SignTool 0.9.1-beta.26102.1 is broken

[martincostello]

0.9.1-beta.26102.1 also appears to be broken:

Unhandled exception: Settings file 'DotnetToolSettings.xml' was not found in the package.

App-vNext/Polly#2927

Originally posted by @martincostello in #978

[martincostello]

The issue appears to be that because any has been changed to win-x64, if sign is included in a .config/dotnet-tools.json configuration file, dotnet tool restore fails on non-Windows OS.

[dtivel]

@martincostello, Sign CLI currently only supports Windows. Can you tell me a bit more about your use case and what’s driving the restore on a non-Windows environment?

[martincostello]

We use multiple CLI tools in Polly for different purposes, and they are all declared in the tools config so they are pinned to specific versions for repeatability and we get dependabot PRs to keep them updated.

We don't use sign on non-Windows platforms, but the changes made to its packaging completely break the ability to manage the tool installation and version this way.

[dtivel]

I see: the version management happens on non-Windows, while execution happens on Windows.

In .NET 10, tool packages became RID-specific. That's behind the any -> win-x64 change within the package.

How do other Windows-only tools typically handle version management in this kind of setup?

[martincostello]

How do other Windows-only tools typically handle version management in this kind of setup?

I'm afraid I don't know - this is the first time I've encountered this situation.

[devlead]

This also break any builds with Cake scripts currently using sign tool and installing via preprocessor directive, i.e.

#tool "dotnet:https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json?package=sign&version=0.9.1-beta.26102.1&prerelease"

just like a tool manifest Cake scripts can be reused across platforms with conditionals

work around is so guard installation i.e. have the directive in a separate file

if (parameters.ShouldSignPackages)
{
    CakeExecuteScript(
        "./build/signtool.cake",
        new CakeSettings {
            Verbosity = Verbosity.Quiet,
            EnvironmentVariables = {
                ["CAKE_PATHS_TOOLS"] = context.MakeAbsolute(context.Directory("./tools")).FullPath
            }
        }
     );
}

With Cake.Sdk it's a bit easier to guard

if (IsRunningOnWindows())
{
    // Sign tool is only available on Windows.
    InstallTools(
        "dotnet:https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json?package=sign&version=0.9.1-beta.26102.1&prerelease");
}

[devlead]

Tool manifests doesn't support platform conditions, so can't see a good way to support dotnet tools pinned in tool-manifest, event though this is the recommended way in most scenarios.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/tools/local-tools-how-to-use#install-botsay-as-a-local-tool-traditional-approach