How to add manifest to a .NET DLL?

.net dll manifest side-by-side
P a u l picture P a u l · Dec 14, 2009 · Viewed 21.6k times · Source

I have a c# class library project that uses a COM dll registered on the system. I now want to deploy the COM dll as a side-by-side assembly, so I don't have to register it, or interfere with other applications that might use a different version of the dll.

I have added app.manifest to the c# project using the add new item menu, but I'm not sure what to do next. In the project properties/application/icon and manifest, the manifest drop down is disabled. I don't know how to get past that. I've added a manifest file, why is it not in the dropdown list?

I have a manifest for the COM dll that works with C++ applications, and I think I keep that as is. Now I need to know how to edit the app.manifest for the c# project. I will start by adding a known good dependency element. But I need a tutorial on how to set this up, I don't see it covered anywhere.

I am using VS2008

Answer

LowRider2112 picture LowRider2112 · May 7, 2011

You definitely can embed a manifest in a .net dll. The contents of an application manifest do not all apply to an assembly, but some do. For example, the UAC entries don't make sense for a component manifest, but assemblyIdentity does.

Using the MT.EXE tool, you can embed a manifest into a dll:

Embed:

mt.exe -manifest filename.dll.manifest -outputresource:filename.dll;#2

Extract:

mt.exe -inputresource:filename.dll;#2 -out:filename.dll.extracted.manifest

Here are more links on related info:

Another dll embed example: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms235591(v=VS.100).aspx

A SxS walkthrough: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms973915.aspx

Related questions

Embedding DLLs in a compiled executable

Is it possible to embed a pre-existing DLL into a compiled C# executable (so that you only have one file to distribute)? If it is possible, how would one go about doing it? Normally, I'm cool with just leaving the …

Read More
Can't find how to use HttpContent

I am trying to use HttpContent: HttpContent myContent = HttpContent.Create(SOME_JSON); ...but I am not having any luck finding the DLL where it is defined. First, I tried adding references to Microsoft.Http as well as System.Net, but …

Read More
Dependent DLL is not getting copied to the build output folder in Visual Studio

I have a visual studio solution. I have many projects in the solution. There is one main project which acts as the start up and uses other projects. There is one project say "ProjectX". Its reference is added to main …

Read More