu=x64_windows_msvc to bazel. The same build target was working before when I was using the built in gcc (i.e. not passing --cpu flag). I have MSVC installed in the default installation directory.

I am getting the following error:

John@terrorvision MSYS /d/diego/progs/c++/die-tk-win-ws/die-tk
$ bazel build --cpu=x64_windows_msvc --verbose_failures :die-tk-base
INFO: Found 1 target...
ERROR: D:/diego/progs/c++/die-tk-win-ws/die-tk/BUILD:1:1: C++ compilation of rule '//die-tk-win-ws/die-tk:die-tk-base' failed: msvc_cl.bat failed: error executing command
  cd C:/tools/msys64/tmp/_bazel_John/yGhqzb7R/execroot/c++
  SET PATH=external/local_config_cc/wrapper/bin
  external/local_config_cc/wrapper/bin/msvc_cl.bat -m64 /D__inline__=__inline /DOS_WINDOWS=OS_WINDOWS /DCOMPILER_MSVC /DNOGDI /DNOMINMAX /DPRAGMA_SUPPORTED /D_WIN32_WINNT=0x0600 /D_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE /D_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS /D_SILENCE_STDEXT_HASH_DEPRECATION_WARNINGS /D_USE_MATH_DEFINES /nologo /bigobj /Zm500 /J /Gy /GF /W3 /EHsc /wd4351 /wd4291 /wd4250 /wd4996 /DNDEBUG /Od -Xcompilation-mode=fastbuild /I. /Ibazel-out/vc_14_0_x64-fastbuild/genfiles /Iexternal/bazel_tools /Ibazel-out/vc_14_0_x64-fastbuild/genfiles/external/bazel_tools /Iexternal/bazel_tools/tools/cpp/gcc3 /DEPENDENCY_FILE bazel-out/vc_14_0_x64-fastbuild/bin/die-tk-win-ws/die-tk/_objs/die-tk-base/die-tk-win-ws/die-tk/src/NullCanvas.d /c die-tk-win-ws/die-tk/src/NullCanvas.cpp /Fobazel-out/vc_14_0_x64-fastbuild/bin/die-tk-win-ws/die-tk/_objs/die-tk-base/die-tk-win-ws/die-tk/src/NullCanvas.o --std=c++1y: com.google.devtools.build.lib.shell.BadExitStatusException: Process exited with status 1.
The system cannot find the path specified.

Environment info

• Operating System: Windows 8.1

BAZEL_SH=c:/tools/msys64/usr/bin/bash.exe
BAZEL_VS=C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0
BAZEL_PYTHON=/d/LING/Python27/
JAVA_HOME=C:/Program Files/Java/jdk1.8.0_25

• Bazel version (output of bazel info release): release 0.4.2- (@non-git)

• If bazel info release returns “development version” or “(@non-git)”, please tell us what source tree you compiled Bazel from; git commit hash is appreciated (git rev-parse HEAD):

John@terrorvision MSYS /c/bazel-0.4.2
$ git rev-parse HEAD
fatal: Not a git repository (or any of the parent directories): .git

Have you found anything relevant by searching the web? (e.g. GitHub issues, email threads in the bazel-discuss@googlegroups.com archive)

I’ve found other issues and one thread with “msvc_cl.bat failed” message, but the proposed workarounds did not apply for me.