Clickonce exception with Excel Interop DLL

Question

We're creating a software project (VS 2010, .NET 3.5 SP1) that uses Excel Interop through the Office 2007 PIA. We're deploying it to the internet for clickonce installation. In most cases it works just fine. But recently one customer had problems installing it (see the log file below).

As far as I could find out from reading on the internet, it could be in some way related to the PIA being registered by another application.

Can anybody provide some useful tips (maybe also some sources of reading regarding this topic)?

Thanks a lot!

PLATFORM VERSION INFO
    Windows             : 6.1.7601.65536 (Win32NT)
    Common Language Runtime     : 4.0.30319.269
    System.Deployment.dll       : 4.0.30319.1 (RTMRel.030319-0100)
    clr.dll             : 4.0.30319.269 (RTMGDR.030319-2600)
    dfdll.dll           : 4.0.30319.1 (RTMRel.030319-0100)
    dfshim.dll          : 4.0.31106.0 (Main.031106-0000)

SOURCES
    Deployment url          : http://***/***.application
                        Server      : Windows-Azure-Blob/1.0 Microsoft-HTTPAPI/2.0
    Deployment Provider url     : http://***/***.application
                        Server      : Windows-Azure-Blob/1.0 Microsoft-HTTPAPI/2.0
    Application url         : http://***/***.manifest
                        Server      : Windows-Azure-Blob/1.0 Microsoft-HTTPAPI/2.0

IDENTITIES
    Deployment Identity     : ***, Version=1.1.0.893, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b5867eb738db6c5c, processorArchitecture=msil
    Application Identity        : ***, Version=1.1.0.893, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b5867eb738db6c5c, processorArchitecture=msil, type=win32

APPLICATION SUMMARY
    * Installable application.

ERROR SUMMARY
    Below is a summary of the errors, details of these errors are listed later in the log.
    * Activation of http://***/***.application resulted in exception. Following failure messages were detected:
        + Exception occurred loading manifest from file Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.dll: the manifest may not be valid or the file could not be opened. 
        + File Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.dll is not a valid Portable Executable (PE) file.
        + File {0} is not a valid Portable Executable (PE) file.

COMPONENT STORE TRANSACTION FAILURE SUMMARY
    No transaction error was detected.

WARNINGS
    There were no warnings during this operation.

OPERATION PROGRESS STATUS
    * [9/20/2012 2:44:56 PM] : Activation of http://***/***.application has started.
    * [9/20/2012 2:44:57 PM] : Processing of deployment manifest has successfully completed.
    * [9/20/2012 2:44:57 PM] : Installation of the application has started.
    * [9/20/2012 2:44:58 PM] : Processing of application manifest has successfully completed.
    * [9/20/2012 2:45:00 PM] : Found compatible runtime version 2.0.50727.
    * [9/20/2012 2:45:00 PM] : Detecting dependent assembly Sentinel.v3.5Client, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=msil using Sentinel.v3.5Client, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=msil.
    * [9/20/2012 2:45:00 PM] : Detecting dependent assembly System.Data.Entity, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089, processorArchitecture=msil using System.Data.Entity, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089, processorArchitecture=msil.
    * [9/20/2012 2:45:00 PM] : Detecting dependent assembly WindowsBase, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=msil using WindowsBase, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=msil.
    * [9/20/2012 2:45:00 PM] : Detecting dependent assembly System.Core, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089, processorArchitecture=msil using System.Core, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089, processorArchitecture=msil.
    * [9/20/2012 2:45:00 PM] : Detecting dependent assembly System.Data.Entity, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089, processorArchitecture=msil using System.Data.Entity, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089, processorArchitecture=msil.
    * [9/20/2012 2:45:00 PM] : Request of trust and detection of platform is complete.

