[BUG] Failed to load createcim.dll (or wvdutilities.dll). Please confirm the dll is next to this exe.

[lansalot]

Project msixmgr

Describe the bug

Despite being in the same folder as the exe and all the attendant DLLs, msixmgr is complaining that they are not there. However a procmon trace is showing the image as loading fine.

C:\msixsrc\tool>msixmgr.exe -unpack -packagepath c:\msixsrc\tool\iikoOffice_7.4.7012.0_x64__x38xz7jh3b9tc-new.msix -destination c:\msixsrc\tool\iikoOffice.cim -create -vhdsize 2048 -filetype CIM -rootDirectory iikoOffice

Failed to load createcim.dll. Please confirm the dll is next to this exe.

Failed to remove the temp dir  "C:\\msixsrc\\tool\\ca0fa9c6-a9f3-422d-8894-fd8d1bd066ea"
Ignoring this non-fatal error and moving on

Creating the CIM file  c:\msixsrc\tool\iikoOffice.cim failed with HRESULT 0x8007007e

The above process expands and unpacks the files fine, but dies after a few minutes with above error.

If I try to create a VHDX instead, it fails immediately with this error:

C:\msixsrc\tool>msixmgr.exe -unpack -packagepath c:\msixsrc\tool\iikoOffice_7.4.7012.0_x64__x38xz7jh3b9tc-new.msix -destination c:\msixsrc\tool\iikoOffice.vhdx -create -vhdsize 2048 -filetype vhdx -rootDirectory iikoOffice

Failed to load wvdutilities.dll. Please confirm the dll is next to this exe.
Creating the VHD(X) file  c:\msixsrc\tool\iikoOffice.vhdx failed with HRESULT 0x8007007e

procmon shows:

15:35:53.6498612	msixmgr.exe	7672	CreateFile	C:\msixsrc\tool\WVDUtilities.dll	SUCCESS	Desired Access: Read Attributes, Disposition: Open, Options: Open Reparse Point, Attributes: n/a, ShareMode: Read, Write, Delete, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
15:35:53.6498853	msixmgr.exe	7672	QueryBasicInformationFile	C:\msixsrc\tool\WVDUtilities.dll	SUCCESS	CreationTime: 15/04/2021 00:43:34, LastAccessTime: 16/04/2021 15:29:32, LastWriteTime: 16/04/2021 15:29:32, ChangeTime: 16/04/2021 15:32:20, FileAttributes: A
15:35:53.6498960	msixmgr.exe	7672	CloseFile	C:\msixsrc\tool\WVDUtilities.dll	SUCCESS	
15:35:53.6499860	msixmgr.exe	7672	CreateFile	C:\msixsrc\tool\WVDUtilities.dll	SUCCESS	Desired Access: Read Data/List Directory, Execute/Traverse, Synchronize, Disposition: Open, Options: Synchronous IO Non-Alert, Non-Directory File, Attributes: n/a, ShareMode: Read, Delete, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
15:35:53.6500187	msixmgr.exe	7672	CreateFileMapping	C:\msixsrc\tool\WVDUtilities.dll	FILE LOCKED WITH ONLY READERS	SyncType: SyncTypeCreateSection, PageProtection: PAGE_EXECUTE|PAGE_NOCACHE
15:35:53.6501771	msixmgr.exe	7672	CreateFileMapping	C:\msixsrc\tool\WVDUtilities.dll	SUCCESS	SyncType: SyncTypeOther
15:35:53.6502480	msixmgr.exe	7672	Load Image	C:\msixsrc\tool\WVDUtilities.dll	SUCCESS	Image Base: 0x7ffe2aca0000, Image Size: 0x12000
15:35:53.6503124	msixmgr.exe	7672	CloseFile	C:\msixsrc\tool\WVDUtilities.dll	SUCCESS	

To Reproduce As above

Expected behavior MSIX should create to CIM or VHDX file as instructed.

Platform Win20H2

PS C:\msixsrc\tool> get-filehash *.exe, *.dll

Algorithm       Hash                                                                   Path
---------       ----                                                                   ----
SHA256          D410434499BE3630CB8D4623C23D3BA8C771BD7AC369DCAA49568DD5466F37F0       C:\msixsrc\tool\msixmgr.exe
SHA256          D0D34F60A5E412C54DA8607E1CB5A7419B600363FC924FAF890743B24DB190AA       C:\msixsrc\tool\ApplyACLs.dll
SHA256          4E9E349DEF32D3308457354A5C0838D8320098BA004BF0BAB9B94C3C3FABECD7       C:\msixsrc\tool\CreateCIM.dll
SHA256          C44897A3B025BE37345D8F6DEDDB7D6E21B4F9A427C7AE08D30C88064D5C227E       C:\msixsrc\tool\msix.dll
SHA256          18300E0BE930BB491F572676E24C546C0BA162C08B98B38C2E9D3839880443F2       C:\msixsrc\tool\WVDUtilities.dll

[AllTimeHighScore]

I was having this issue as well but had just written a script accomplish creating a vhdx without ever calling on the msixmgr. Only when my team decided to start trying out the CIM extension did I revisit the issue. I was attempting to pack as a CIM or VHDX on a device different from the one used to create the msix packages. When the process was moved it to the capture device the issue resolved. I suspect it's due to the Feature Release level. The capture device is on 20H2 and the production device I was using to pack as a vhd(x) is still on 1909. I might upgrade the production device later to test if that resolves the issue.