Could not load file or assembly 'Newtonsoft.Json' or one of its dependencies. Manifest definition does not match the assembly reference

Question

Things I've tried after searching:

1. in Web.Config put a binding on the old version:

   <dependentAssembly>
       <assemblyIdentity name="Newtonsoft.Json" publicKeyToken="30ad4fe6b2a6aeed" culture="neutral" />
       <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-6.0.0.0" newVersion="6.0.1.0" />
   </dependentAssembly>
   

2. Edit my .csproj file to make sure there is only one Newtonsoft reference

   <Reference Include="Newtonsoft.Json, Version=6.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=30ad4fe6b2a6aeed, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
      <HintPath>..\packages\Newtonsoft.Json.6.0.1\lib\net45\Newtonsoft.Json.dll</HintPath>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>True</Private>
   </Reference>
   

3. Search my computer for every Newtonsoft.Json.dll and delete every non 6.0.1 version and delete the contents of my temp folder

4. Repair/Reinstall the package in nuget manager console

It succeeds on building, but gets the error when going to the site.

EDIT

ok, so then I tried to reinstall like every nuget package, and it seems to have added back the 4.5 version of the newtonsoft.json.dll, but I'm getting the same error. My project's Target freamework is .NET 4.5.1 and here is the stack trace I'm getting now:

Server Error in '/' Application.

Could not load file or assembly Newtonsoft.Json or one of its dependencies. The located assembly's manifest definition does not match the assembly reference. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131040)

Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.IO.FileLoadException: Could not load file or assembly Newtonsoft.Json or one of its dependencies. The located assembly's manifest definition does not match the assembly reference. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131040)

Source Error:

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.

Assembly Load Trace: The following information can be helpful to determine why the assembly Newtonsoft.Json could not be loaded.

=== Pre-bind state information ===
LOG: DisplayName = Newtonsoft.Json
(Partial)
WRN: Partial binding information was supplied for an assembly:
WRN: Assembly Name: Newtonsoft.Json | Domain ID: 2
WRN: A partial bind occurs when only part of the assembly display name is provided.
WRN: This might result in the binder loading an incorrect assembly.
WRN: It is recommended to provide a fully specified textual identity for the assembly,
WRN: that consists of the simple name, version, culture, and public key token.
WRN: See whitepaper http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=109270 for more information and common solutions to this issue.
LOG: Appbase = file:///c:/users/user/documents/visual studio 2013/Projects/foo/bar/
LOG: Initial PrivatePath = c:\users\user\documents\visual studio 2013\Projects\foo\bar\bin
Calling assembly : (Unknown).
 ===
LOG: This bind starts in default load context.
LOG: Using application configuration file: c:\users\user\documents\visual studio 2013\Projects\foo\bar\web.config
LOG: Using host configuration file: C:\Users\user\Documents\IISExpress\config\aspnet.config
LOG: Using machine configuration file from C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\config\machine.config.
LOG: Policy not being applied to reference at this time (private, custom, partial, or location-based assembly bind).
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/1/Temporary ASP.NET Files/root/48686d37/9d7a6572/Newtonsoft.Json.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/1/Temporary ASP.NET Files/root/48686d37/9d7a6572/Newtonsoft.Json/Newtonsoft.Json.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///c:/users/user/documents/visual studio 2013/Projects/foo/bar/bin/Newtonsoft.Json.DLL.
LOG: Using application configuration file: c:\users\user\documents\visual studio 2013\Projects\foo\bar\web.config
LOG: Using host configuration file: C:\Users\user\Documents\IISExpress\config\aspnet.config
LOG: Using machine configuration file from C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\config\machine.config.
LOG: Redirect found in application configuration file: 4.5.0.0 redirected to 6.0.1.0.
LOG: Post-policy reference: Newtonsoft.Json, Version=6.0.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=30ad4fe6b2a6aeed
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/1/Temporary ASP.NET Files/root/48686d37/9d7a6572/Newtonsoft.Json.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/1/Temporary ASP.NET Files/root/48686d37/9d7a6572/Newtonsoft.Json/Newtonsoft.Json.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///c:/users/user/documents/visual studio 2013/Projects/foo/bar/bin/Newtonsoft.Json.DLL.
WRN: Comparing the assembly name resulted in the mismatch: Major Version
ERR: Failed to complete setup of assembly (hr = 0x80131040). Probing terminated.

