Installing .NET Aspire CLI as a .NET global tool fails

[dviererbe]

A user reported that installing the .NET Aspire CLI as a .NET global tool fails:

i installed dotnet 9 snap installation, in that issue is, when i run aspire.cli cmd it is throwing error.

See dotnet/sdk#50551 (comment).

I was able to reproduce this error.

Steps to reproduce

1. Setup an Ubuntu 24.04 testing environment:

$ lxc launch ubuntu:noble noble
$ lxc shell noble
$ adduser adminuser
$ sudo usermod -aG sudo adminuser
$ su adminuser
$ sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade
$ sudo snap install dotnet --classic
$ dotnet-installer install sdk latest

2. Try installing Aspire.Cli as a global .NET tool as per the official instructions.

$ dotnet tool install -g Aspire.Cli --prerelease
Tool 'aspire.cli' failed to update due to the following:
Failed to create shell shim for tool 'aspire.cli': Failed to create tool shim for command 'aspire': Access to the path '/var/lib/snapd/void' is denied.
Tool 'aspire.cli' failed to install.

[dviererbe]

No I am no longer sure I actually reproduced the bug. The su adminuser did switch the user context, but my working directory was still /root to which the non root user has no access. When I cd ~ and then run dotnet tool install -g Aspire.Cli --prerelease. Everything works fine.

[dviererbe]

Okay I think I got it now:

1. $ dotnet tool install -g Aspire.Cli --prerelease
   Tools directory '/home/adminuser/.dotnet/tools' is not currently on the PATH environment variable.
   If you are using bash, you can add it to your profile by running the following command:
   
   cat << \EOF >> ~/.bash_profile
   # Add .NET Core SDK tools
   export PATH="$PATH:/home/adminuser/.dotnet/tools"
   EOF
   
   You can add it to the current session by running the following command:
   
   export PATH="$PATH:/home/adminuser/.dotnet/tools"
   
   You can invoke the tool using the following command: aspire
   Tool 'aspire.cli' (version '9.4.1') was successfully installed.
   

2. $ export PATH="$PATH:/home/adminuser/.dotnet/tools"
   

   Note: Having to do this manually seems like bad UX to me. We should look into setting this up on install.

3. $ aspire --version
   You must install .NET to run this application.
   
   App: /home/adminuser/.dotnet/tools/aspire
   Architecture: x64
   App host version: 9.0.8
   .NET location: Not found
   
   Learn more:
   https://aka.ms/dotnet/app-launch-failed
   
   Download the .NET runtime:
   https://aka.ms/dotnet-core-applaunch?missing_runtime=true&arch=x64&rid=ubuntu.22.04-x64&os=ubuntu.24.04&apphost_version=9.0.8
   Failed to resolve libhostfxr.so [not found]. Error code: 0x80008083
   

[dviererbe]

The error can be fixed with setting DOTNET_ROOT

$ DOTNET_ROOT=/var/snap/dotnet/common/dotnet aspire --version

For some reason the aspire tool does not find the .NET root :/

[dviererbe]

There seems to be a related upstream issue, but they closed it without fixing generally: dotnet/sdk#9304

[RedEye-Developers]

2025-09-02.16-34-42.mp4

aspire: symbol lookup error: /root/.dotnet/tools/../../../usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6: undefined symbol: _dl_audit_symbind_alt, version GLIBC_PRIVATE

snap install dotnet-sdk --classic

i said about this error, when we install dotnet using snap this issue is coming.

it is already mentioned in doc.

[RedEye-Developers]

Issue Title :
Installing .NET Aspire CLI as a .NET global tool fails => Snap Installing .NET SDK, .NET Aspire CLI as a .NET global tool fails

this issue have only in snap installed dotnet sdk.

[dviererbe]

@RedEye-Developers You are using the old .NET snap. We created a new snap called just dotnet. The new snap comes with an installer that let's you install multiple versions at once.

Here is the minimal set of commands that lets you install and run the aspire CLI with the dotnet snap:

Important

Make sure that you uninstall the old dotnet-sdk snap before installing the dotnet snap:

sudo snap remove dotnet-sdk

1. Install the .NET snap:

   sudo snap install dotnet --classic

2. Install .NET 9 SDK:

   dotnet-installer install sdk 9.0

3. Install the Aspire CLI .NET tool:

   dotnet tool install -g Aspire.Cli --prerelease

4. Tell bash where the aspire command is installed:

   echo 'export PATH="$PATH:/home/$USER/.dotnet/tools"' >> ~/.bashrc

5. Tell the aspire CLI binary where to find the .NET runtime:

   echo 'export DOTNET_ROOT="/var/snap/dotnet/common/dotnet"' >> ~/.bashrc

6. Load the values we just added with step 4. and 5.:

   source ~/.bashrc

7. Verify that the aspire CLI runs without any issue:

   aspire --version

(I tested that this works in a new Ubuntu 24.04 LXD container)

[RedEye-Developers]

@RedEye-Developers You are using the old .NET snap. We created a new snap called just dotnet. The new snap comes with an installer that let's you install multiple versions at once.

