Error deploying ClickOnce application - Reference in the manifest does not match the identity of the downloaded assembly

Question

I'm trying to deploy a ClickOnce application, but installation fails on the client. Here's the error log:

PLATFORM VERSION INFO
Windows             : 6.1.7601.65536 (Win32NT)
Common Language Runtime     : 4.0.30319.1
System.Deployment.dll       : 4.0.30319.1 (RTMRel.030319-0100)
clr.dll             : 4.0.30319.1 (RTMRel.030319-0100)
dfdll.dll           : 4.0.30319.1 (RTMRel.030319-0100)
dfshim.dll          : 4.0.31106.0 (Main.031106-0000)

SOURCES
Deployment url          : http://MyProduct.com/download/workstation/MyProduct%20Front%20Desk.application
                    Server      : Microsoft-IIS/7.5
                    X-Powered-By    : ASP.NET
Deployment Provider url     : http://MyProduct.com/Download/Workstation/MyProduct%20Front%20Desk.application
                    Server      : Microsoft-IIS/7.5
                    X-Powered-By    : ASP.NET
Application url         : http://MyProduct.com/Download/Workstation/Application%20Files/MyProduct%20Front%20Desk_1_0_0_7/MyProduct%20Front%20Desk.exe.manifest
                    Server      : Microsoft-IIS/7.5
                    X-Powered-By    : ASP.NET

IDENTITIES
Deployment Identity     : MyProduct Front Desk.application, Version=1.0.0.7, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=df343a0868ab2d74, processorArchitecture=msil
Application Identity        : MyProduct Front Desk.exe, Version=1.0.0.7, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=df343a0868ab2d74, processorArchitecture=msil, type=win32

APPLICATION SUMMARY
* Installable application.

ERROR SUMMARY
Below is a summary of the errors, details of these errors are listed later in the log.
* Activation of http://MyProduct.com/download/workstation/MyProduct%20Front%20Desk.application resulted in exception. Following failure messages were detected:
    + Reference in the manifest does not match the identity of the downloaded assembly MyProductSiteServer.exe.

COMPONENT STORE TRANSACTION FAILURE SUMMARY
No transaction error was detected.

WARNINGS
There were no warnings during this operation.

OPERATION PROGRESS STATUS
* [03/17/11 11:51:04] : Activation of http://MyProduct.com/download/workstation/MyProduct%20Front%20Desk.application has started.
* [03/17/11 11:51:04] : Processing of deployment manifest has successfully completed.
* [03/17/11 11:51:04] : Installation of the application has started.
* [03/17/11 11:51:05] : Processing of application manifest has successfully completed.
* [03/17/11 11:51:06] : Found compatible runtime version 4.0.30319.
* [03/17/11 11:51:06] : Request of trust and detection of platform is complete.

ERROR DETAILS
Following errors were detected during this operation.
* [03/17/11 11:51:30] System.Deployment.Application.InvalidDeploymentException (RefDefValidation)
    - Reference in the manifest does not match the identity of the downloaded assembly MyProductSiteServer.exe.
    - Source: System.Deployment
    - Stack trace:
        at System.Deployment.Application.DownloadManager.ProcessDownloadedFile(Object sender, DownloadEventArgs e)
        at System.Deployment.Application.FileDownloader.DownloadModifiedEventHandler.Invoke(Object sender, DownloadEventArgs e)
        at System.Deployment.Application.SystemNetDownloader.DownloadSingleFile(DownloadQueueItem next)
        at System.Deployment.Application.SystemNetDownloader.DownloadAllFiles()
        at System.Deployment.Application.FileDownloader.Download(SubscriptionState subState)
        at System.Deployment.Application.DownloadManager.DownloadDependencies(SubscriptionState subState, AssemblyManifest deployManifest, AssemblyManifest appManifest, Uri sourceUriBase, String targetDirectory, String group, IDownloadNotification notification, DownloadOptions options)
        at System.Deployment.Application.ApplicationActivator.DownloadApplication(SubscriptionState subState, ActivationDescription actDesc, Int64 transactionId, TempDirectory& downloadTemp)
        at System.Deployment.Application.ApplicationActivator.InstallApplication(SubscriptionState& subState, ActivationDescription actDesc)
        at System.Deployment.Application.ApplicationActivator.PerformDeploymentActivation(Uri activationUri, Boolean isShortcut, String textualSubId, String deploymentProviderUrlFromExtension, BrowserSettings browserSettings, String& errorPageUrl)
        at System.Deployment.Application.ApplicationActivator.ActivateDeploymentWorker(Object state)

COMPONENT STORE TRANSACTION DETAILS
No transaction information is available.

