How do I add a manifest to an executable using mt.exe?

Question

I'm trying to use mt.exe from the Windows SDK to add a manifest to an executable file that doesn't have one, using the following command line:

C:\winsdk61>mt.exe -nologo -manifest "r:\shared\hl.exe.manifest" -updateresource:"r:\shared\hl33m.exe;#1"

Unfortunately, when I do, I get this error:

mt.exe : general error c101008c: Failed to read the manifest from
the resource of file "r:\shared\hl33m.exe". The specified resource
type cannot be found in the image file.

Of course the resource wasn't found in the file - the file doesn't have a manifest, that's why I want to add one.

How can I append a manifest to an executable file? Shouldn't this be simple?

Answer 1

You should use /outputresource instead of /updateresource:.

The correct command line would be:

mt.exe -nologo -manifest "r:\shared\hl.exe.manifest" -outputresource:"r:\shared\hl33m.exe;#1"

Answer 2

This worked for me for VS 2005:

1. Create text file named after executable with extension manifest, and ensure it is located in the same path as your code files; i.e. Form1.cs, etc. For example, if your app name is UACTester.exe then your manifest file should be named UACTester.exe.manifest.
2. Ensure the contents of the manifest is good. I use this one:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
    <asmv1:assembly manifestVersion="1.0" xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1"
     xmlns:asmv1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" 
     xmlns:asmv2="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v2" 
     xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
        <assemblyIdentity version="1.0.0.0" name="MyApplication.app" />
        <trustInfo xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v2">
            <security>
                <requestedPrivileges xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
                    <requestedExecutionLevel level="requireAdministrator" 
                     uiAccess="false" />
                </requestedPrivileges>
                <applicationRequestMinimum>
                    <defaultAssemblyRequest permissionSetReference="Custom" />
                    <PermissionSet class="System.Security.PermissionSet" 
                     version="1" ID="Custom" SameSite="site" />
                </applicationRequestMinimum>
            </security>
        </trustInfo>
        <compatibility xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:compatibility.v1">
            <application>
            </application>
        </compatibility>
    </asmv1:assembly>

1. On your executable project, add the following post-build event:

   "$(DevEnvDir)..\Tools\Bin\mt.exe" -nologo -manifest "$(TargetPath).manifest" -outputresource:"$(TargetPath)"

Hope this helps. Good luck! -Matt Esterak

Answer 3

You can also use it like this to embed the manifest inside the EXE file:

mt.exe -nologo -manifest "r:\shared\hl.exe.manifest" -outputresource:"r:\shared\hl33m.exe;1"