Stack Trace:

[FileLoadException: Could not load file or assembly 'Newtonsoft.Json' or one of its dependencies. The located assembly's manifest definition does not match the assembly reference. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131040)]

[FileLoadException: Could not load file or assembly 'Newtonsoft.Json, Version=6.0.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=30ad4fe6b2a6aeed' or one of its dependencies. The located assembly's manifest definition does not match the assembly reference. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131040)]
       System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly._nLoad(AssemblyName fileName, String codeBase, Evidence assemblySecurity, RuntimeAssembly locationHint, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection, Boolean suppressSecurityChecks) +0
       System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.nLoad(AssemblyName fileName, String codeBase, Evidence assemblySecurity, RuntimeAssembly locationHint, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection, Boolean suppressSecurityChecks) +34
       System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.InternalLoadAssemblyName(AssemblyName assemblyRef, Evidence assemblySecurity, RuntimeAssembly reqAssembly, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection, Boolean suppressSecurityChecks) +152
       System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.InternalLoad(String assemblyString, Evidence assemblySecurity, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, Boolean forIntrospection) +77
       System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.InternalLoad(String assemblyString, Evidence assemblySecurity, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean forIntrospection) +16
       System.Reflection.Assembly.Load(String assemblyString) +28
       System.Web.Configuration.CompilationSection.LoadAssemblyHelper(String assemblyName, Boolean starDirective) +38

[ConfigurationErrorsException: Could not load file or assembly 'Newtonsoft.Json, Version=6.0.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=30ad4fe6b2a6aeed' or one of its dependencies. The located assembly's manifest definition does not match the assembly reference. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131040)]
       System.Web.Configuration.CompilationSection.LoadAssemblyHelper(String assemblyName, Boolean starDirective) +752
       System.Web.Configuration.CompilationSection.LoadAllAssembliesFromAppDomainBinDirectory() +218
       System.Web.Configuration.CompilationSection.LoadAssembly(AssemblyInfo ai) +130
        System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.GetReferencedAssemblies(CompilationSection compConfig) +170
       System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.GetPreStartInitMethodsFromReferencedAssemblies() +91
       System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.CallPreStartInitMethods(String preStartInitListPath, Boolean& isRefAssemblyLoaded) +285
       System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.ExecutePreAppStart() +153
       System.Web.Hosting.HostingEnvironment.Initialize(ApplicationManager appManager, IApplicationHost appHost, IConfigMapPathFactory configMapPathFactory, HostingEnvironmentParameters hostingParameters, PolicyLevel policyLevel, Exception appDomainCreationException) +516

[HttpException (0x80004005): Could not load file or assembly 'Newtonsoft.Json, Version=6.0.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=30ad4fe6b2a6aeed' or one of its dependencies. The located assembly's manifest definition does not match the assembly reference. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131040)]
       System.Web.HttpRuntime.FirstRequestInit(HttpContext context) +9913572
       System.Web.HttpRuntime.EnsureFirstRequestInit(HttpContext context) +101
       System.Web.HttpRuntime.ProcessRequestNotificationPrivate(IIS7WorkerRequest wr, HttpContext context) +254

Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:4.0.30319; ASP.NET Version:4.0.30319.18408

Answer 1

For me, it was upgrading to Newtonsoft.Json 13.0.3. If you look at the references of the project and click on Newtonsoft.Json.dll, take a look at the properties. For me, even though NuGet and the package said 13.0.3, the properties version said 13.0.0. Therefore, I decided to put this in the AssemblyBinding section of the web.config, and it worked! :

<dependentAssembly>
    <assemblyIdentity name="Newtonsoft.Json" publicKeyToken="30ad4fe6b2a6aeed" culture="neutral" />
    <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-13.0.3.0" newVersion="13.0.0.0" />
</dependentAssembly>

Answer 2

For IIS contexts specifically:

I'd like to mention another angle I don't see covered in other answers. If you are seeing this error in IIS, sometimes it inexplicably retains cached copies of prior versions of DLLs in its temporary directories. If you have checked the version of the DLL in your /bin directory, and you've checked your binding redirects in web.config, and IIS just doesn't seem to “see” the local (correct version) copy of the DLL, here are steps to get to the bottom of it:

1. Follow the instructions in this answer to turn on assembly bind logging (there is a performance penalty, so remember to turn this off when you're done);
2. Get the assembly bind log viewer (FUSLOGVW.exe, in the VS SDK, or available from Microsoft);
3. Make a request to the site, review the log list to find the binding that's failing
4. In the log contents, you can see every candidate DLL considered to satisfy a binding request. If you have verified that the copy in your bin directory is correct, inspect the others and remove them if necessary:

Answer 3

After install or update Newtonsoft, some changes occur in web.config and those ones must be moved to web.config in live/prod environment, they are required and it depends which version used of.

We had same problem because we have been using release automation and wen.config file won't be override in prod/staging environment. So web had to change config file manually.