The main exe I need to deploy is MyProductFrontDesk.exe, which has a dependency on MyProductSiteServer.exe - and that appears to be where the error is being thrown: "Reference in the manifest does not match the identity of the downloaded assembly MyProductSiteServer.exe."

Which manifest needs to be corrected? And how?

Answer 1

There was an issue with Visual Studio 2008 which is solved by not embedding the default manifest - one of the comments on that article suggests the problem still exists in Visual Studio 2010.

In project properties -> Application tab -> Resources -> checkbox Icon and manifest, the setting "Embed manifest with default settings" caused the problem. Setting it to "Create application without a manifest" fixes the problem.

Answer 2

I had the same issue when I added a reference to another project.

The way to solve this was enabling ClickOnce Security Settings in all referenced projects as Ian explained here (emphasis mine):

For me, the way this was resolved was to ensure that all the Projects under the Solution which exposed the "Security Tab" in their "Project Properties" had the Option "Enable ClickOnce Security Settings" Ticked with the Option "This is a full trust application" Selected. This has to do with creating the Manifest correctly and the application will not install if these options are not set on all the Projects within the Solution that require it.

I believe this is the proper way to fix it when making a reference to another project under the same solution.

The linked forum post has expired by now, but it's available on archive here.

Answer 3

I was encountering the same problem, but my solution was very different.

My ClickOnce application was referencing another EXE file project in my solution, so when the client downloaded it, and there was another EXE file, that one didn't have a manifest.

Removing the dependency on another executable solved my problem.

Answer 4

I confirmed that the issue also exists in Visual Studio 2010. Selecting "Create application without a manifest" in Project Properties - Application - Resources solved the problem.

Answer 5

I have experienced the same error when deploying with the project set to Debug. When it was changed back to Release there was no error.

Answer 6

This can also happen if you have two different versions of a NuGet package referenced in different DLL files in your project. In my case I was using a framework called Catel, and I had a newer version referenced in one DLL file than another (oversight), but this caused ClickOnce to spit out this error. Referencing the same version resolved the problem.

Answer 7

I had exactly the same issue. I could not remove the dependency as it was needed by the main project. The second project was a console project.

I changed to Class Library, and then it all worked.

Answer 8

I had the same problem, but my solution was to change the 'Platform target' to 'x86' (Project Properties -> Build Tab). It was set to Any CPU. As soon as I changed the setting and republished, the ClickOnce installer was able to complete.

Answer 9

I had the same issue, and I tried all of previous suggested solutions here, and all of them didn't work.

I fixed it by changing the update location. From project properties -> Publish -> Updates. Change the update location to your published folder.

Answer 10

Another workaround, in case the dependency exe with the bad app manifest cannot be changed (say coming from a NuGet package). The binary can be included as content with a dummy extension so ClickOnce does not try validating the manifest and then renamed during app startup.

csproj:

  <Content Include="..\packages\<package>\lib\<app>.exe">
    <Link><app>.exe.bin</Link>
    <CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
  </Content>
  <ItemGroup>
    <PublishFile Include="<app>">
      <Visible>False</Visible>
      <Group>
      </Group>
      <TargetPath>
      </TargetPath>
      <PublishState>Exclude</PublishState>
      <IncludeHash>True</IncludeHash>
      <FileType>Assembly</FileType>
    </PublishFile>
  </ItemGroup>

App.xaml.cs:

public partial class App : Application
{
    private void Application_Startup(object sender, StartupEventArgs e)
    {
        var appDir = Path.GetDirectoryName(Process.GetCurrentProcess().MainModule.FileName);
        if (!File.Exists($"{appDir}\\<app>.exe"))
        {
            File.Copy($"{appDir}\\<app>.exe.bin", $"{appDir}\\<app>.exe");
        }
    }
}

Answer 11

ALSO SOLVED FOR ClickOnce .exe calling .exe calling .exe.

I had this problem also, using VB.NET in Visual Studio 2010.

I have a ClickOnce Windows Forms application that references a second Windows Forms application that in turn references a third Windows Forms application. (These second and third applications are EXE files rather than DLL file for simplicity, as they are equally likely to be run stand-alone or called with properties passed to them.)

