.NET Project fails to start when using windows10 TFM, UseCommonOutputDirectory=true, and GenerateRuntimeConfigDevFile=true

[JHJonasHuber]

Description

Running dotnet applications will fail with
The target process exited without raising a CoreCLR started event. Ensure that the target process is configured to use .NET Core. This may be expected if the target process did not run on .NET Core.
For specific configurations.

Reproduction Steps

1. Create a new ConsoleApplication (.NET) and select .NET6 as target framework.
2. Set the Output type to WinExe
3. Set the TargetOS to Windows
4. Set the TargetOS version Version to 10.0.22000.0
5. Set UseCommonOutputDirectory to true
6. Set GenerateRuntimeConfigDevFile to true
7. Set OutputPath to any path.
8. Delete all "obj" and build(debug/release) folders under your Project folder <- This is important
9. Clean & rebuild the Project
10. Try to start the ConsoleApplication (With the debugger, so you get the error message)
    (Example .csproj file)

  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>WinExe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net6.0-windows10.0.22000.0</TargetFramework>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
    <UseCommonOutputDirectory>true</UseCommonOutputDirectory>
    <GenerateRuntimeConfigDevFile>true</GenerateRuntimeConfigDevFile>
    <OutputPath>$(SolutionDir)Build\$(Configuration)\</OutputPath>
  </PropertyGroup>

Expected behavior

Application starts

Actual behavior

Process terminates with error message: The target process exited without raising a CoreCLR started event. Ensure that the target process is configured to use .NET Core. This may be expected if the target process did not run on .NET Core.

Regression?

No response

Known Workarounds

No response

Configuration

No response

Other information

No response

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Issue Details

---

Description

Running dotnet applications will fail with
The target process exited without raising a CoreCLR started event. Ensure that the target process is configured to use .NET Core. This may be expected if the target process did not run on .NET Core.
For specific configurations.

Reproduction Steps

1. Create a new ConsoleApplication (.NET) and select .NET6 as target framework.
2. Set the Output type to WinExe
3. Set the TargetOS to Windows
4. Set the TargetOS version Version to 10.0.22000.0
5. Set UseCommonOutputDirectory to true
6. Set GenerateRuntimeConfigDevFile to true
7. Set OutputPath to any path.
8. Delete all "obj" and build(debug/release) folders under your Project folder <- This is important
9. Clean & rebuild the Project
10. Try to start the ConsoleApplication (With the debugger, so you get the error message)
    (Example .csproj file)

  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>WinExe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net6.0-windows10.0.22000.0</TargetFramework>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
    <UseCommonOutputDirectory>true</UseCommonOutputDirectory>
    <GenerateRuntimeConfigDevFile>true</GenerateRuntimeConfigDevFile>
    <OutputPath>$(SolutionDir)Build\$(Configuration)\</OutputPath>
  </PropertyGroup>

Expected behavior

Application starts

Actual behavior

Process terminates with error message: The target process exited without raising a CoreCLR started event. Ensure that the target process is configured to use .NET Core. This may be expected if the target process did not run on .NET Core.

Regression?

No response

Known Workarounds

No response

Configuration

No response

Other information

No response

Author:	JHJonasHuber
Assignees:	-
Labels:	area-Host, untriaged, needs-area-label
Milestone:	-

[elinor-fung]

This is the error:

  An assembly specified in the application dependencies manifest (app.deps.json) was not found:
    package: 'runtimepack.Microsoft.Windows.SDK.NET.Ref', version: '10.0.22000.29'
    path: 'Microsoft.Windows.SDK.NET.dll'

Properties at play here:

• GenerateRuntimeConfigDevFile=true sets additionalProbingPaths. One effect of this is that when an app is launched, the host will validate that files in the .deps.json exist on disk.
• UseCommonOutputDirectory=true results in Microsoft.Windows.SDK.NET.dll and WinRT.Runtime.dll not being copied to the output directory

In combination, they mean that on app launch, the host looks for Microsoft.Windows.SDK.NET.dll on disk and fails because it was not copied to the output directory. Note that only setting one or the other works, since with GenerateRuntimeConfigDevFile=false, the host doesn't check for files on disk at launch (would only fail if the app actually tried to use that file at runtime) and with UseCommonOutputDirectory=false, the files are copied to the output directory and found at app launch.

The UseCommonOutputDirectory doc indicates it should avoid copying dependencies of other projects. I don't think that should extend implicitly added framework references. This seems like an issue in the SDK where the property is being applied too broadly.

[JHJonasHuber]

Thanks for the explanation of this problem.

So maybe i'm on the completely wrong track to solve my core problem.
I have a large solution (about 115 projects, most c#/.NET, some C++/CLR and a few C++). They all have the same output directory (hey are resulting in ~3 independent executeables (well they share some 3rd party dlls).
So with .NET Framework there were no problems to build them, and create an installer of the produced output.
After switching to .NET6, the build time increased drastically (from 5 minutes to 20). There were a lot of duplicate copies and access violations during copy. So I thought it would be the right way to use the "UseCommonOutputDirectory" setting.
After setting that the build took about 2 minutes. But the output was not useable -> Dependecies to files in NuGet Packages were not copied. So I set "GenerateRuntimeConfigDevFile" -> the dependecies should be resolved (but not copied) when starting the application. I figured out to use "publish" instead of build (C++ projects, with output type "DLL" not supported, but that is another story). But for publish I can only select one project, but as said my solution produces several executeables.

So in short I want the same build speed as with .NET Framework and all dependecies of the projects, so I can create an installer.
Is "UseCommonOutputDirectoy" the right approach or did I miss something?