AppDomain.Load() fails with FileNotFoundException

Question

I'm trying to load my plugin dll into separate AppDomain, but Load() method fails with FileNotFoundException. Moreover, it seems like setting PrivateBinPath property of AppDomainSetup has no effect, because in log I see "Initial PrivatePath = NULL". All plugin have strong name. Normally each plugin is stored in [Application startp path]\postplugins\[plugindir]. If I put plugins subdirectories under [Application startp path] directory, everything works. I also have tried to change AppBase property manually but it does not change.
Here is the code:

public void LoadPostPlugins(IPluginsHost host, string pluginsDir)
    {
        _Host = host;
        var privatePath = "";
        var paths = new List<string>();
        //build PrivateBinPath
        var dirs = new DirectoryInfo(pluginsDir).GetDirectories();
        foreach (var d in dirs)
        {
            privatePath += d.FullName;
            privatePath += ";";
        }
        if (privatePath.Length > 1) privatePath = privatePath.Substring(0, privatePath.Length - 1);
        //create new domain
        var appDomainSetup = new AppDomainSetup { PrivateBinPath = privatePath };
        Evidence evidence = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.Evidence;
        var sandbox = AppDomain.CreateDomain("sandbox_" + Guid.NewGuid(), evidence, appDomainSetup);
        try
        {
            foreach (var d in dirs)
            {
                var files = d.GetFiles("*.dll");
                foreach (var f in files)
                {
                    try
                    {
                        //try to load dll - here I get FileNotFoundException
                        var ass = sandbox.Load(AssemblyName.GetAssemblyName(f.FullName));
                        var f1 = f;
                        paths.AddRange(from type in ass.GetTypes()
                                       select type.GetInterface("PluginsCore.IPostPlugin")
                                       into iface
                                       where iface != null
                                       select f1.FullName);
                    }
                    catch (FileNotFoundException ex)
                    {
                        Debug.WriteLine(ex);
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        finally
        {
            AppDomain.Unload(sandbox);
        }
        foreach (var plugin in from p in paths
                               select Assembly.LoadFrom(p)
                                   into ass
                                   select
                                       ass.GetTypes().FirstOrDefault(t => t.GetInterface("PluginsCore.IPostPlugin") != null)
                                       into type
                                       where type != null
                                       select (IPostPlugin)Activator.CreateInstance(type))
        {
            plugin.Init(host);
            plugin.GotPostsPartial += plugin_GotPostsPartial;
            plugin.GotPostsFull += plugin_GotPostsFull;
            plugin.PostPerformed += plugin_PostPerformed;
            _PostPlugins.Add(plugin);
        }
    }

And here is the log:

'FBTest.vshost.exe' (Managed (v4.0.30319)): Loaded 'D:\VS2010Projects\PNotes - NET\pnfacebook\FBTest\bin\Debug\postplugins\pnfacebook\pnfacebook.dll', Symbols loaded.
A first chance exception of type 'System.IO.FileNotFoundException' occurred in FBTest.exe
System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'pnfacebook, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=9e2a2192d22aadc7' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.
File name: 'pnfacebook, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=9e2a2192d22aadc7'
   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.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.InternalLoad(String assemblyString, Evidence assemblySecurity, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, Boolean forIntrospection)
   at System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.InternalLoad(String assemblyString, Evidence assemblySecurity, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean forIntrospection)
   at System.Reflection.Assembly.Load(String assemblyString)
   at System.UnitySerializationHolder.GetRealObject(StreamingContext context)

   at System.AppDomain.Load(AssemblyName assemblyRef)
   at PNotes.NET.PNPlugins.LoadPostPlugins(IPluginsHost host, String pluginsDir) in D:\VS2010Projects\PNotes - NET\pnfacebook\FBTest\PNPlugins.cs:line 71


=== Pre-bind state information ===
LOG: User = ANDREYHP\Andrey
LOG: DisplayName = pnfacebook, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=9e2a2192d22aadc7
 (Fully-specified)
LOG: Appbase = file:///D:/VS2010Projects/PNotes - NET/pnfacebook/FBTest/bin/Debug/
LOG: Initial PrivatePath = NULL
Calling assembly : (Unknown).
===
LOG: This bind starts in default load context.
LOG: No application configuration file found.
LOG: Using host configuration file: 
LOG: Using machine configuration file from C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\config\machine.config.
LOG: Post-policy reference: pnfacebook, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=9e2a2192d22aadc7
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///D:/VS2010Projects/PNotes - NET/pnfacebook/FBTest/bin/Debug/pnfacebook.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///D:/VS2010Projects/PNotes - NET/pnfacebook/FBTest/bin/Debug/pnfacebook/pnfacebook.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///D:/VS2010Projects/PNotes - NET/pnfacebook/FBTest/bin/Debug/pnfacebook.EXE.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///D:/VS2010Projects/PNotes - NET/pnfacebook/FBTest/bin/Debug/pnfacebook/pnfacebook.EXE.

