Search code examples
c#.netcompilation.net-8.0native-aot

Ahead-of-Time compilation is not supported for the target runtime identifier 'win-x86'

A few days ago, I encountered a problem on my Windows machine and had to reinstall everything. After reinstalling Visual Studio and attempting to compile my project, I started receiving the following error when trying to perform Ahead-of-Time (AOT) compilation with the following command:

dotnet publish -r win-x86 -c Release

C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk\8.0.400\Sdks\Microsoft.NET.Sdk\targets\Microsoft.NET.Sdk.FrameworkReferenceResolution.targets(90,5): error NETSDK1203: Ahead-of-Time compilation is not supported for the target runtime identifier 'win-x86'

Before the crash and the subsequent reinstall, I was able to successfully publish my app as native with AOT. I can still compile into x86 release without problems. Since the crash, I haven't altered any project configurations.

Details:

  • App Type: Windows console application

  • Current .NET SDK Version: 8.0.400

  • CSProj File:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <PublishAot>true</PublishAot>
    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
    <InvariantGlobalization>true</InvariantGlobalization>
    <Platforms>AnyCPU;x64;x86</Platforms>
    <ApplicationManifest>app.manifest</ApplicationManifest>
    <AllowUnsafeBlocks>True</AllowUnsafeBlocks>
    <TrimMode>partial</TrimMode>
    <AssemblyName>MyApp</AssemblyName>
    <PublishAot>true</PublishAot>
  </PropertyGroup>

  

  ...my packages

</Project>

What steps can I take to resolve this issue and re-enable AOT compilation for my project?
Thanks!

What i did:

  1. I installed from scratch

    - .NET development for desktop
    - Development of windows applications

  2. Opened my Console app and tried to execute
    dotnet publish -r win-x86 -c Release

    I expected a normal x86 AOT compilation as it used to work.

Solution

  • Beginning with .NET 8, according to the Native AOT deployment documentation, on Windows you must install the following:

    Visual Studio 2022, including the Desktop development with C++ workload with all default components.

    If you did not do that when you installed Visual Studio 2022, follow the instructions from Modify Visual Studio workloads, components, and language packs:

    1. Find and rerun the installer. If already installed, it's likely at

      C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer\setup.exe

    2. From the list of installed versions of Visual Studio, pick the version of Visual Studio 2022 you want to modify, then pick "Modify".

    3. From the "Modifying - Visual Studio 2022" dialog, pick "Workloads" and then "Desktop development with c++". You may need to scroll down to see it:

      Desktop development with c++

      From your question it appears you picked ".NET desktop development" which is not sufficient.

    4. Finish up the installer and restart.

    Once installed you should be able to publish native builds on Windows. But do note the following Platform/architecture restrictions:

    Platform Supported Architecture
    Windows x64, Arm64

    Thus you cannot publish a native x86 (32-bit) build, you can only publish a native x64 or arm64 build:

    dotnet publish -r win-x64 -c Release