Merge DLL into EXE

Question

I have two DLL files which I d like to include in my EXE file to make it easier to distribute it  I ve read a bit here and there how to do this  even found a good thread here  and here  but it s far too complicated for me and I need real basic instructions on how to do this   I m using Microsoft Visual C  Express 2010  and please excuse my  low standard  question  but I feel like I m one or two level below everyone else s expercise  -  If someone could point out how to merge these DDL files into my EXE in a step-by-step guide  this would be really awesome

User · Answer

Use Costura Fody   You just have to install the nuget and then do a build  The final executable will be standalone

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The command should be the following script   ilmerge myExe exe Dll1 dll  target winexe  targetplatform  v4 c  Program Files  x86  Reference Assemblies Microsoft Framework  NETFramework v4 0    out merged exe  out merged exe

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static class Program            lt summary gt          The main entry point for the application           lt  summary gt       STAThread      static void Main                PUT THIS LINE IN YOUR CLASS PROGRAM MAIN                         AppDomain CurrentDomain AssemblyResolve     sender  arg    gt    if  arg Name StartsWith  YOURDLL    return Assembly Load Properties Resources YOURDLL   return null              Application EnableVisualStyles            Application SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault false           Application Run new Form1               First add the DLL  s to your project-Resources  Add a folder  Resources

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NOTE  if you re trying to load a non-ILOnly assembly  then   Assembly Load block    won t work  and an exception will be thrown  more details  I overcame this by creating a temporary file  and using  Assembly LoadFile dllFile

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I Found The Solution Below are the Stpes -    Download ILMerge msi and Install it on your Machine  Open Command Prompt  type cd C  Program Files  x86  Microsoft ILMerge Preess Enter C  Program Files  x86  Microsoft ILMerge ILMerge exe  target winexe  targetplatform  v4 C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework v4 0 30319   out NewExeName exe SourceExeName exe DllName dll   For Multiple Dll  -    C  Program Files  x86  Microsoft ILMerge ILMerge exe  target winexe  targetplatform  v4 C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework v4 0 30319   out NewExeName exe SourceExeName exe DllName1 dll DllName2 dll DllName3 dll

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For  NET Framework 4 5  ILMerge exe  target winexe  targetplatform  v4 C  Program Files Reference Assemblies Microsoft Framework  NETFramework v4 0   out finish exe insert1 exe insert2 dll   ILMerge   Open CMD and cd to your directory  Let s say  cd C  test Insert the above code   out finish exe replace finish exe with any filename you want  Behind the  out finish exe you have to give the files you want to be combined

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Install ILMerge as the other threads tell you to Then go to the installation folder  by default C  Program Files  x86  Microsoft ILMerge Drag your Dll s and Exes to that folder Shift-Rightclick in that folder and choose open command prompt Write  ilmerge myExe exe Dll1 dll  out merged exe   Note that you should write your exe first    There you got your merged exe  This might not be the best way if your going to do this multiple times  but the simplest one for a one time use  I would recommend putting Ilmerge to your path

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2019 Update  just for reference    Starting with  NET Core 3 0  this feature is supported out of the box  To take advantage of the single-file executable publishing  just add the following line to the project configuration file    lt PropertyGroup gt     lt PublishSingleFile gt true lt  PublishSingleFile gt   lt  PropertyGroup gt    Now  dotnet publish should produce a single  exe file without using any external tool   More documentation for this feature is available at https   github com dotnet designs blob master accepted single-file design md

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I answered a similar question for VB NET  It shouldn t however be too hard to convert  You embedd the DLL s into your Ressource folder and on the first usage  the  AppDomain CurrentDomain AssemblyResolve event gets fired    If you want to reference it during development  just add a normal DLL reference to your project   Embedd a DLL into a project

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Download ilmerge and ilmergre gui   makes joining the files so easy ive used these and works great

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Reference the DLL  s to your Resources and and use the AssemblyResolve-Event to return the Resource-DLL   public partial class App   Application       public App                 AppDomain CurrentDomain AssemblyResolve     sender  args    gt                         Assembly thisAssembly   Assembly GetExecutingAssembly                   Get the Name of the AssemblyFile             var name   args Name Substring 0  args Name IndexOf           dll                  Load form Embedded Resources - This Function is not called if the Assembly is in the Application Folder             var resources   thisAssembly GetManifestResourceNames   Where s   gt  s EndsWith name                if  resources Count    gt  0                                var resourceName   resources First                    using  Stream stream   thisAssembly GetManifestResourceStream resourceName                                         if  stream    null  return null                      var block   new byte stream Length                       stream Read block  0  block Length                       return Assembly Load block                                               return null

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Here is the official documentation  This is also automatically downloaded at step 2     Below is a really simple way to do it and I ve successfully built my app using  NET framework 4 6 1   Install ILMerge nuget package either via gui or commandline    Install-Package ilmerge  Verify you have downloaded it  Now Install  not sure the command for this  but just go to your nuget packages     Note  You probably only need to install it for one of your solutions if you have multiple Navigate to your solution folder and in the packages folder you should see  ILMerge  with an executable     FindMyiPhone-master FindMyiPhone-master packages ILMerge 2 14 1208 tools    Now here is the executable which you could copy over to your  bin Debug  or whereever your app is built  and then in commandline powershell do something like below    ILMerge exe myExecutable exe myDll1 dll myDll2 dll myDlln dll myNEWExecutable exe    You will now have a new executable with all your libraries in one

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Download  ILMerge  Call  ilmerge  target winexe  out c  output exe c  input exe C  input dll

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Also you can use  ilmergertool at codeplex with GUI interface

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