Here is the minimal set of commands that lets you install and run the aspire CLI with the dotnet snap:

1. Install the .NET snap:
   sudo snap install dotnet --classic
2. Install .NET 9 SDK:
   dotnet-installer install sdk 9.0
3. Install the Aspire CLI .NET tool:
   dotnet tool install -g Aspire.Cli --prerelease
4. Tell bash where the aspire command is installed:
   echo 'export PATH="$PATH:/home/$USER/.dotnet/tools"' >> ~/.bashrc
5. Tell the aspire CLI binary where to find the .NET runtime:
   echo 'export DOTNET_ROOT="/var/snap/dotnet/common/dotnet"' >> ~/.bashrc
6. Load the values we just added with step 4. and 5.:
   source ~/.bashrc
7. Verify that the aspire CLI runs without any issue:
   aspire --version

(I tested that this works in a new Ubuntu 24.04 LXD container)

yea it is working.

dotnet-installer install sdk 9.0

i not even know this cmd dotnet-installer lol, if you specify in dotnet doc it is really help full for new dotnet linux devs.

[RedEye-Developers]

linux related dotnet docs are not that perfect.

[dviererbe]

i not even know this cmd dotnet-installer lol

The dotnet-installer command is part of the dotnet snap. It does not exist outside of this context.

linux related dotnet docs are not that perfect.

I think we forgot to update the Microsoft docs when we launched the .NET snaps. We will open a PR this week to update the instructions. I am sorry for your inconvenience, but I am happy that we could get this sorted out. Feel free to reach out to me or my colleague @mateusrodrigues if you experience any issues related to .NET on Ubuntu :)

On Ubuntu I can strongly recommend the Ubuntu Developer docs. We launched them this year in April with the goal to make it easier for developers to get started developing on Ubuntu.

[RedEye-Developers]

i not even know this cmd dotnet-installer lol

The dotnet-installer command is part of the dotnet snap. It does not exist outside of this context.

linux related dotnet docs are not that perfect.

I think we forgot to update the Microsoft docs when we launched the .NET snaps. We will open a PR this week to update the instructions. I am sorry for your inconvenience, but I am happy that we could get this sorted out. Feel free to reach out to me or my colleague @mateusrodrigues if you experience any issues related to .NET on Ubuntu :)

On Ubuntu I can strongly recommend the Ubuntu Developer docs. We launched them this year in April with the goal to make it easier for developers to get started developing on Ubuntu.

got it, tanks.

[dviererbe]

The error can be fixed with setting DOTNET_ROOT

$ DOTNET_ROOT=/var/snap/dotnet/common/dotnet aspire --version

For some reason the aspire tool does not find the .NET root :/

@mateusrodrigues Okay, I did some debugging with strace and I think I know what the issue is. When installing the aspire CLI .NET tool via the deb, it discovers the DOTNET_ROOT via reading the value from /etc/dotnet/install_location_x64.

openat(AT_FDCWD, "/etc/dotnet/install_location_x64", O_RDONLY) = 3

(after this syscall it uses /usr/lib/dotnet to find libhostfxr.so)

Meanwhile when looking at what happens when just the dotnet snap is installed:

openat(AT_FDCWD, "/etc/dotnet/install_location_x64", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
openat(AT_FDCWD, "/etc/dotnet/install_location", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
access("/usr/share/dotnet/host/fxr", F_OK) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
readlink("/proc", 0x7ffe0dbf37a0, 1023) = -1 EINVAL (Invalid argument)
readlink("/proc/self", "5696", 1023)    = 4
readlink("/proc/5696", 0x7ffe0dbf37a0, 1023) = -1 EINVAL (Invalid argument)
readlink("/proc/5696/exe", "/home/ubuntu/.dotnet/tools/aspir"..., 1023) = 33
readlink("/home", 0x7ffe0dbf37a0, 1023) = -1 EINVAL (Invalid argument)
readlink("/home/ubuntu", 0x7ffe0dbf37a0, 1023) = -1 EINVAL (Invalid argument)
readlink("/home/ubuntu/.dotnet", 0x7ffe0dbf37a0, 1023) = -1 EINVAL (Invalid argument)
readlink("/home/ubuntu/.dotnet/tools", 0x7ffe0dbf37a0, 1023) = -1 EINVAL (Invalid argument)
readlink("/home/ubuntu/.dotnet/tools/aspire", 0x7ffe0dbf37a0, 1023) = -1 EINVAL (Invalid argument)
access("/etc/os-release", F_OK)         = 0
openat(AT_FDCWD, "/etc/os-release", O_RDONLY) = 3
read(3, "PRETTY_NAME=\"Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS\""..., 8191) = 400
close(3)                                = 0
write(2, "You must install .NET to run thi"..., 360) = 360
write(2, "\n", 1)                       = 1
write(2, "Failed to resolve libhostfxr.so "..., 67) = 67
write(2, "\n", 1)                       = 1
exit_group(-2147450749)                 = ?
+++ exited with 131 +++

we can see that there is no /etc/dotnet/install_location_x64 or /etc/dotnet/install_location. It tries so search in some other hardcoded locations, but can not find it and aborts at some point.

Therefore I think we need to create a /etc/dotnet/install_location_x64 file if not present.