Answer 4

What helped me was upgrading the NuGet to the latest version. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

To solve this, I ensured all my projects used the same version by running the following command and checking the results:

update-package Newtonsoft.Json -reinstall

And, lastly I removed the following from my web.config:

  <dependentAssembly>
    <assemblyIdentity name="Newtonsoft.Json" publicKeyToken="30ad4fe6b2a6aeed" culture="neutral" />
    <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-6.0.0.0" newVersion="6.0.0.0" />
  </dependentAssembly>

If you want to ensure all your Newtonsoft.Json packages are the same version, you can specify the version like so:

update-package Newtonsoft.Json -version 6.0.0 -reinstall

Note: To open the PMC in Visual Studio, click Tools -> Nuget Package Manager -> Package Manager Console. Thanks @Rose!

Answer 6

Pls note I had this issue with DESKTOP APP DEVELOPMENT, NOT IN WEB APP DEVELOPMENT. I was redirected here when finding solution, if you are also redirected this way, then you can use GAC (Global Assembly Cache), which is used for storing common DLLs to Global for use.

My Issue in detal: Suppose, I was running app from C:\Documents via CMD with given full app's path D:\MyApp\MyApp.exe which uses Newtonsoft.json.dll and MyDLL.dll for json and processing respectively, which were stored at location D:\MyApp\ folder. Now, at execution time its starts searching DLL in C:\Users\Public which does not have DLLs. Then it gives error of Could not load DLL Newtonsoft.json.dll.

So i ended up registering dll in GAC. You can install in two ways

1. Use GACUTIL You can find steps in, How do I register a .NET DLL file in the GAC?

Which is simple but is installed with Visual Studio Installation.

2. Use POWERSHELL if GACUTIL is not available

You can follow Link, https://asvignesh.in/register-dll-in-gac-without-using-gacutil/

Or which Is used (link page description and below description is same) Powershell Commands:

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> [System.Reflection.Assembly]::Load("System.EnterpriseServices, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a")

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> $publish = New-Object System.EnterpriseServices.Internal.Publish PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> $publish.GacInstall("dll path full");

Hope you find your answer.

Answer 7

After hours struggling with this... I did the following:

web.config

<runtime>

  <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">

    <dependentAssembly>
      <assemblyIdentity name="Newtonsoft.Json" publicKeyToken="30ad4fe6b2a6aeed" culture="neutral" />
      <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-12.0.0.0" newVersion="12.0.0.0" />
    </dependentAssembly>

    <!-- other assemblies... -->

  </assemblyBinding>
</runtime>

The key to enter the correct newVersion and oldVersion number is open the project's References find the package go to its properties or click alt + enter

You'll find a section Version which in my case was 12.0.0.0 while its actually 12.0.3 when exploring with Manage NuGet.

So you need to pick the package's version from the reference properties (in my case 12.0.0.0)

Finally, clean and rebuild the project (you might want to delete the bin and obj folders before).

You might face other packages dependencies issues, i did that for all and they worked.

Answer 8

Alright so I guess the thing to do is add my answer here to this long list versus creating a duplicate question...

If you are getting this in 2019, using .NET Core 3.0 (Preview at this time), the solution is to ensure all projects are targeting the same .NET Core version (in my case 3.0). I think I had one project in the solution targeting 2.1 and the rest were 2.2 so I probably could have stuck with 2.2...

I don't even have Newtonsoft.Json installed in any of the projects, and naturally adding it to them did not fix the issue.

If you have .NET Standard class libraries or w/e in your solution, they don't need to be on the same version, though they should probably be the latest you can go. For example, my .NET Standard class libraries are on 2.2 as there is not a .NET Standard 3.0 yet.

Answer 9

the solution that solved my problem for this is

goto references->right click Newtonsoft.json--goto properties and check the version

this same version should be in

<dependentAssembly>
    <assemblyIdentity name="Newtonsoft.Json" publicKeyToken="30ad4fe6b2a6aeed" culture="neutral" />
    <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-YourDllVersion" newVersion="YourDllVersion" />
</dependentAssembly>

Answer 10

my problem was the newVersion in this code in web.config was not correct

<dependentAssembly>
    <assemblyIdentity name="Newtonsoft.Json" publicKeyToken="30ad4fe6b2a6aeed" culture="neutral" />
<bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-6.0.0.0" newVersion="6.0.1.0" />

you can see the version of Newtonsoft.Json package in nuget package manager and use it.

Answer 11

from Tools>>NuGet Package Manager>>Manage Package for solution update Newtonsoft.Json of all solutions to latest Version

Answer 12

In my case, at the message of error was "version 6.0.0", but this version is not available to install, so i installed the "6.0.1 version" at my project and solved my problem.

install-package Newtonsoft.Json -Version 6.0.1 -Project MyProjectX

Answer 13

I got the same problem with dotnet core and managed to fix it by clearing the NuGet cache.

Open the powershell and enter the following command.

dotnet nuget locals all --clear

Then I closed Visual Studio, opened it again and entered the following command into the Package Manager Console:

Update-Package

NuGet should now restore all packages and popultes the nuget cache again.

