.NET assemblyBinding configuration ignored in machine.config

Question

I have a situation where I need to be able to load assemblies in the GAC based on their partial names. In order to do this I have added the following to my app.config file:

<runtime>
  <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
    <qualifyAssembly partialName="MyAssembly"
                     fullName= "MyAssembly, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=0123456789abcdef"/>
  </assemblyBinding>
</runtime>

This works exactly the way I want it to. However, if I place the same element in my machine.config file, it seems to be ignored, and I get FileNotFoundExceptions when trying to load MyAssembly.

The following is the assembly binding log when the element is in my app.config, and the bind succeeds:

LOG: This bind starts in default load context.
LOG: Using application configuration file: C:\Documents and Settings\jon_scheiding\My Documents\Source\Testing\Test Projects 1\Cmd\bin\Debug\Testers.Cmd.vshost.exe.config
LOG: Using machine configuration file from C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\config\machine.config.
LOG: Partial reference qualified from config file. New reference: MyAssembly, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=0123456789abcdef.
LOG: Post-policy reference: MyAssembly, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=0123456789abcdef
LOG: Found assembly by looking in the GAC.
LOG: Binding succeeds. Returns assembly from C:\WINDOWS\assembly\GAC_MSIL\MyAssembly\1.0.0.0__b20f4683c1030dbd\MyAssembly.dll.
LOG: Assembly is loaded in default load context.

Contrast that with the log when my configuration is in machine.config, and the bind fails:

LOG: This bind starts in default load context.
LOG: Using application configuration file: C:\Documents and Settings\jon_scheiding\My Documents\Source\Testing\Test Projects 1\Cmd\bin\Debug\Testers.Cmd.vshost.exe.config
LOG: Using machine configuration file from C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\config\machine.config.
LOG: Policy not being applied to reference at this time (private, custom, partial, or location-based assembly bind).
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Documents and Settings/jon_scheiding/My Documents/Source/Testing/Test Projects 1/Cmd/bin/Debug/MyAssembly.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Documents and Settings/jon_scheiding/My Documents/Source/Testing/Test Projects 1/Cmd/bin/Debug/MyAssembly/MyAssembly.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Documents and Settings/jon_scheiding/My Documents/Source/Testing/Test Projects 1/Cmd/bin/Debug/MyAssembly.EXE.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Documents and Settings/jon_scheiding/My Documents/Source/Testing/Test Projects 1/Cmd/bin/Debug/MyAssembly/MyAssembly.EXE.
LOG: All probing URLs attempted and failed.

The problem seems to be the fourth line, "Policy not being applied to reference at this time." However, I can find very little documentation on what this message means, or how to address it.

How can I get the framework to recognize my <runtime> element?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

The framework won't read qualifyAssebmly configuration from machine.config, it only reads it from your application configuration file.

The framework does recognize your runtim element, however it does not recognize the qualifyAssembly element.

Answer 2

I came back to this need much later, as we have some assemblies in the GAC and things like NHibernate needed to resolve them. Rather than adding all these qualifyAssembly elements to every app.config, the following code allows us to add them to our machine.config.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Configuration;
using System.IO;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.XPath;

namespace MyNamespace {

    /// <summary>
    /// Implements <see cref="IDisposable"/> to provide a scope for resolving
    /// assemblies described in the machine.config file with 
    /// &lt;qualifyAssembly&gt; elements.
    /// </summary>
    /// <remarks>
    /// Because the framework only respects &lt;qualifyAssembly&gt; at the
    /// application configuration level, this class provides similar
    /// functionality for this element at the machine configuration level.
    /// You can wrap a new instance of this class in a <b>using</b> statement
    /// to get resolution within a specific scope; or, you can call the 
    /// <see cref="AssemblyResolver.Attach()"/> method to get 
    /// resolution for the lifetime of the current <see cref="AppDomain"/>.
    /// </remarks>
    public sealed class AssemblyResolver : IDisposable {

