Why are admin privileges necessary when building on Win11?

[mu88]

Hi,

First of all, a huge thank you for your amazing work!

I migrated my little project to use .NET 8 yesterday and I stumbled over the fact that I cannot build it locally on my Win11 device without admin privileges. Calling electronize build /target win without those privileges results in the following error:

errorOut=ERROR: Cannot create symbolic link : A required privilege is not held by the client

To be honest, I didn't follow the latest progress in the Electron.NET world (shame on me), but I cannot remember that these privileges were necessary some years ago when I created this project 🤔

This is the complete output:

Build Electron Application...
Arguments: 
	target = win
Build ASP.NET Core App for win-x64...
Executing dotnet publish in this directory: C:\Users\MyUser\Documents\Development\GitHub\BlazorFotoManager\FotoManager\obj\desktop\win
Build ASP.NET Core App for win-x64 under Release-Configuration...
dotnet publish -r win-x64 -c "Release" --output "C:\Users\MyUser\Documents\Development\GitHub\BlazorFotoManager\FotoManager\obj\desktop\win\bin" /p:PublishReadyToRun=true /p:PublishSingleFile=true --self-contained
dotnet publish -r win-x64 -c "Release" --output "C:\Users\MyUser\Documents\Development\GitHub\BlazorFotoManager\FotoManager\obj\desktop\win\bin" /p:PublishReadyToRun=true /p:PublishSingleFile=true --self-contained
MSBuild version 17.8.3+195e7f5a3 for .NET
  Determining projects to restore...
  All projects are up-to-date for restore.
  FotoManagerLogic -> C:\Users\MyUser\Documents\Development\GitHub\BlazorFotoManager\FotoManagerLogic\bin\Release\net8.0\FotoManagerLogic.dll
  FotoManager -> C:\Users\MyUser\Documents\Development\GitHub\BlazorFotoManager\FotoManager\bin\Release\net8.0\win-x64\FotoManager.dll
  FotoManager -> C:\Users\MyUser\Documents\Development\GitHub\BlazorFotoManager\FotoManager\obj\desktop\win\bin\


Start npm install...
npm install --production
npm WARN config production Use `--omit=dev` instead.

added 50 packages, and audited 51 packages in 7s

found 0 vulnerabilities


ElectronHostHook handling started...
Build Electron Desktop Application...
Executing electron magic in this directory: C:\Users\MyUser\Documents\Development\GitHub\BlazorFotoManager\FotoManager\bin\desktop
Create electron-builder configuration file...
node build-helper.js electron.manifest.json


Package Electron App for Platform win...
npx electron-builder --config=./bin/electron-builder.json --win --x64 -c.electronVersion=23.2.0 
  • electron-builder  version=24.9.1 os=10.0.22621
  • loaded configuration  file=C:\Users\MyUser\Documents\Development\GitHub\BlazorFotoManager\FotoManager\obj\desktop\win\bin\electron-builder.json
  • description is missed in the package.json  appPackageFile=C:\Users\MyUser\Documents\Development\GitHub\BlazorFotoManager\FotoManager\obj\desktop\win\package.json
  • packaging       platform=win32 arch=x64 electron=23.2.0 appOutDir=C:\Users\MyUser\Documents\Development\GitHub\BlazorFotoManager\FotoManager\bin\Desktop\win-unpacked
  • downloading     url=https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder-binaries/releases/download/winCodeSign-2.6.0/winCodeSign-2.6.0.7z size=5.6 MB parts=1
  • downloaded      url=https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder-binaries/releases/download/winCodeSign-2.6.0/winCodeSign-2.6.0.7z duration=1.437s
  ⨯ cannot execute  cause=exit status 2
                    out=
    7-Zip (a) 21.07 (x64) : Copyright (c) 1999-2021 Igor Pavlov : 2021-12-26
    
    Scanning the drive for archives:
    1 file, 5635384 bytes (5504 KiB)
    
    Extracting archive: C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\438762831.7z
    --
    Path = C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\438762831.7z
    Type = 7z
    Physical Size = 5635384
    Headers Size = 1492
    Method = LZMA2:24m LZMA:20 BCJ2
    Solid = +
    Blocks = 2
    
    
    Sub items Errors: 2
    
    Archives with Errors: 1
    
    Sub items Errors: 2
    
                    errorOut=ERROR: Cannot create symbolic link : A required privilege is not held by the client. : C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\438762831\darwin\10.12\lib\libcrypto.dylib
    ERROR: Cannot create symbolic link : A required privilege is not held by the client. : C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\438762831\darwin\10.12\lib\libssl.dylib
    
                    command='C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_npx\009083ec26dc578f\node_modules\7zip-bin\win\x64\7za.exe' x -bd 'C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\438762831.7z' '-oC:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\438762831'
                    workingDir=C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign
  • Above command failed, retrying 3 more times
  • downloading     url=https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder-binaries/releases/download/winCodeSign-2.6.0/winCodeSign-2.6.0.7z size=5.6 MB parts=1
  • downloaded      url=https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder-binaries/releases/download/winCodeSign-2.6.0/winCodeSign-2.6.0.7z duration=1.219s
  ⨯ cannot execute  cause=exit status 2
                    out=
    7-Zip (a) 21.07 (x64) : Copyright (c) 1999-2021 Igor Pavlov : 2021-12-26
    
