Clearscript files cannot be found on host

Question

Like a lot of others I'm receiving the following error when deploying my ASP.Net MVC application:

Cannot load V8 interface assembly; verify that the following files are installed with your application: ClearScriptV8-32.dll, ClearScriptV8-64.dll, v8-ia32.dll, v8-x64.dll

Clearscript was installed as part of an effort to transform less files on the fly for page requests.

I have tested my application locally in ISS Express and ISS without a hitch.

As suggested here http://clearscript3.rssing.com/chan-14849437/all_p12.html I've also included the missing code libraries as resources to my project.

ClearScriptV8-32.dll, ClearScriptV8-64.dll, v8-ia32.dll, v8-x64.dll are all included in a folder ClearScript.V8 in the bin folder. Removing this folder does not resolve the issue.

At my wits end. Any help is appreciated.

Answer 1

the cause is that asp.net load instantly all libraries in /bin directory. I added the following rule to ignore Clearscript assemblies, and it worked

<configuration>     <system.diagnostics>         <trace autoflush="true" />     </system.diagnostics>     <system.web>         <compilation>             <assemblies>                  <remove assembly="ClearScriptV8-64" />                 <remove assembly="ClearScriptV8-32" />                ....             </assemblies>         </compilation> 

...

Answer 2

To be clear this exception is not always caused by a missing ClearScriptV8-32.dll, ClearScriptV8-64.dll, v8-ia32.dll or v8-x64.dll. Oftentimes the issue is that a dll referenced by one of the aforementioned dlls cannot be found. In cases where the appropriate dlls are on the server installing the appropriate Visual C++ Redistributable will usually solve this transitive dependency issue.

According to the project's discussion forum ClearScript no longer supports Visual Studio 2012. Meaning the version of the Visual C++ Redistributable that needs to be installed on your server is dependent on the version of ClearScript your project is utilizing:

• ClearScript Versions 5.0 - 5.3: Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2012
• ClearScript Versions 5.4 - .....: Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2013