I had to comment out BOTH the second and third applications' manifest contents per:

Walkthrough: Manually Deploying a ClickOnce Application

It works perfectly.

Answer 12

If you have one main program that references another then you have to do the "Create application without a manifest" trick on the main program's Program:

Project --> Properties --> Application Tab -->Resources --> Manifest -->drop down "Create application without a manifest"

and then switch over to the referenced program's Project Properties and repeat the process.

Answer 13

I had the same issue a couple of minutes ago, and below are the steps that I used to solve it.

Key

• a = Main project (the project you want to publish, e.g. myProduct)
• b = Reference project (e.g. MyProductSiteServer)

Checklist

1. Navigate to properties -> Application -> Resources -> check icons and manifest (for both a and b)

2. Navigate to properties -> Build : make sure that a and b are on the same target platform

3. Navigate to properties -> Security and make sure that a and b have these settings checked: "Enable ClickOnce security settings" and "This is a full trust application"

4. Navigate to properties -> Publish : I recommend you change the path of the publishing folder

Answer 14

I use mage.exe to generate my manifest. Adding this to my .csproj fixed the issue. You may also try the -nowin32manifest compiler flag; I've not tested it. I don't see stuartd's "Create application without a manifest" in Visual Studio 2017; I think this is what it does though.

<PropertyGroup>
  <NoWin32Manifest>true</NoWin32Manifest>
</PropertyGroup>

I also have this in my .csproj:

<GenerateManifests>false</GenerateManifests>

Answer 15

I had this exact same issue with my VS 2019 application.

I have tried creating the application without a manifest however that did not work.

What did work however was the following:

1. Go to Build-->Publish-->Application
2. Click on the "Assembly Information" button
3. Tick the "Make assembly COM-Visible" option

Hopefully, this helps!

Answer 16

it seems like the issue is caused by the setup.exe in vs 2019. it seems that the exe won't update its version when doing a new deployment. the workaround for me is to

1. delete everything in the deployment folder.
2. uncheck "Create setup program to install prerequisite components" in Properties => Publish => Prerequisite.
3. do a deployment.
4. come back and re-enable "Create setup program to install prerequisite components". guess this process will force vs 2019 to update setup.exe to the correct version.

also Project --> Properties --> Application Tab -->Resources --> Manifest -->drop down "Create application without a manifest" will work but the app won't update if there is a newer version so I have to fall back to the workaround above.

Answer 17

I faced the same, So whenever you update an assembly , In my case I was downgrading from CR For .Net framework 4.0 to Framework 2.0 , I replaced all referenced assemblies with the old one , The project runs fine but in order to publish

YOU MUST CLEAN WHOLE SOLUTION

then rebuild all , then publish it will solve the problem.

Thanks

Answer 18

I am using Visual Studio 2012 on Windows 7 and need to publish a solution consisting of two projects.

As Eduardo pointed out, marking both projects as ClickOnce, and enabling Full Trust Application resolves the problem.

Answer 19

I had a bit of a different problem that I was able to resolve and so I wanted to post. My issues was I was running 3 branches out of TFS. I had upgraded Telerik controls in one of my branches but not the others. Once I upgraded the Telerik controls in all 3 branches and re-published it worked and this error went away.

I was running VS2015 at the time.

Answer 20

It is interesting. I just redeploy the application and problem solved. Maybe a file corruption because of network.

Answer 21

In my version of Visual Studio 2017, version 15.6.6 (but it may been have there earlier) I found that the Application Files was not in the Right Click Exe Project and Publish, but under the Project Properties Publish Tab where you can set which of the Application Files that you want to to be put in the install.

So take out the ones that are a problem. If something is already installed on a computer where this app will be installed, there is no reason to try to reinstall it anyways, except if you need the reference for it to run. If it were to install what was already on the pc, but to a different folder it might not work. It is best to use the other applications or dll assemblies to the same location as they were previously installed.

Answer 22

In my case 2 exe projects in a solution had .NET target set to 4.8 and 4.6.1. After I set both to 4.8, the error stopped.

Answer 23

I am Using Visual Studio 2022 and the error came up. Solved it by excluding Log4Net file in the Publish > Application Files.

and the error Stopped

Answer 24

For reference, I've recently encountered this error and, in my case, it turns out we had published a WPF application as a NuGet package. Moving the code to a class library project solved the problem.