        #region Private fields and implementation

        private static Dictionary<string, string> _qualifiedNames;

        private static Assembly ResolveAssembly(object sender, ResolveEventArgs args) {
            if(_qualifiedNames == null) {
                //
                // Lazily initialize short/long name mappings.
                //
                _qualifiedNames = BuildQualifiedNameList();
            }

            if(!_qualifiedNames.ContainsKey(args.Name)) {
                return null;
            }

            try {
                return Assembly.Load(_qualifiedNames[args.Name]);
            }
            catch(FileNotFoundException) {
                //
                // TODO: Should this exception be propogated?
                // It probably should not be hidden from the consumer
                // since it likely indicates a configuration error.
                //
                return null;
            }
        }

        private static Dictionary<string, string> BuildQualifiedNameList() {
            var dict = new Dictionary<string, string>(StringComparer.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase);

            //
            // Get runtime XML data
            //
            var xml = GetConfigXml(GetMachineRuntimeSection());
            if(xml == null) {
                return dict;
            }

            //
            // Iterate the qualifyAssembly elements and register in the list
            //
            var navigator = xml.CreateNavigator();
            foreach(XPathNavigator qualifyAssembly in navigator.Select("runtime/asm:assemblyBinding/asm:qualifyAssembly", CreateNamespaceManager())) {
                dict.Add(
                    qualifyAssembly.GetAttribute("partialName", string.Empty),
                    qualifyAssembly.GetAttribute("fullName", string.Empty));
            }

            return dict;
        }

        private static ConfigurationSection GetMachineRuntimeSection() {
            System.Configuration.Configuration machineConfig = ConfigurationManager.OpenMachineConfiguration();
            return machineConfig.GetSection("runtime") as ConfigurationSection;
        }

        private static IXPathNavigable GetConfigXml(ConfigurationSection runtimeSection) {
            var ignoreSection = runtimeSection as IgnoreSection;
            if(ignoreSection == null) {
                return null;
            }

            //
            // Cheat via Reflection to get the XML content of the config
            // section.
            //
            FieldInfo field = typeof(IgnoreSection).GetField("_rawXml", BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic);
            string rawXml = (string)field.GetValue(ignoreSection);
            return new XPathDocument(new StringReader(rawXml));
        }
        private static IXmlNamespaceResolver CreateNamespaceManager() {
            var nsmgr = new XmlNamespaceManager(new NameTable());
            nsmgr.AddNamespace("asm", "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1");
            return nsmgr;
        }

        #endregion

        /// <summary>
        /// Creates a new <see cref="AssemblyResolver"/>.
        /// </summary>
        public AssemblyResolver() {
            AppDomain.CurrentDomain.AssemblyResolve += new ResolveEventHandler(ResolveAssembly);
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Removes the current <see cref="AssemblyResolver"/>
        /// from the <see cref="AppDomain"/>.
        /// </summary>
        public void Dispose() {
            AppDomain.CurrentDomain.AssemblyResolve -= new ResolveEventHandler(ResolveAssembly);
            GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Provides qualified assembly resolution for the lifetime of the
        /// current <see cref="AppDomain"/>.
        /// </summary>
        public static void Attach() {
            Attach(AppDomain.CurrentDomain);
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Provides qualified assembly resolution for the lifetime of an
        /// <see cref="AppDomain"/>.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="appDomain">
        /// The <see cref="AppDomain"/> to service.
        /// </param>
        public static void Attach(AppDomain appDomain) {
            appDomain.AssemblyResolve += new ResolveEventHandler(ResolveAssembly);
        }

    }
}

In most cases, we limit the scope of it, by using it like this:

using(new AssemblyResolver()) {
    //
    // NHibernate initialization or whatever
    //
}

It can also be used in app startup code or global.asax, and persist for the lifetime of the application, like so:

AssemblyResolver.Attach();
//
// or
//
AssemblyResolver.Attach(AppDomain.CurrentDomain);