How to install into the GAC?

Question

I am attempting to install the Rebex FTP components into my GAC for use in several applications, but it fails both from the command line and the .NET Configuration utility. I am following the instructions in the FAQ

Command line:

C:\Program Files\Rebex\File Transfer Pack for .NET 2.0\FTP SSL for .NET 2.0\bin>c:\windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.1.4322\gacutil.exe /i Rebex.Net.Ftp.dll

Microsoft (R) .NET Global Assembly Cache Utility.  Version 1.1.4318.0
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation 1998-2002. All rights reserved.

Failure adding assembly to the cache: Unknown Error

.NET Configuration utility (selecting the same DLL as above, Rebex.Net.Ftp.dll:

Cannot Add Assembly
Unable to add the selected assembly.  The assembly must have a strong name (name, version and public key).

Shouldn't the DLLs have a strong name provided by Rebex?

I understand I can distribute the DLLs with the rest of the application, etc. but for ease of deployment with multiple apps using the DLLs on one system I would much prefer to use the GAC. I'm a little surprised that this (registering the DLLs with the GAC) wasn't an option as part of the installation.

Where do I go from here to register with the GAC?

Answer 1

It is caused because you use gacutil.exe for .NET 1.1. Please use the gacutil.exe for .NET 2.0.

If you cannot find the gacutil.exe in the c:\windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\ directory try the c:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\SDK\v2.0\Bin\gacutil.exe directory instead.

Alternatively you can run the Start -> Programs -> Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 -> Visual Studio Tools -> Visual Studio 2005 Command Prompt and type:

gacutil.exe /i "C:\Program Files\Rebex\File Transfer Pack for .NET 2.0\FTP SSL for .NET 2.0\bin\Rebex.Net.Ftp.dll"

Comments

There is no gacutil.exe in c:\windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\ and I will not have Visual Studio installed on the servers where my applications & scripts using the components need to run. Do I need to install the .NET Framework SDK on these systems? Or will this PowerShell script do the job?

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I am not familiar with the PoweShell, so I cannot tell. But it seems just copying the gacutil.exe and gacutil.exe.config to the server will do the work (see this post).

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I read elsewhere that just copying gacutil wasn't advisable. The powershell script did the job and is more portable; I can just include instructions to run it from a shared drive as part of the install process.

I still believe it would be useful to have an option to install into the GAC during the main install process.