How to Resolve DLL Version Conflicts When Upgrading Bold BI to .NET 8.0

Issue Summary

After upgrading the build from .NET 6.0 to .NET 8.0, the application failed and none of the UI pages were loaded due to version conflicts with System.Text.Encodings.Web. Despite explicitly referencing the correct version in the project, the application continued to use the older 6.0.0 version, leading to build-time and runtime issues.

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Root Cause

During deployment, instead of removing the existing application folder before placing the new build, the deployment team replaced it directly. This left behind files from the previous .NET 6.0 build, including System.Text.Encodings.Web.dll (v6.0.0).

Additionally, the project’s refs folder still contained System.Text.Encodings.Web 6.0.0. Since .NET dynamically resolves assemblies based on available references, it prioritized the outdated version from the refs folder instead of the updated .NET 8.0 version (9.0.0). Once the old DLL was deleted, the application correctly referenced the intended version, resolving the issue.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, manually delete the outdated System.Text.Encoding.Web.dll (v6.0.0) from the affected folders. This action will eliminate the conflict and restore normal application functionality.

Steps to resolve this issue

1. Go to IIS and stop the Bold applications and the BoldIDWeb application pool.

   
   

2. Navigate to the location C:\BoldServices\idp. Inside the web and ums folders, search for System.Text.Encodings.Web. Check the versions of the DLL; if the version is 6.0, delete that DLL. (This needs to be done in both the ums and web folders.)

   
   

3. Once the above steps are completed, restart the application.