After that I was able to build and start my dotnet core webapi in a Linux container.

Answer 14

What actually helped me was to turn off the Resharper build and to use the VisualStudio Re-Build option on my project.

Answer 15

You can solve the issue by adding below lines in web.config file.

 <runtime>
    <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
      <dependentAssembly>
        <assemblyIdentity name="Newtonsoft.Json" publicKeyToken="30ad4fe6b2a6aeed" culture="neutral"/>
        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-8.0.0.0" newVersion="8.0.0.0"/>
      </dependentAssembly>
    </assemblyBinding>
  </runtime>

Answer 16

By commenting it out this part on my web.config solved my problem:

<dependentAssembly>
    <assemblyIdentity name="Newtonsoft.Json" publicKeyToken="30ad4fe6b2a6aeed" culture="neutral" />
    <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-6.0.0.0" newVersion="6.0.0.0" />
</dependentAssembly>

But of course you need to make sure you have updated or you have the right version by doing this in your package manager console:

update-package Newtonsoft.Json -reinstall

Answer 17

Here is my solution to this problem,make sure the version number in appconfig or packageconfig is same as the reference version in your references. See here

Answer 18

I resolved it by remove lower version of Newtonsoft.json.dll in bin folder and added Newtonsoft.json.dll V6.0.0.0 and removed the following web.config elements

<dependentAssembly>
    <assemblyIdentity name="Newtonsoft.Json" publicKeyToken="30ad4fe6b2a6aeed"/>
    <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-4.5.0.0" newVersion="5.0.8"/>
</dependentAssembly>

Answer 19

I have tried the steps by Oleg, and they worked for my same situation.

Steps:

1. Run update-package Newtonsoft.Json -reinstall in Package Manager.

2. Delete your bin by enabling viewing the hidden files and deleting the bin folder.

3. Close your Visual Studio and re-open it.

4. Now run your project again. I believe it should be ok!

Answer 20

This problem was not solved for me by refreshing NuGet Packages or by performing a "Clean" on the project. It was solved by clearing out the "obj" folder manually.

Answer 21

In some cases if you delete your Bin and Obj folders will solve this problem.

Answer 22

I had the same issue. I created a web api project and then upgraded it from .net 4.5.1 to .net 4.6.1. Closing the IDE, stopping IIS, and deleting contents of the C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\Temporary ASP.NET Files\ dir fixed the issue.

HTH

Answer 23

If none of these works, please check this answer:

https://stackoverflow.com/a/12011221/150370

(TL;DR: Remove xml namespace from configuration tag in your config file. Otherwise binding redirects will be ignored)

Answer 24

I Don't know why, but in my case, even if I remove bin folder from project, when I build project it copies old version of newtonsoft.json, I copied new version's dll from packages folder and It solves for now.

Answer 25

None of these options worked for me, in the end it was;

Test > Test Settings > *.testrunconfig

I had to add a new line

<DeploymentItem filename="packages\Newtonsoft.Json.4.5.8\lib\net40\Newtonsoft.Json.dll" />

Make sure the path and version is correct for your setup.

Answer 26

I had exactly the same issue and Visual Studio 13 default library for me was 4.5, so I have 2 solutions one is take out the reference to this in the webconfig file. That is a last resort and it does work.

The error message states there is an issue at this location /Projects/foo/bar/bin/Newtonsoft.Json.DLL. where the DLL is! A basic property check told me it was 4.5.0.0 or alike so I changed the webconfig to look upto 4.5 and use 4.5.

Answer 27

In my case it was just a matter of:

Tools -> NuGet Package Manager -> Package Manager Settings -> Clear Cache

The problem was caused when I remapped a TFS folder.

Answer 28

None of the answers, including the checked one did not work for me.

The solution was far more simple. I first removed the references from my BUS layer. Then deleted the dll's from the project (to make sure it's gone), then reinstalled JSON.NET from nuget packeges. And, the tricky part was, "turning it off and on again".

I just restarted visual studio, and there it worked!

So, if you try everything possible and still can't solve the problem, just try turning visual studio off and on again, it might help.

Answer 29

I struggled with this recently with and older project.

I managed to track down the problem after checking what version of the dll that actually was in the bin folder.

I had a post-build script that copied dependent assemblies from a dll library folder to the bin folder. A common setup from the days before nuget.

So every time I built the post-build script replaced the correct version of Json.net with the older one

Answer 30

I hit this problem because I had: project A (a desktop .exe) refer to project B (a portable .dll). A & B had different versions of JSON.Net, and so there was a loader conflict. Once I made all the versions of JSON.net the same, it worked. (This is in effect what some of the solutions above are doing - I'm just calling out why it works)