WiX Fails on Build Server

Question

I have a project that using WiX. It works fine on my local machine but when I publish to the build server the build blows up with the following.

From the MSBuild log

Using "HeatDirectory" task from assembly "C:\Program Files (x86)\WiX Toolset v3.6\bin\\WixTasks.dll".
Task "HeatDirectory"
  Command:
  C:\Program Files (x86)\WiX Toolset v3.6\bin\Heat.exe dir "C:\Builds\3\Project\Foo Bar - CI\Sources\Company.Foobar.UI\obj\BuildServer\Package\PackageTmp\\" -cg Company.Foobar.UI_Project -dr INSTALLLOCATION -scom -sreg -srd -var var.WebServiceProjectDir -ag -sfrag -out web\Company.Foobar.UI.wxs
  Could not load file or assembly 'file:///C:\Program Files (x86)\WiX Toolset v3.6\bin\Heat.exe' or one of its dependencies. An attempt was made to load a program with an incorrect format.
     at System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly._nLoad(AssemblyName fileName, String codeBase, Evidence assemblySecurity, RuntimeAssembly locationHint, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection, Boolean suppressSecurityChecks)
     at System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.InternalLoadAssemblyName(AssemblyName assemblyRef, Evidence assemblySecurity, RuntimeAssembly reqAssembly, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection, Boolean suppressSecurityChecks)
     at System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.InternalLoadAssemblyName(AssemblyName assemblyRef, Evidence assemblySecurity, RuntimeAssembly reqAssembly, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection, Boolean suppressSecurityChecks)
     at System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.InternalLoadFrom(String assemblyFile, Evidence securityEvidence, Byte[] hashValue, AssemblyHashAlgorithm hashAlgorithm, Boolean forIntrospection, Boolean suppressSecurityChecks, StackCrawlMark& stackMark)
     at System.Reflection.Assembly.LoadFrom(String assemblyFile)
     at Microsoft.Tools.WindowsInstallerXml.Build.Tasks.WixToolTask.ExecuteToolThread(Object parameters)

I have Wix 3.6 installed on the build server and the account running tfs build is listed in the domain administrators group.

Did you confirm that "C:\Program Files (x86)\WiX Toolset v3.6\bin\Heat.exe" exists? — Nate Hekman, Feb 26 '13 at 16:33
Try [enabling assembly bind logging](http://www.hanselman.com/blog/BackToBasicsUsingFusionLogViewerToDebugObscureLoaderErrors.aspx) and see if it can tell you which assembly is the ultimate cause and why. — anton.burger, Feb 26 '13 at 19:48
Did that, and realised it was down to msbuild running as x64 when I needed x86! — Cookie, Feb 27 '13 at 14:02

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 27 '13 at 08:43

7

Actually the issue was all to do with a architecture mistmatch. One of the projects only compiles in x86 so had to change the buildserver to use x86.

Edit Build, Process, MSBuildPlatform X86

answered Feb 27 '13 at 08:43

Cookie

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"An attempt was made to load a program with an incorrect format." is a red flag for platform inconsistency. – Martin Clemens Bloch May 28 '13 at 09:22
Thanks so much! Totally saved me a bunch of time trying to dig into other dependency issues. – SteckDEV Mar 22 '16 at 15:59

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 26 '13 at 18:26

0

Try wrapping your command in double quotes

"C:\Program Files (x86)\WiX Toolset v3.6\bin\Heat.exe"

MS build can have problems with paths that have spaces in it.

answered Feb 26 '13 at 18:26

Kyle

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Thats useless I am using http://www.chrissurfleet.co.uk/post/2011/06/30/simplify-deployment-with-visual-studio-and-wix.aspx Note that the call to heat is using a build action so I cant put quotes around it. – Cookie Feb 26 '13 at 19:21
Good idea, Kyle, although in this case the error message does seem to be looking for the correct exe path and just can't load it. Feels like a missing dependency... – Nate Hekman Feb 26 '13 at 19:22

WiX Fails on Build Server

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