DacServices.Deploy to SQL Server LocalDB 2016 failing - unable to connect

Question

This call to DacServices.Deploy has been working great for SQL Server LocalDB 2014, but fails when SQL Server LocalDB 2016 is installed:

string dacConnectionString = $"Server=(localdb)\\mssqllocaldb; Integrated Security=true; database={DatabaseName}";
var dacServices = new DacServices(dacConnectionString);
dacServices.Message += (sender, args) => Console.WriteLine($"{args.Message.Prefix}: {args.Message.Message}"); // Log dacpac deploy messages
dacServices.Deploy(LoadDacPac(), DatabaseName, true, new DacDeployOptions()
                                                     {
                                                         BlockOnPossibleDataLoss = false
                                                     });

The exception thrown by DacServices.Deploy for LocalDB 2016 is:

Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac.DacServicesException was unhandled by user code
  HResult=-2146233088
  Message=Could not deploy package.
  Source=Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac
  StackTrace:
       at Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac.DeployOperation.Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac.IOperation.Run(OperationContext context)
       at Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac.OperationExtension.Execute(IOperation operation, DacLoggingContext loggingContext, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
       at Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac.DacServices.InternalDeploy(IPackageSource packageSource, Boolean isDacpac, String targetDatabaseName, DacDeployOptions options, CancellationToken cancellationToken, DacLoggingContext loggingContext)
       at Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac.DacServices.Deploy(DacPackage package, String targetDatabaseName, Boolean upgradeExisting, DacDeployOptions options, Nullable`1 cancellationToken)
       at Tv.Base.Test.Database.TestSqlLocalDb.CreateOrUpdateDatabaseIfNeeded(Boolean force) in D:\BuildAgent-02\work\6ec37398501798d0\src\Base.Test.Database\TestSqlLocalDb.cs:line 173
       at Tv.Services.Inventory.DataAccess.Tests.InventoryDatabaseFixture..ctor() in C:\src\tv\services\inventory\test\DataAccess.Tests\InventoryDatabaseFixture.cs:line 40
  InnerException: 
       HResult=-2146233088
       Message=Unable to connect to target server.
       Source=Microsoft.Data.Tools.Schema.Sql
       StackTrace:
            at Microsoft.Data.Tools.Schema.Sql.Deployment.SqlDeploymentEndpointServer.OnInit(ErrorManager errors, String targetDBName)
            at Microsoft.Data.Tools.Schema.Sql.Deployment.SqlDeployment..ctor(SqlDeploymentConstructor constructor)
            at Microsoft.Data.Tools.Schema.Sql.Deployment.SqlDeploymentConstructor.ConstructServiceImplementation()
            at Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac.DacServices.CreatePackageToDatabaseDeployment(String connectionString, IPackageSource packageSource, String targetDatabaseName, DacDeployOptions options, ErrorManager errorManager)
            at Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac.DeployOperation.<>c__DisplayClass3.<>c__DisplayClass5.<CreatePlanInitializationOperation>b__1()
            at Microsoft.Data.Tools.Schema.Sql.Dac.OperationLogger.Capture(Action action)
            at Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac.DeployOperation.<>c__DisplayClass3.<CreatePlanInitializationOperation>b__0(Object operation, CancellationToken token)
            at Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac.Operation.Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac.IOperation.Run(OperationContext context)
            at Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac.ReportMessageOperation.Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac.IOperation.Run(OperationContext context)
            at Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac.OperationExtension.CompositeOperation.Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac.IOperation.Run(OperationContext context)
            at Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac.OperationExtension.CompositeOperation.Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac.IOperation.Run(OperationContext context)
            at Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac.DeployOperation.Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac.IOperation.Run(OperationContext context)

The "unable to connect" error seems incorrect/may be obscuring the real error, both because the specified connection string allows me to connect to the database using SqlConnection, and because I can deploy this dacpac to SQL Server LocalDB 2016 using the command-line:

sqlpackage "/Action:publish" "/SourceFile:MyDatabase.dacpac" "/TargetConnectionString:Server=(localdb)\mssqllocaldb;Database=MyDatabase;Integrated Security=true"

More info on my setup:

> sqllocaldb info mssqllocaldb
Name:               MSSQLLocalDB
Version:            13.0.1601.5
Shared name:
Owner:              DOMAIN\user
Auto-create:        Yes
State:              Running
Last start time:    7/1/2016 5:09:43 PM
Instance pipe name: np:\\.\pipe\LOCALDB#C1DD8548\tsql\query

> sqllocaldb v
Microsoft SQL Server 2014 (12.0.2000.8)
Microsoft SQL Server 2016 (13.0.1601.5)

The Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac assembly being used is from this NuGet package: https://www.nuget.org/packages/Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac

Answer 1

The fix for this was indeed to update the version of the Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac assemblies that we were using - I'd discovered that I should try that shortly before seeing @kevin-cunnane 's suggestion.

There were a few factors that made this less than obvious, which is why it's on SO:

1. Dac's error message "Unable to connect to target server" doesn't indicate a version incompatibility in any way. However from poking around the internet (eg DACPAC won't deploy because 'can't connect to server'?) it seems this error message can mean a version incompatibility in addition to incorrect connection string, firewall issue, etc.
2. There are several NuGet packages posted that contain the Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac and related assemblies. A few of them are not maintained by Microsoft, including the one I was using (Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac). The official Microsoft release was not available on NuGet.org until June 2016, and it doesn't have the most obvious NuGet id (Microsoft.SqlServer.DacFx.x64). So running update-package Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac did not have the desired effect.
3. The "official" NuGet package isn't listed anywhere on the MSDN + DAC pages - you'd think it would be mentioned here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn702988%28v=sql.120%29.aspx - but it's not.
4. Visual Studio 2016 installs SQL LocalDB 2016, and it does include the correct Dac assemblies (C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\IDE\Extensions\Microsoft\SQLDB\DAC\130\Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac.dll), but they're not installed in the GAC or otherwise easily findable.

The fix that worked was

# Remove the old NuGet dependencies
uninstall-package Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac

# Install the new Dac NuGet package
Install-Package Microsoft.SqlServer.DacFx.x64

Requests for the Dac team, if you happen to see this:

• Please link to the correct NuGet package from the MSDN documentation
• Please improve the error message to indicate that newer client software is needed
• Please request the other NuGet package maintainers to note the presence of the official NuGet package, or provide an upgrade that references the official NuGet package, b/c the presence of multiple packages is likely to cause angst.

(Btw, despite the difficulties here, Dac/SSDT is AWESOME . I haven't seen any comparable dev tooling for any competitive relational databases.)