Hi all,

Posting this in behalf of another VFP dev as this seems like a place where better answers can be found as opposed to a VFP list. Here it is:

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My searches on the internet are fetching a bunch of build .NET Core 2.1 with .NET Core 3.0 installed. I'm in the later stages of getting a product ready for release and the test machines and build machines are still on 3.1.5.

When I want to do a quick build from my system which was installed at 3.1.6, it refuses to run on the test machines. I get this: It was not possible to find any compatible framework version The framework 'Microsoft.AspNetCore.App', version '3.1.6' was not found.

I tried dotnet build -f netcoreapp3.1.5 and got this: C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk\3.1.302\Sdks\Microsoft.NET.Sdk\targets\Microsoft.NET.Target FrameworkInference.targets(127,5): error NETSDK1045: The current .NET SDK does not support targeting .NET Core 3.1.5. Either target .NET Core 3.1 or lower, or use a version of the .NET SDK that supports .NET Core 3.1.5. [c:\work\pcservice\PcService12\PcService12.csproj]

I distribute software to churches. I don't expect them to have a dedicated IT group. My concern is what happens when the SDK on the build machine moves from 3.1.5 to 3.1.6 due to an update from Microsoft. If I have already shipped the product and have it installed on multiple system, these systems will need the updated runtimes. Microsoft has supplied a PowerShell script that will download and install the latest runtime. The problem with that, is the default setting on a new Windows 10 Home machine is to not allow scripts to run. I know the installer is running as an authenticated administrator. It doesn't feel right to change that setting. That just feels like it will open a security risk on a customer machine. Then can I change it back to what it was? That thought leaves a bad feeling about the whole process.

I have been using INNO Setup for years and was using it with this project.

1. I'm familiar with it 2) I ship a COM object and one-click did not support that when I researched it some years ago.

So here are my questions: 1 - Is there a way to build to a lower release of the runtime? I know framework-dependent apps roll forward: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/versions/selection#framework-de pendent-apps-roll-forward

2 - Is there a different installer available that can help keep the runtimes updated with the EXE? I'm looking at needing to ship an updated runtime each time the build machine gets updated.

I considered the Self-contained deployments that include the runtime. This would mean when an update to the framework shipped, we should ship a maintenance release to address the security problems in the old runtimes. I felt this was a compelling reason to allow Microsoft to update the runtimes and the app could be dependent on the installed framework. Now I have the drawback of the build machine has a newer SDK and it builds to that runtime.

3 - What have I not thought of going through all this?

Thank you, Tracy

If you're shipping a vertical application your best bet is to bundle the runtimes with the application. .NET Core supports building the application in framework independent mode which includes all the runtime files required to run the application as part of the build output. IOW, you build a fully self-contained application that has no runtime dependencies on a .NET Core Framework. In your case I think this would make sense because the target machines are unlikely to have a pre-installed runtime of any kind and it side-steps the potential version mismatches. Doing this will make the distribution much larger though - a full runtime installation adds roughly 80-90megs to the application (about 30-35megs in an installer package).

The other option is to rely on specific runtime versions being available. .NET Core rolls forward to higher point releases, but only up to the next point release. (ie. 3.1 and 3.2 are considered different but a 3.11 app can run on 3.15 but a 3.15 app can't run on 3.11).

In the situation with churches it's unlikely that pre-existing versions of .NET Core exist, so distributing self-contained is the way to go I think.

Or if that's all too much hassle - don't use .NET Core but use (full) .NET Framework instead, since that will pre-exist on any Windows machine Windows 7 and forward and just work. This is one of the main reasons why I'm sticking with full framework for the time being for any desktop, non-server application development.

+++ Rick ---

Thanks, Rick! I'll pass this on. Much obliged on his behalf.