Code-Only Development on Linux (Ubuntu) Requires Manual File Copying

[VaclavElias]

Release Type: Official Release

Version: 4.2.0.2293

Platform(s): Linux

Describe the bug
I am able to build and run code-only on Linux but I have to manually copy files here: /home/vaso/.nuget/packages/stride.core.assets.compilerapp/4.2.0.2293/lib/net8.0, see the step 8 below.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior: Steps are below

Expected behavior
There shouldn't be a manual fiddling with Stride files.

Screenshots
Below

Log and callstacks
N/a

Additional context

This test was done on Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS.

Optional step:

• sudo apt update # Fetches the list of available updates
• sudo apt upgrade # Installs some updates; does not remove packages
• sudo apt full-upgrade # Installs updates; may also remove some packages, if needed
• sudo apt autoremove # Removes any old packages that are no longer needed

Important

Last tested on 4th September 2025 with Stride 4.2.1.2442 and Stride.CommunityToolkit 1.0.0-preview.59

Warning

Make sure you use the latest Stride NuGet packages paired with correct Stride.CommunityToolkit NuGet packages and you replace the paths below accordingly.

Setup:

1. Ensure your Linux distribution is up to date and has an IDE like VS Code or Rider installed.
2. Install the .NET 8 SDK:

   sudo apt-get install -y dotnet-sdk-8.0

3. Verify the .NET SDK installation:

   dotnet --list-sdks

4. Install the required native libraries as outlined in Stride Linux Setup Requirements:

   sudo apt install libfreetype6-dev libopenal-dev libsdl2-dev libfreeimage-dev

5. Create a simple code-only project:
   • Add the Stride.CommunityToolkit NuGet package instead of Stride.CommunityToolkit.Windows (We should create probably a package called Stride.CommunityToolkit.Linux).

     dotnet add package Stride.CommunityToolkit --prerelease
     

   • If you use Bepu, don't forget

     dotnet add package Stride.CommunityToolkit.Bepu --prerelease
     

   • Add the Stride.Core.Assets.CompilerApp NuGet package.

     dotnet add package Stride.Core.Assets.CompilerApp --prerelease
     

   • Add a sample code or your code to Program.cs
   • Do not build the project yet.
6. Update your project file (.csproj) to include the following properties:
   • Add RuntimeIdentifier
   • Add StrideGraphicsApi
   • Add IncludeAssets to the PackageReference

   <Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
     <PropertyGroup>
       <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
       <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
       <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
       <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
       <RuntimeIdentifier>linux-x64</RuntimeIdentifier>
       <StrideGraphicsApi>OpenGL</StrideGraphicsApi>
     </PropertyGroup>
     <ItemGroup>
       <PackageReference Include="Stride.CommunityToolkit" Version="1.0.0-preview.49" />
       <PackageReference Include="Stride.Core.Assets.CompilerApp" Version="4.2.0.2293" IncludeAssets="build;buildTransitive" />
     </ItemGroup>
   </Project>

7. You should be able to build the project successfully with dotnet build, you have to do step 8 before you do dotnet build
8. Manual Step: Copy the following four (4) .so files to stride.core.assets.compilerapp/4.2.0.2293/lib/net8.0:
   • From: /home/vaso/.nuget/packages/stride.physics/4.2.0.2293/runtimes/linux-x64/native/libbulletc.so
   • From: /home/vaso/.nuget/packages/stride.assets/4.2.0.2293/runtimes/linux-x64/native/VHACD.so
   • From: /home/vaso/.nuget/packages/stride.textureconverter/4.2.0.2293/runtimes/linux-x64/native/DxtWrapper.so
   • From: /home/vaso/.nuget/packages/stride.textureconverter/4.2.0.2293/runtimes/linux-x64/native/PVRTextLib.so
   • To: /home/vaso/.nuget/packages/stride.core.assets.compilerapp/4.2.0.2293/lib/net8.0:
9. You should be able to run application dotnet run and see this below (The black debug text is another issue..)

