How do I add a manifest to an executable using mt.exe?

Question

I'm trying to use mt.exe from the Windows SDK to add a manifest to an executable file that doesn't have one, using the following command line:

C:\winsdk61>mt.exe -nologo -manifest "r:\shared\hl.exe.manifest" -updateresource:"r:\shared\hl33m.exe;#1" 

Unfortunately, when I do, I get this error:

mt.exe : general error c101008c: Failed to read the manifest from the resource of file "r:\shared\hl33m.exe". The specified resource type cannot be found in the image file. 

Of course the resource wasn't found in the file - the file doesn't have a manifest, that's why I want to add one.

How can I append a manifest to an executable file? Shouldn't this be simple?

Answer 1

You should use /outputresource instead of /updateresource:.

The correct command line would be:

mt.exe -nologo -manifest "r:\shared\hl.exe.manifest" -outputresource:"r:\shared\hl33m.exe;#1" 

Answer 2

This worked for me for VS 2005:

1. Create text file named after executable with extension manifest, and ensure it is located in the same path as your code files; i.e. Form1.cs, etc. For example, if your app name is UACTester.exe then your manifest file should be named UACTester.exe.manifest.
2. Ensure the contents of the manifest is good. I use this one:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>     <asmv1:assembly manifestVersion="1.0" xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1"      xmlns:asmv1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1"       xmlns:asmv2="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v2"       xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">         <assemblyIdentity version="1.0.0.0" name="MyApplication.app" />         <trustInfo xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v2">             <security>                 <requestedPrivileges xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">                     <requestedExecutionLevel level="requireAdministrator"                       uiAccess="false" />                 </requestedPrivileges>                 <applicationRequestMinimum>                     <defaultAssemblyRequest permissionSetReference="Custom" />                     <PermissionSet class="System.Security.PermissionSet"                       version="1" ID="Custom" SameSite="site" />                 </applicationRequestMinimum>             </security>         </trustInfo>         <compatibility xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:compatibility.v1">             <application>             </application>         </compatibility>     </asmv1:assembly> 

1. On your executable project, add the following post-build event:

   "$(DevEnvDir)..\Tools\Bin\mt.exe" -nologo -manifest "$(TargetPath).manifest" -outputresource:"$(TargetPath)"

Hope this helps. Good luck! -Matt Esterak