If I have a Visual Studio Solution file of VS2012 with few C++ native projects and a few C# projects, can I build this solution without installing Visual Studio 2012 itself?
This would ease (among other things) the maintenance on our Build-Server nodes.
You will need to install VS2012 Express. Based on Microsoft documentation: The Windows SDK no longer ships with a complete command-line build environment. You must install a compiler and build environment separately. If you require a complete development environment that includes compilers and a build environment, you can download Visual Studio 2012 Express, which includes the appropriate components of the Windows SDK.