How to fix error message 'Could not find 'aspnetcorev2_inprocess.dll' with IIS and .net8.0 self-contained ?

Question

I have a problem using a self-contained deployment with .net8.0 on IIS.

Everythink was OK using .net6.0 (even if i just have .net3.1 installed on the server).

I still build my project using --self-contained true

My package seems OK, the web config seems to be OK (it uses processPath=".\MyWebApi.exe" as before).

I have 403 items (133MB) in the wwwroot folder and a DDL named aspnetcorev2_inprocess.dll (v18.0).

But the app won't start.

I have this error on the browser : HTTP Error 500.31 - ANCM Failed to Find Native Dependencies

And I found this error in the event log : Could not find 'aspnetcorev2_inprocess.dll'. Exception message: You must install or update .NET to run this application.

But I don't want to install the framework ! that's why I use the self-contained flag !

Update day+1 :

• I just reinstalled the last ".Net Hosting Bundle" but get the same problem.
• I discovered that if i create the package from my VS myself (Right click, Publish, the package deployment works. There is something wrong with my package. I publish it as before with this existing command on my Pipeline :

dotnet publish MyWebApi.csproj --no-build --no-restore --configuration Release --runtime win-x64 --self-contained true /p:PublishProfile=Release

Update day+2 :

• I fixed the error by removing the --no-build flag when publishing ! Why ? no documentation helps to understand this !?

Any help ?

Answer 1

Hi @Lebret Pierre-Vincent,
Perhaps we all think that the benefit of doing a Self-Contained Deployment is not having to install anything, including the .net core framework. But if deployed to IIS, SCD is of little use. The hosting bundle is always a must, as ASP.NET Core module can only be installed from it. Please check out this thread.

A self contained deployment does indeed include the runtime, but it doesn't include the ASP.NET Core module for IIS which you get when you download the Runtime & Hosting Bundle from the .net downloads page.

You can build standalone .NET Core web applications. However, as Lex Li said, it is a console-based application that, when run, self-hosts with Kestrel or other HTTP server.

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Answer 2

Unfortunately ever since .NET Core 1.0, hosting ASP.NET Core apps on IIS needs the Windows hosting bundle to be installed on IIS. "Self contained" might apply to console/desktop apps, but doesn't apply to web apps on IIS.