Hyperborean

Answer 1

when you load an assembly into the AppDomain in that way, it is the current AppDomain's PrivateBinPath that is used to find the assembly.

For your example, when I added the following to my App.config it ran fine:

<runtime>
  <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
    <probing privatePath="[PATH_TO_PLUGIN]"/>
  </assemblyBinding>
</runtime>

This is not very useful to you though.

What I did instead was to create a new assembly that contained the IPostPlugin and IPluginsHost interfaces, and also a class called Loader that looked like this:

public class Loader : MarshalByRefObject
{
    public IPostPlugin[] LoadPlugins(string assemblyName)
    {
        var assemb = Assembly.Load(assemblyName);

        var types = from type in assemb.GetTypes()
                where typeof(IPostPlugin).IsAssignableFrom(type)
                select type;

        var instances = types.Select(
            v => (IPostPlugin)Activator.CreateInstance(v)).ToArray();

        return instances;
    }
}

I keep that new assembly in the application root, and it doesn't need to exist in the plugin directories (it can but won't be used as the application root will be searched first).

Then in the main AppDomain I did this instead:

sandbox.Load(typeof(Loader).Assembly.FullName);

Loader loader = (Loader)Activator.CreateInstance(
    sandbox,
    typeof(Loader).Assembly.FullName,
    typeof(Loader).FullName,
    false,
    BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance,
    null,
    null,
    null,
    null).Unwrap();

var plugins = loader.LoadPlugins(AssemblyName.GetAssemblyName(f.FullName).FullName);

foreach (var p in plugins)
{
    p.Init(this);
}

_PostPlugins.AddRange(plugins);

So I create an instance of the known Loader type, and then get that to create the plugin instances from within the plug-in AppDomain. That way the PrivateBinPaths are used as you want them to be.

One other thing, the private bin paths can be relative so rather than adding d.FullName you could add pluginsDir + Path.DirectorySeparatorChar + d.Name to keep the final path list short. That's just my personal preference though! Hope this helps.

Plumlee

James, thank you very much! Finally I see the clear explanation about using MarshalByRefObject. Unfortunately I haven't enough reputation to mark an answer as useful (need at least 15) :( – Hyperborean

When I try this, although I made the LoadPlugins-method generic, I get a SerializationException. Any suggestions as to why that may be? I can see that the assembly has been loaded in the sandbox app domain. – Persis

@JamesThurley Do the implementations of IPostPlugin need to inherit from MarshalByRefObject to execute code in the sandbox domain from the main, without also loading it to main? – Forsaken

+1 Thanks ! this works to instanciate plugin inside Loader in plugin interface assembly. Howewer, given that concrete types must be known by master application in order to deserialize, it is not satisfactory for a plugin mechanism. I am now able to execute a plugin, but I cannot leave its instance alive because I can only send back to master application the call result, and not an interface implemented by the plugin itself. – Vonvona

Answer 2

Thanks a lot to DedPicto and James Thurley ; I was able to implement a complete solution, I posted in this post.

I had the same problem as Emil Badh : if you try to return from "Loader" class an interface that represents a concrete class that is unknown in current AppDomain, you get a "Serialization Exception".

It is because the concrete type tries to be deserialized. The solution: I was able to return from "Loader" class a concrete type of a "custom proxy" and it works. See referenced post for details :

// Our CUSTOM PROXY: the concrete type which will be known from main App
[Serializable]
public class ServerBaseProxy : MarshalByRefObject, IServerBase
{
    private IServerBase _hostedServer;

    /// <summary>
    /// cstor with no parameters for deserialization
    /// </summary>
    public ServerBaseProxy ()
    {

    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Internal constructor to use when you write "new ServerBaseProxy"
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="name"></param>
    public ServerBaseProxy(IServerBase hostedServer)
    {
        _hostedServer = hostedServer;
    }      

    public string Execute(Query q)
    {
        return(_hostedServer.Execute(q));
    }

}

This proxy could be returned and use as if it was the real concrete type !

Vonvona