ProjectRT

Experimental project aiming at making it possible to use .NET Native with CoreRT's ILCompiler and MSVC's link.exe instead of Bartok/Triton MDIL Compiler of nutc_driver.exe and rhbind.exe.

Currently only the x64 target is tested and confirmed to be working, but support for x86 and ARM32 is planned.

[!NOTE] .NET Native already uses CoreRT's ILCompiler for the ARM64 target (codenamed ProjectX) unlike for the x86, x64, and ARM32 targets so you don't need this project for ARM64 targets.

Usage

[!NOTE]
Usage guide below is temporary until a proper installation method is there.

1. Compile bootstrap, bootstrap_dll, shimAppDll, and shimExe on the Release configuration.

2. Copy the compiled .libs to .NET Native's Nuget package ilc tools folder (.nuget\runtime.win10-x64.microsoft.net.native.compiler.2.2.12-rel-31116-00\tools\x64\ilc\tools).

3. Download mrt100X_app.lib to .NET Native's Nuget package ilc runtime libs folder (.nuget\runtime.win10-x64.microsoft.net.native.compiler.2.2.12-rel-31116-00\tools\x64\ilc\Lib\Runtime).

4. Duplicate mrt100_app.dll and name the duplicated copy mrt100X_app.dll.

5. Copy ILCompiler.Compiler.dll, ILCompiler.DependencyAnalysisFramework.dll, ILCompiler.Host.dll, ILCompiler.MetadataTransform.dll, and ILCompiler.TypeSystem.dll from arm64 ilc tools folder to x64 ilc tools folder (.nuget\runtime.win10-arm64.microsoft.net.native.compiler.2.2.12-rel-31116-00\tools\arm64\ilc\tools -> .nuget\runtime.win10-x64.microsoft.net.native.compiler.2.2.12-rel-31116-00\tools\x64\ilc\tools).

6. Open ILCompiler.Host.dll in dnSpy, then navigate to ILCompilerHost.AddTocModule, then Edit Method, then replace File.OpenRead(filename) with File.OpenRead(filename.Replace("win10-x64", "win10-arm64")), then Compile, and finally File > Save Module.

7. Add this to your app's csproj (tweak the paths as needed)

<UseDotNetNativeSharedAssemblyFrameworkPackage>false</UseDotNetNativeSharedAssemblyFrameworkPackage>
<IlcParameters>/PureNative /LinkPath:"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.38.33130\bin\Hostx64\x64" /NativeLibPath:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Lib\10.0.22621.0\um\x64"</IlcParameters>

8. Profit!

Screenshot because why not