    Scanning the drive for archives:
    1 file, 5635384 bytes (5504 KiB)
    
    Extracting archive: C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\073176111.7z
    --
    Path = C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\073176111.7z
    Type = 7z
    Physical Size = 5635384
    Headers Size = 1492
    Method = LZMA2:24m LZMA:20 BCJ2
    Solid = +
    Blocks = 2
    
    
    Sub items Errors: 2
    
    Archives with Errors: 1
    
    Sub items Errors: 2
    
                    errorOut=ERROR: Cannot create symbolic link : A required privilege is not held by the client. : C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\073176111\darwin\10.12\lib\libcrypto.dylib
    ERROR: Cannot create symbolic link : A required privilege is not held by the client. : C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\073176111\darwin\10.12\lib\libssl.dylib
    
                    command='C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_npx\009083ec26dc578f\node_modules\7zip-bin\win\x64\7za.exe' x -bd 'C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\073176111.7z' '-oC:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\073176111'
                    workingDir=C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign
  • Above command failed, retrying 2 more times
  • downloading     url=https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder-binaries/releases/download/winCodeSign-2.6.0/winCodeSign-2.6.0.7z size=5.6 MB parts=1
  • downloaded      url=https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder-binaries/releases/download/winCodeSign-2.6.0/winCodeSign-2.6.0.7z duration=1.208s
  ⨯ cannot execute  cause=exit status 2
                    out=
    7-Zip (a) 21.07 (x64) : Copyright (c) 1999-2021 Igor Pavlov : 2021-12-26
    
    Scanning the drive for archives:
    1 file, 5635384 bytes (5504 KiB)
    
    Extracting archive: C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\378639987.7z
    --
    Path = C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\378639987.7z
    Type = 7z
    Physical Size = 5635384
    Headers Size = 1492
    Method = LZMA2:24m LZMA:20 BCJ2
    Solid = +
    Blocks = 2
    
    
    Sub items Errors: 2
    
    Archives with Errors: 1
    
    Sub items Errors: 2
    
                    errorOut=ERROR: Cannot create symbolic link : A required privilege is not held by the client. : C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\378639987\darwin\10.12\lib\libcrypto.dylib
    ERROR: Cannot create symbolic link : A required privilege is not held by the client. : C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\378639987\darwin\10.12\lib\libssl.dylib
    
                    command='C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_npx\009083ec26dc578f\node_modules\7zip-bin\win\x64\7za.exe' x -bd 'C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\378639987.7z' '-oC:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\378639987'
                    workingDir=C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign
  • Above command failed, retrying 1 more times
  • downloading     url=https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder-binaries/releases/download/winCodeSign-2.6.0/winCodeSign-2.6.0.7z size=5.6 MB parts=1
  • downloaded      url=https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder-binaries/releases/download/winCodeSign-2.6.0/winCodeSign-2.6.0.7z duration=915ms
  ⨯ cannot execute  cause=exit status 2
                    out=
    7-Zip (a) 21.07 (x64) : Copyright (c) 1999-2021 Igor Pavlov : 2021-12-26
    
    Scanning the drive for archives:
    1 file, 5635384 bytes (5504 KiB)
    
    Extracting archive: C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\738743695.7z
    --
    Path = C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\738743695.7z
    Type = 7z
    Physical Size = 5635384
    Headers Size = 1492
    Method = LZMA2:24m LZMA:20 BCJ2
    Solid = +
    Blocks = 2
    
    
    Sub items Errors: 2
    
    Archives with Errors: 1
    
    Sub items Errors: 2
    
                    errorOut=ERROR: Cannot create symbolic link : A required privilege is not held by the client. : C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\738743695\darwin\10.12\lib\libcrypto.dylib
    ERROR: Cannot create symbolic link : A required privilege is not held by the client. : C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\738743695\darwin\10.12\lib\libssl.dylib
    
                    command='C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_npx\009083ec26dc578f\node_modules\7zip-bin\win\x64\7za.exe' x -bd 'C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\738743695.7z' '-oC:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\738743695'
                    workingDir=C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign
  • Above command failed, retrying 0 more times


... done

[Beyondo]

Same issue.

[darshitshah8]

not worked for me

[mu88]

same here 🤨

[darshitshah8]

Just enable developer mode in settings , it will work

[mu88]

My problem is bound to the shell and not VS Code

[jensstigaard]

Same issue here. When I am running Powershell as regular user, I experience this issue. When running Powershell as Administrator, the issue does not appear.