Install Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App along with wpf app during squirrel.windows install

Question

I have a wpf app here which requires .net runtime after installation of the app.

Here is the App csproj.

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

  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>WinExe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>netcoreapp3.1</TargetFramework>
    <UseWPF>true</UseWPF>
    <Version>1.7.0</Version>
    <AssemblyVersion>1.8.0</AssemblyVersion>
    <FileVersion>1.8.0</FileVersion>
    <Authors>Me</Authors>
    <PackageIcon>AppIcon.JPG</PackageIcon>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <None Remove="Images\SloVVo_Logo.JPG" />
    <None Include="..\..\SloVVoNotes\Icon\AppIcon.JPG">
      <Pack>True</Pack>
      <PackagePath></PackagePath>
    </None>
  </ItemGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="EntityFramework" Version="6.4.4" />
    <PackageReference Include="FontAwesome.WPF" Version="4.7.0.9" />
    <PackageReference Include="NLog" Version="4.7.10" />
    <PackageReference Include="NLog.Config" Version="4.7.10" />
    <PackageReference Include="NLog.Schema" Version="4.7.10" />
    <PackageReference Include="System.Runtime.Caching" Version="5.0.0" />
    <PackageReference Include="System.Windows.Interactivity.WPF" Version="2.0.20525" />
  </ItemGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <ProjectReference Include="..\SloVVo.Logic\SloVVo.Logic.csproj" />
  </ItemGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <Resource Include="Images\SloVVo_Logo.JPG">
      <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </Resource>
  </ItemGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <Compile Update="Views\AddContent - Copy.xaml.cs">
      <SubType>Code</SubType>
      <DependentUpon>AddContentWindow.xaml.cs</DependentUpon>
    </Compile>
  </ItemGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <Folder Include="bin\Debug\netcoreapp3.1\bin\" />
  </ItemGroup>

</Project>

I create a build and use squirrel.windows to create a setup file.

I use the following powershell methods to acompish that.

Create package:

function Write-Package {
    param(
        [System.IO.DirectoryInfo] $BinDir,
        [System.IO.FileInfo] $ExeFile,
        [System.IO.FileInfo] $NuspecFile
    )

    $binDirPath = (Resolve-Path $BinDir).Path
    $exeFilePath = (Resolve-Path $ExeFile).Path
    $nuspecFilePath = (Resolve-Path $NuspecFile).Path

    $version =$([System.Diagnostics.FileVersionInfo]::GetVersionInfo("$exeFilePath").FileVersion)
    nuget pack $nuspecFilePath `
        -Verbosity quiet `
        -Version $version `
        -OutputDirectory $binDirPath `
        -BasePath $binDirPath
    $nupkgFileName = Get-ChildItem -Path $binDirPath -Filter *.nupkg
    $appName = $nupkgFileName.Name.Split('.')[0]
    $nupkgFilePath = (Join-Path -Path "$binDirPath" -ChildPath "$appName.$version.nupkg")
    return $nupkgFilePath
}

Squirrel Releasify the package

 .Example
 Write-Releases -SquirrelExe C:\tools\squirrel.exe -NupkgFile .\bin\Release\MyApp.1.0.0.nupkg
#>
function Write-Releases {
    param(
        [System.IO.FileInfo] $SquirrelExe,
        [System.IO.FileInfo] $NupkgFile
    )
    $squirrelExePath = (Resolve-Path $SquirrelExe).Path
    $nupkgFilePath = (Resolve-Path $NupkgFile).Path
    $arguments= "--logLevel","Debug","--no-msi","--releasify",$nupkgFilePath
    Start-Process -FilePath $SquirrelExe `
        -ArgumentList $arguments `
        -PassThru | Wait-Process
}

the nuspec file

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<package xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/packaging/2012/06/nuspec.xsd">
  <metadata>
    <id>MyApp</id>
    <version>1.0.0</version>
    <title>MyApp</title>
    <authors>Me</authors>
    <owners>Me</owners>
    <requireLicenseAcceptance>false</requireLicenseAcceptance>
    <description>Application</description>
    <dependencies>
      <group targetFramework="netcoreapp3.1" />
      <group targetFramework=".NETFramework4.5" />
    </dependencies>
    <frameworkReferences>
    <group targetFramework="netcoreapp3.1" />
    </frameworkReferences>
  </metadata>
  <files>
    <file src="*\*.*" target="lib\net45\" exclude="*.pdb;*.nupkg;*.vshost.*"/>
  </files>
</package>

Now, after I install the app on a new machine it says that .net core runtime is not installed and

Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App 3.1.0 is not installed.

Could someone provide a useful resource as to how I can prepackage that and it's installed alongside the app so that the user does not have to download and install the .net core runtime?

Answer 1

I migrated back to .Net461 and the below is my nuspec file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<package xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/packaging/2012/06/nuspec.xsd">
  <metadata>
    <id>SloVVo</id>
    <version>2.0.0</version>
    <title>SloVVo</title>
    <authors>Me</authors>
    <owners>Me</owners>
    <requireLicenseAcceptance>false</requireLicenseAcceptance>
    <description>Application</description>
    <dependencies>
        <group targetFramework=".NETFramework4.6.1"/>
    </dependencies>
  </metadata>
  <files>
    <file src="**\*.*" target="lib\net461" exclude="*.pdb;*.nupkg;*.vshost.*"/>
  </files>
</package>