How to detect which .NET runtime is being used (MS vs. Mono)?

Question

I would like to know during execution of a program whether it is being executed using the Mono runtime or the Microsoft runtime.

I'm currently using the following code to determine whether I'm on a MS CLR:

static bool IsMicrosoftCLR()
{
    return RuntimeEnvironment.GetRuntimeDirectory().Contains("Microsoft");
}

However, this is somewhat dependent on the installation folder of the runtime and I'm not sure whether this will work on all installations.

Is there a better way to check for the current runtime?

Answer 1

From the Mono Project's Guide to Porting Winforms Applications:

public static bool IsRunningOnMono ()
{
    return Type.GetType ("Mono.Runtime") != null;
}

I'm sure you'll have a lot more questions, so worth checking this guide and the mono-forums

Answer 2

You can check for the Mono Runtime Like this

bool IsRunningOnMono = (Type.GetType ("Mono.Runtime") != null);

Answer 3

With the advent of C# 6, this can now be turned into a get-only property, so the actual check is only done once.

internal static bool HasMono { get; } = Type.GetType("Mono.Runtime") != null;

Answer 4

Here's a version with caching that I'm using in my project:

public static class PlatformHelper
{
    private static readonly Lazy<bool> IsRunningOnMonoValue = new Lazy<bool>(() =>
    {
        return Type.GetType("Mono.Runtime") != null;
    });

    public static bool IsRunningOnMono()
    {
        return IsRunningOnMonoValue.Value;
    }
}

As @ahmet alp balkan mentioned, caching is useful here if you're calling this frequently. By wrapping it in a Lazy<bool>, the reflection call only happens once.

Answer 5

just run the below code..

static bool IsMicrosoftCLR()
{
    return (Type.GetType ("Mono.Runtime") == null)
}

Answer 6

System.Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeInformation.FrameworkDescription provides the name of the .NET installation that the app is running on and the version, e.g. "Mono version"