If you skip step 8, you might get this error:

vaso@vaso-stride:~/Projects/Project01$ dotnet build
MSBuild version 17.8.5+b5265ef37 for .NET
  Determining projects to restore...
  Restored /home/vaso/Projects/Project01/Project01.csproj (in 1.14 sec).
  Patch for assembly [Project01, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null]
  Project01 -> /home/vaso/Projects/Project01/bin/Debug/net8.0/linux-x64/Project01.dll
  Unhandled exception. System.TypeInitializationException: The type initializer for '<Module>' threw an exception.
   ---> System.TypeInitializationException: The type initializer for '<Module>' threw an exception.
   ---> System.TypeInitializationException: The type initializer for '<Module>' threw an exception.
   ---> System.InvalidOperationException: Could not load native library libbulletc using CPU architecture x64.
     at Stride.Core.NativeLibraryHelper.PreloadLibrary(String libraryName, Type owner) in C:\BuildAgent\work\b5f46e3c4829a09e\sources\core\Stride.Core\Native\NativeLibraryHelper.cs:line 123
     at Stride.Engine.Module.Initialize() in C:\BuildAgent\work\b5f46e3c4829a09e\sources\engine\Stride.Physics\Module.cs:line 18
     at Stride.Core.CompilerServices.AutoGenerated.ModuleInitializer.<ModuleInitializer>F5D91558074716FFC11AFA8A899C97D0B6F82A81622FFA2C3017C0F689B8C9D8E__ModuleInitializer.Initialize() in C:\BuildAgent\work\b5f46e3c4829a09e\sources\engine\Stride.Physics\obj\Release\net8.0\Stride.Core.CompilerServices\Stride.Core.CompilerServices.Generators.ModuleInitializerGenerator\ModuleInitializer.cs:line 9
     at .cctor()
     --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
     at UpdateEngineAutoGenerated.UpdateMain0()
     at .cctor()
     --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
     at Stride.Core.DataSerializers.Stride_Core_Assets_CompilerAppSerializerFactory.Initialize()
     at .cctor()
     --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
  Aborted (core dumped)
/home/vaso/.nuget/packages/stride.core.assets.compilerapp/4.2.0.2293/buildTransitive/Stride.Core.Assets.CompilerApp.targets(154,5): error MSB3073: The command "dotnet "/home/vaso/.nuget/packages/stride.core.assets.compilerapp/4.2.0.2293/buildTransitive/../lib/net8.0/Stride.Core.Assets.CompilerApp.dll"  --disable-auto-compile --project-configuration "Debug" --platform=Linux --project-configuration=Debug --compile-property:StrideGraphicsApi=OpenGL --output-path="/home/vaso/Projects/Project01/bin/Debug/net8.0/linux-x64/data" --build-path="/home/vaso/Projects/Project01/obj/stride/assetbuild/data" --package-file="/home/vaso/Projects/Project01/Project01.csproj" --msbuild-uptodatecheck-filebase="/home/vaso/Projects/Project01/obj/Debug/net8.0/linux-x64/stride/assetcompiler-uptodatecheck"" exited with code 134. [/home/vaso/Projects/Project01/Project01.csproj]

Build FAILED.

/home/vaso/.nuget/packages/stride.core.assets.compilerapp/4.2.0.2293/buildTransitive/Stride.Core.Assets.CompilerApp.targets(154,5): error MSB3073: The command "dotnet "/home/vaso/.nuget/packages/stride.core.assets.compilerapp/4.2.0.2293/buildTransitive/../lib/net8.0/Stride.Core.Assets.CompilerApp.dll"  --disable-auto-compile --project-configuration "Debug" --platform=Linux --project-configuration=Debug --compile-property:StrideGraphicsApi=OpenGL --output-path="/home/vaso/Projects/Project01/bin/Debug/net8.0/linux-x64/data" --build-path="/home/vaso/Projects/Project01/obj/stride/assetbuild/data" --package-file="/home/vaso/Projects/Project01/Project01.csproj" --msbuild-uptodatecheck-filebase="/home/vaso/Projects/Project01/obj/Debug/net8.0/linux-x64/stride/assetcompiler-uptodatecheck"" exited with code 134. [/home/vaso/Projects/Project01/Project01.csproj]
    0 Warning(s)
    1 Error(s)

