Why is ASP.NET vNext 'dnu build' not working on OSX

Question

Installed DNVM and DNX on OSX as instructed via https://github.com/aspnet/Home.

I used generator-aspnet to create a console application with one source file, Program.cs:

using System;

namespace HelloWorldConsole
{
    public class Program
    {
        public static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Hello World");
            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }
}

and a package.json:

{
    "version": "1.0.0-*",
    "dependencies": {},
    "commands": {
        "run": "run"
    },
    "frameworks": {
        "dnx451": {},
        "dnxcore50": {
            "dependencies": {
                "System.Console": "4.0.0-beta-*"
            }
        }
    }
}

When I run it using dnu . run, it works as expected and prints "Hello World!".

However when I try to generate assemblies from it by running dnu build I get the following error:

System.IO.EndOfStreamException: Failed to read past end of stream.
at System.IO.BinaryReader.ReadChar () [0x00000] in :0 at Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CvtResFile.ReadStringOrID (System.IO.BinaryReader fhIn) [0x00000] in :0 at Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CvtResFile.ReadResFile (System.IO.Stream stream) [0x00000] in :0 at Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Compilation.MakeWin32ResourceList (System.IO.Stream win32Resources, Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.DiagnosticBag diagnostics) [0x00000] in :0 at Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.CSharpCompilation.SetupWin32Resources (Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.Emit.PEModuleBuilder moduleBeingBuilt, System.IO.Stream win32Resources, Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.DiagnosticBag diagnostics) [0x00000] in :0 at Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.CSharpCompilation.CompileImpl (Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Emit.CommonPEModuleBuilder moduleBuilder, System.IO.Stream win32Resources, System.IO.Stream xmlDocStream, Boolean generateDebugInfo, Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.DiagnosticBag diagnostics, System.Predicate1 filterOpt, CancellationToken cancellationToken) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 at Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Compilation.Compile (Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Emit.CommonPEModuleBuilder moduleBuilder, System.IO.Stream win32Resources, System.IO.Stream xmlDocStream, Boolean generateDebugInfo, Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.DiagnosticBag diagnostics, System.Predicate1 filterOpt, CancellationToken cancellationToken) [0x00000] in :0 at Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Compilation.Emit (Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.EmitStreamProvider peStreamProvider, Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.EmitStreamProvider pdbStreamProvider, Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.EmitStreamProvider xmlDocumentationStreamProvider, Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.EmitStreamProvider win32ResourcesStreamProvider, IEnumerable1 manifestResources, Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Emit.EmitOptions options, Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CodeGen.CompilationTestData testData, System.Func1 getHostDiagnostics, CancellationToken cancellationToken) [0x00000] in :0 at Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Compilation.Emit (System.IO.Stream peStream, System.IO.Stream pdbStream, System.IO.Stream xmlDocumentationStream, System.IO.Stream win32Resources, IEnumerable1 manifestResources, Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Emit.EmitOptions options, Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CodeGen.CompilationTestData testData, System.Func1 getHostDiagnostics, CancellationToken cancellationToken) [0x00000] in :0 at Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Compilation.Emit (System.IO.Stream peStream, System.IO.Stream pdbStream, System.IO.Stream xmlDocumentationStream, System.IO.Stream win32Resources, IEnumerable1 manifestResources, Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Emit.EmitOptions options, CancellationToken cancellationToken) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 at Microsoft.Framework.Runtime.Roslyn.RoslynProjectReference.EmitAssembly (System.String outputPath) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 at Microsoft.Framework.PackageManager.ProjectBuilder.Build (System.String name, System.String outputPath) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
at Microsoft.Framework.PackageManager.BuildContext.Build (System.Collections.Generic.List1 diagnostics) [0x00000] in :0 at Microsoft.Framework.PackageManager.BuildManager.Build () [0x00000] in :0 at Microsoft.Framework.PackageManager.Program+<>c__DisplayClass3_4.b__8 () [0x00000] in :0 at Microsoft.Framework.Runtime.Common.CommandLine.CommandLineApplication.Execute (System.String[] args) [0x00000] in :0 at Microsoft.Framework.PackageManager.Program.Main (System.String[] args) [0x00000] in :0 at (wrapper managed-to-native) System.Reflection.MonoMethod:InternalInvoke (System.Reflection.MonoMethod,object,object[],System.Exception&) at System.Reflection.MonoMethod.Invoke (System.Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, System.Object[] parameters, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture) [0x00000] in :0

Any ideas why dnx . run works but dnu build doesn't? The core libs seem to be getting referenced and loaded hence the run working. What's missing with the dnu build command?

Answer 1

What I did is this:

1. clone the mono repository, compile and install it following the directions here http://www.mono-project.com/docs/compiling-mono/ (make sure to follow the directions for compiling from git source)
2. brew tap aspnet/dnx
3. brew upgrade
4. brew install dnvm --without-mono

After doing this I was able to run dnu build successfully.

Answer 2

It is a known Mono bug: https://bugzilla.xamarin.com/show_bug.cgi?id=29499

Discussion is here: https://github.com/aspnet/Home/issues/498

Answer 3

The issue seems to be brew is pointing at a version of mono that doesn't seem to work well with the latest build of aspnet/dnx. Here is a way to get it pointing to a workable version.

1. nano /usr/local/Library/Formula/mono.rb

2. changed line 4 and 5 to

   url "http://download.mono-project.com/sources/mono/mono-4.0.1.44.tar.bz2" sha256 "eaf5bd9d19818cb89483b3c9cae2ee3569643fd621560da036f6a49f6b3e3a6f"

3. brew upgrade mono

4. You should be able to properly run dnu build on the project

   • source dnvm.sh
   • cd projectdir
   • dnu restore
   • dnu build
   • export MONO_MANAGED_WATCHER=false (for mono bug, see link below)
   • dnx . kestrel
   • open http://localhost:5001

about mono bug - Running first ASP.NET 5 application using VSCode, DNX and kestrel results in IOException

If you have problems with brew, use brew doctor

Thanks to salerth https://github.com/aspnet/Home/issues/498