.NET Runtime error

[GreenDiary]

Hi! Filee 2.0.0 installs successfully on my Windows 11 laptop, but the application never opens its UI. The process stays running in the background and then crashes.

The .NET Runtime error reports:

System.IO.FileLoadException: Could not load file or assembly 'C:\Program Files\Filee\SkiaSharp.dll'. An Application Control policy has blocked this file. (0x800711C7)

The stack trace points to Avalonia.Skia.SkiaPlatform.Initialize() and Filee.App.Program.Main().

Could you investigate whether the SkiaSharp DLL needs to be signed or whether the Windows release needs a compatibility fix for Smart App Control?

I'd prefer not to disable Windows security to run the application. Thank you!

[aappuupatell]

0x800711C7 is Win32 error 4551, ERROR_SYSTEM_INTEGRITY_POLICY_VIOLATION — "An Application Control policy has blocked this file." That's code integrity, and on a home Windows 11 PC the policy behind it is Smart App Control (same root cause as #255). SAC checks every PE that gets loaded, not just the exe: the Filee process starts (its exe got through on signature or cloud reputation), then SkiaSharp.dll is refused the moment Avalonia initialises Skia, and the app dies with the FileLoadException you pasted. Nothing is corrupt — the DLL in C:\Program Files\Filee just doesn't carry a valid Authenticode signature. SkiaSharp's NuGet binary is Microsoft-signed, but a trimmed / ReadyToRun publish rewrites assemblies and strips that signature, which is almost certainly what happened.

Confirm it in 30 seconds: right-click C:\Program Files\Filee\SkiaSharp.dll → Properties — no Digital Signatures tab means unsigned. Then Event Viewer → Applications and Services Logs → Microsoft → Windows → CodeIntegrity → Operational: event 3077 names the blocked file and the policy; a SAC block shows a VerifiedAndReputableDesktop… policy name. (If it's a different policy name, the machine has an App Control for Business policy from an organisation, and that's an IT question rather than a Filee one.)

What you can do today without touching Windows security: nothing, unfortunately — the portable zip ships the same DLLs, so it hits the same block, and SAC has no per-app allow list, only On/Off (Off is permanent until you reset Windows). I'd wait for the signed builds the maintainer mentioned in #255.

For @KnifeLemon: SAC needs every PE in the install signed — exe, each managed DLL, the native libSkiaSharp.dll / libHarfBuzzSharp.dll, installer and uninstaller. Two concrete things close this report: keep the NuGet SkiaSharp/HarfBuzzSharp binaries untouched (exclude them from trimming/R2R, or publish without PublishTrimmed / PublishReadyToRun) so Microsoft's signature survives, and sign your own outputs in the release pipeline — Azure Trusted Signing or SignPath's free OSS program both work for an open-source project. Microsoft's "Test your app's signature with Smart App Control" page has an audit-mode policy for checking a build before release.

[KnifeLemon]

Thanks for the report, and thanks @aappuupatell for the detailed analysis, which is right.

I checked the 2.0.0 install: SkiaSharp.dll from NuGet carries Microsoft's signature, but our release build compiles the app ahead of time (ReadyToRun), which rewrites the assembly and drops that signature.
The same goes for a few other libraries, and Filee's own files aren't signed yet at all. Smart App Control checks every DLL as it loads, so it stops at SkiaSharp.dll.

So there's nothing you can do on your side for now short of turning Smart App Control off, and we understand if you'd rather wait.
When the code-signing certificate arrives (tracked in #44), every file we ship will be signed, and the libraries that come signed will keep their own signature. Please follow #333 and #44 for updates.

[KnifeLemon]

An update: code signing is set up now (#421). From the next release on, every .exe and .dll Filee ships is signed ("Open Source Developer MYEONGGU KIM"), and SkiaSharp, HarfBuzzSharp and the other libraries their makers sign keep their own signatures, because they're no longer compiled ahead of time. So Smart App Control can verify each file it loads. I'll post here when that release is out.