    <!-- Automatically copy Linux native libraries to CompilerApp directory -->
    <Target Name="CopyLinuxNativeLibraries" BeforeTargets="Build" Condition="'$(RuntimeIdentifier)' == 'linux-x64'">
        <PropertyGroup>
            <NuGetPackagesPath>$(NUGET_PACKAGES)</NuGetPackagesPath>
            <NuGetPackagesPath Condition="'$(NuGetPackagesPath)' == ''">$(UserProfile)\.nuget\packages</NuGetPackagesPath>
            <NuGetPackagesPath Condition="'$(NuGetPackagesPath)' == '' AND '$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'">$(HOME)/.nuget/packages</NuGetPackagesPath>
            <StrideVersion>4.2.1.2442</StrideVersion>
            <CompilerAppPath>$(NuGetPackagesPath)/stride.core.assets.compilerapp/$(StrideVersion)/lib/net8.0</CompilerAppPath>
        </PropertyGroup>
        
        <ItemGroup>
            <NativeLibrariesToCopy Include="$(NuGetPackagesPath)/stride.physics/$(StrideVersion)/runtimes/linux-x64/native/libbulletc.so" />
            <NativeLibrariesToCopy Include="$(NuGetPackagesPath)/stride.assets/$(StrideVersion)/runtimes/linux-x64/native/VHACD.so" />
            <NativeLibrariesToCopy Include="$(NuGetPackagesPath)/stride.textureconverter/$(StrideVersion)/runtimes/linux-x64/native/DxtWrapper.so" />
            <NativeLibrariesToCopy Include="$(NuGetPackagesPath)/stride.textureconverter/$(StrideVersion)/runtimes/linux-x64/native/PVRTextLib.so" />
        </ItemGroup>
        
        <Copy SourceFiles="@(NativeLibrariesToCopy)" 
              DestinationFolder="$(CompilerAppPath)" 
              SkipUnchangedFiles="true"
              Condition="Exists('$(CompilerAppPath)')" />
        
        <Message Text="Copied Linux native libraries to $(CompilerAppPath)" Importance="high" />
    </Target>

v2

<Target Name="CopyLinuxNativeLibraries" BeforeTargets="Build" Condition="'$(RuntimeIdentifier)' == 'linux-x64'">
    <PropertyGroup>
        <NuGetPackagesPath>$(NUGET_PACKAGES)</NuGetPackagesPath>
        <NuGetPackagesPath Condition="'$(NuGetPackagesPath)' == ''">$(UserProfile)\.nuget\packages</NuGetPackagesPath>
        <NuGetPackagesPath Condition="'$(NuGetPackagesPath)' == '' AND '$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'">$(HOME)/.nuget/packages</NuGetPackagesPath>
        <StrideVersion>4.2.1.2442</StrideVersion>
        <CompilerAppPath>$(NuGetPackagesPath)/stride.core.assets.compilerapp/$(StrideVersion)/lib/net8.0</CompilerAppPath>
    </PropertyGroup>
    
    <!-- Debug: Show resolved paths -->
    <Message Text="=== CopyLinuxNativeLibraries Debug Info ===" Importance="high" />
    <Message Text="NuGet Packages Path: $(NuGetPackagesPath)" Importance="high" />
    <Message Text="Stride Version: $(StrideVersion)" Importance="high" />
    <Message Text="Compiler App Path: $(CompilerAppPath)" Importance="high" />
    <Message Text="Compiler App Path Exists: $([System.IO.Directory]::Exists('$(CompilerAppPath)'))" Importance="high" />
    
    <ItemGroup>
        <NativeLibrariesToCopy Include="$(NuGetPackagesPath)/stride.physics/$(StrideVersion)/runtimes/linux-x64/native/libbulletc.so" />
        <NativeLibrariesToCopy Include="$(NuGetPackagesPath)/stride.assets/$(StrideVersion)/runtimes/linux-x64/native/VHACD.so" />
        <NativeLibrariesToCopy Include="$(NuGetPackagesPath)/stride.textureconverter/$(StrideVersion)/runtimes/linux-x64/native/DxtWrapper.so" />
        <NativeLibrariesToCopy Include="$(NuGetPackagesPath)/stride.textureconverter/$(StrideVersion)/runtimes/linux-x64/native/PVRTextLib.so" />
    </ItemGroup>
    