ERROR DETAILS
    Following errors were detected during this operation.
    * [9/20/2012 2:45:34 PM] System.Deployment.Application.InvalidDeploymentException (ManifestLoad)
        - Exception occurred loading manifest from file Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.dll: the manifest may not be valid or the file could not be opened. 
        - Source: System.Deployment
        - Stack trace:
            at System.Deployment.Application.Manifest.AssemblyManifest.ManifestLoadExceptionHelper(Exception exception, String filePath)
            at System.Deployment.Application.Manifest.AssemblyManifest.LoadFromInternalManifestFile(String filePath)
            at System.Deployment.Application.DownloadManager.ProcessDownloadedFile(Object sender, DownloadEventArgs e)
            at System.Deployment.Application.FileDownloader.DownloadModifiedEventHandler.Invoke(Object sender, DownloadEventArgs e)
            at System.Deployment.Application.SystemNetDownloader.DownloadSingleFile(DownloadQueueItem next)
            at System.Deployment.Application.SystemNetDownloader.DownloadAllFiles()
            at System.Deployment.Application.FileDownloader.Download(SubscriptionState subState)
            at System.Deployment.Application.DownloadManager.DownloadDependencies(SubscriptionState subState, AssemblyManifest deployManifest, AssemblyManifest appManifest, Uri sourceUriBase, String targetDirectory, String group, IDownloadNotification notification, DownloadOptions options)
            at System.Deployment.Application.ApplicationActivator.DownloadApplication(SubscriptionState subState, ActivationDescription actDesc, Int64 transactionId, TempDirectory& downloadTemp)
            at System.Deployment.Application.ApplicationActivator.InstallApplication(SubscriptionState& subState, ActivationDescription actDesc)
            at System.Deployment.Application.ApplicationActivator.PerformDeploymentActivation(Uri activationUri, Boolean isShortcut, String textualSubId, String deploymentProviderUrlFromExtension, BrowserSettings browserSettings, String& errorPageUrl)
            at System.Deployment.Application.ApplicationActivator.ActivateDeploymentWorker(Object state)
        --- Inner Exception ---
        System.IO.IOException
        - File Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.dll is not a valid Portable Executable (PE) file.
        - Source: System.Deployment
        - Stack trace:
            at System.Deployment.Application.PEStream.ConstructFromFile(String filePath, Boolean partialConstruct)
            at System.Deployment.Application.Manifest.AssemblyManifest.LoadFromInternalManifestFile(String filePath)
        --- Inner Exception ---
        System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception
        - File {0} is not a valid Portable Executable (PE) file.
        - Source: System.Deployment
        - Stack trace:
            at System.Deployment.Application.PEStream.DosHeader..ctor(FileStream file)
            at System.Deployment.Application.PEStream.ConstructPEImage(FileStream file, Boolean partialConstruct)
            at System.Deployment.Application.PEStream.ConstructFromFile(String filePath, Boolean partialConstruct)

COMPONENT STORE TRANSACTION DETAILS
    No transaction information is available.

Answer 1

Resurrecting a dead one here, but since I just ran into the same thing with one of my deployments I'll add my five cents as well.

The output from my deployment log was basically the same as yours:

    * Activation of //***//.application resulted in exception. Following failure messages were detected:
    + Exception occurred loading manifest from file DevExpress.Utils.v17.1.UI.dll: the manifest may not be valid or the file could not be opened. 
    + File DevExpress.Utils.v17.1.UI.dll is not a valid Portable Executable (PE) file.
    + PE file does not have enough data.

I removed the reference to the dll in question, re-added it and published again. This resolved the issue for me.

Answer 2

We had a nearly identical log file with our own ClickOnce application, though it failed on the first file downloaded (ClickOnce seems to download files in alphabetical order). We had the user whitelist the domain from which our application is deployed and the issue was resolved.

https://answers.atlassian.com/questions/154127/sourcetree-for-windows-install.

At my shop, ClickOnce is usually used in IT environments that are super locked down (Factory floof machines with only our software available, users can't even save files to their desktop) so whitelisting the site can resolve a range of issues.