Windows – dotnet.exe won’t run because api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll is missing

asp.net-corewindowswindows-server-2008-r2

I need to host an ASP.NET Core 2.0 app in IIS on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. I'm following the Docs guide on how to Host ASP.NET Core on Windows with IIS.

After installation, I still can't run dotnet.exe. It calls for a DLL named api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll.

The program can't start because api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem.

However, there are lots of instances of this file on the machine, in the following folders:

  • C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App\2.0.3
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App\2.0.3
  • C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-u..rsalcrt-apifwd-win7_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.18972_none_a9a51144251fb166
  • C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-u..rsalcrt-apifwd-win7_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.23175_none_aa31870f3e3ad077
  • C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-u..rsalcrt-apifwd-win7_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.23656_none_aa4830af3e29a3af
  • C:\Windows\winsxs\x86_microsoft-windows-u..rsalcrt-apifwd-win7_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.18972_none_4d8675c06cc24030
  • C:\Windows\winsxs\x86_microsoft-windows-u..rsalcrt-apifwd-win7_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.23175_none_4e12eb8b85dd5f41
  • C:\Windows\winsxs\x86_microsoft-windows-u..rsalcrt-apifwd-win7_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.23656_none_4e29952b85cc3279

The instruction says:

Install the .NET Core Windows Server Hosting bundle on the hosting system. […] If the system doesn't have an Internet connection, obtain and install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable before installing the .NET Core Windows Server Hosting bundle.

I have installed/repaired both of these packages multiple times but get the same error.

Best Answer

It's probably not that the DLL is missing, but rather one of the DLL's dependencies is missing.

  1. Make sure you're installing the Update 3 version of the Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable.

  2. One of the requirements of the Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable is KB2999226. Make sure this is installed as well.

    • If it's already installed, post the installation log from the Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable installer package.
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