    <!-- Debug: Show each file to be copied and whether it exists -->
    <Message Text="Files to copy:" Importance="high" />
    <Message Text="  - %(NativeLibrariesToCopy.Identity) [Exists: $([System.IO.File]::Exists('%(NativeLibrariesToCopy.Identity)'))]" Importance="high" />
    
    <!-- Warning if destination doesn't exist -->
    <Warning Text="Destination folder does not exist: $(CompilerAppPath)" Condition="!Exists('$(CompilerAppPath)')" />
    
    <Copy SourceFiles="@(NativeLibrariesToCopy)" 
          DestinationFolder="$(CompilerAppPath)" 
          SkipUnchangedFiles="true"
          Condition="Exists('$(CompilerAppPath)')">
        <Output TaskParameter="CopiedFiles" ItemName="SuccessfullyCopiedFiles" />
    </Copy>
    
    <!-- Debug: Show what was actually copied -->
    <Message Text="Successfully copied $(SuccessfullyCopiedFiles->Count()) files:" Importance="high" Condition="'@(SuccessfullyCopiedFiles)' != ''" />
    <Message Text="  - %(SuccessfullyCopiedFiles.Filename)%(SuccessfullyCopiedFiles.Extension)" Importance="high" />
    <Message Text="No files were copied (already up-to-date or destination missing)" Importance="high" Condition="'@(SuccessfullyCopiedFiles)' == ''" />
    <Message Text="=======================================" Importance="high" />
</Target>

[Jklawreszuk]

Note: You can also use samples to test out and sometimes this issue occurs too

[Kryptos-FR]

Which command did you use to run after the initial build (and before step 8)?

[VaclavElias]

I just updated the instructions above.

Build with dotnet build. Run with dotnet run which causes the errors mentioned at the end, unless I copy manually those files.

[Jklawreszuk]

I might found the cause of the problem.

Example: VHACD.
Current code it's looking for

~/.nuget/packages/stride.assets/4.2.0.1/lib/net8.0/*.so:

But correct path is :

~/.nuget/packages/stride.assets/4.2.0.1/runtimes/linux-x64/native/*.so

[VaclavElias]

Nice digging. So is this a bug or just this wasn't ever tested and corrected?

[Jklawreszuk]

Everything is possible 😅

[VaclavElias]

Stride is like a software from the future which we try to figure out 🤣

[Kryptos-FR]

Was the code-only project built with runtime identifiers?

Edit: apparently yes according to the first post.

[Jklawreszuk]

Weird..I tried to debug the problem but it only fixed the path search..awesome

[VaclavElias]

These steps were tested again today and all is working but there were some steps updated..

Last tested on 4th September 2025 with Stride 4.2.1.2442 and Stride.CommunityToolkit 1.0.0-preview.59

[Ethereal77]

PR #3033 was merged today. It modifies the logic to look for native libraries. Can anyone test if makes any difference?

[SpikeTrapBoomStudios]

I was able to run the example code on Archlinux without the copying workaround, however I did need to add IncludeAssets to my compilerapp pkg reference:
<PackageReference Include="Stride.Core.Assets.CompilerApp" Version="4.3.0.2507" IncludeAssets="build;buildTransitive" />

Also, 'dotnet build' was giving me some exit code 1 errors on initial builds, but running

dotnet "/home/bgl/.nuget/packages/stride.core.assets.compilerapp/4.3.0.2507/lib/net10.0/Stride.Core.Assets.CompilerApp.dll" \
        --disable-auto-compile \
        --project-configuration "Debug" \
        --platform=Linux \
        --compile-property:StrideGraphicsApi=OpenGL \
        --output-path="/home/bgl/Documents/GameDevProjects/boombox/boombox/bin/Debug/net10.0/linux-x64/data" \
        --build-path="/home/bgl/Documents/GameDevProjects/boombox/boombox/obj/stride/assetbuild/data" \
        --package-file="/home/bgl/Documents/GameDevProjects/boombox/boombox/boombox.csproj"

fixed that issue, and from then on I can simply run 'dotnet build' and it works fine.

[VaclavElias]

There is an untested package Stride.CommunityToolkit.Linux which should add Stride.Core.Assets.CompilerApp but currently it does also some other things.. untested, most likely it needs to be updated.