ClickOnce Manifest has invalid children, but xml matches old published manifests

Question

I had an error installing an update or re-installing my ClickOnce application in my application.

This happens on computers without an installed application and on those who already have the application. The pfx file that I use to sign the project is the same as in previous versions, so I don't think this certificate is a problem.

+ Exception reading manifest from <APPPATH>.exe.manifest: the manifest may not be valid or the file could not be opened. + The element 'assembly' in namespace 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1' has invalid child element 'SignedInfo' in namespace 'http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#'. List of possible elements expected: 'dependency' in namespace 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1' as well as 'dependency' in namespace 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v2' as well as 'file' in namespace 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1' as well as 'file, configuration, deployment, entryPoint, trustInfo, licensing, migration' in namespace 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v2' as well as 'clrClass' in namespace 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1' as well as 'clrClass' in namespace 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v2' as well as 'clrSurrogate' in namespace 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1' as well as 'clrSurrogate' in namespace 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v2' as well as 'comInterfaceExternalProxyStub' in namespace 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1' as well as 'comInterfaceExternalProxyStub, KeyInfo' in namespace 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v2' as well as 'Signature' in namespace 'http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#' as well as any element in namespace 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3' as well as 'publisherIdentity' in namespace 'urn:schemas-micr.... 

There are no non-local elements or xml attributes comparing it to an old edition that shows no differences in elements.

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I had the same problem, it was caused by a section in an explicit nested app.manifest :

 <compatibility xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:compatibility.v1"> <application> <!-- A list of the Windows versions that this application has been tested on and is is designed to work with. Uncomment the appropriate elements and Windows will automatically selected the most compatible environment. --> <!-- Windows Vista --> <supportedOS Id="{e2011457-1546-43c5-a5fe-008deee3d3f0}" /> <!-- Windows 7 --> <supportedOS Id="{35138b9a-5d96-4fbd-8e2d-a2440225f93a}" /> <!-- Windows 8 --> <supportedOS Id="{4a2f28e3-53b9-4441-ba9c-d69d4a4a6e38}" /> <!-- Windows 8.1 --> <supportedOS Id="{1f676c76-80e1-4239-95bb-83d0f6d0da78}" /> <!-- Windows 10 --> <supportedOS Id="{8e0f7a12-bfb3-4fe8-b9a5-48fd50a15a9a}" /> </application> 

Deleting this section (it was unnecessary) made the application work with a click of the mouse.

Answer 2

clickonce has its headaches. especially if you make any changes to the manifest. What proved to me that this is the best workflow, when making changes to the manifest, turning VS, then starting it, cleaning up the project, building, restarting VS, clean rebuild. After publishing a new clickonce package, DO NOT change anything in the folder. DO NOT add, delete or update anything. as soon as you change something inside the folder, IT WILL STOP WORKING.