docker installation build-tools windows-container

WixToolset cannot be installed inside a windows container having base image of windows/servercore

I am trying to install WixToolset 3.11.1 inside a running windows container based on image mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore. I am using the chocolatey command choco install wixtoolset but the .NET 3.5 fails to install and the installation is stuck. I tried the same command by adding it to the Dockerfile to install it during the image build, but the error is the same. Is there a way to get wixtoolset installed inside a windows container or am I missing something in this process?

Below is the log after I run the install command:

PS C:\> choco install -y -r --no-progress wixtoolset
Installing the following packages:
wixtoolset
By installing you accept licenses for the packages.

DotNet3.5 v3.5.20160716 [Approved]
dotnet3.5 package files install completed. Performing other installation steps.
#< CLIXML
<Objs Version="1.1.0.1" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/powershell/2004/04"><Obj S="progress" RefId="0"><TN RefId="0"><T>System.Management.Automation.PSCustomObject</T><T>System.Object</T></TN><MS><I64 N="SourceId">1</I64><PR N="Record"><AV>Preparing modules for first use.</AV><AI>0</AI><Nil /><PI>-1</PI><PC>-1</PC><T>Completed</T><SR>-1</SR><SD> </SD></PR></MS></Obj><Obj S="progress" RefId="1"><TNRef RefId="0" /><MS><I64 N="SourceId">1</I64><PR N="Record"><AV>Preparing modules for first use.</AV><AI>0</AI><Nil /><PI>-1</PI><PC>-1</PC><T>Completed</T><SR>-1</SR><SD> </SD></PR></MS></Obj><S S="debug">Host version is 5.1.17763.316, PowerShell Version is '5.1.17763.316' and CLR Version is '4.0.30319.42000'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Format-FileSize'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-ChecksumValid'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-ChocolateyUnzip'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-ChocolateyWebFile'.</S><S
S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-EnvironmentVariable'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-EnvironmentVariableNames'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-FtpFile'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-OSArchitectureWidth'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-PackageParameters'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-PackageParametersBuiltIn'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-ToolsLocation'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-UACEnabled'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-UninstallRegistryKey'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-VirusCheckValid'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-WebFile'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-WebFileName'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-WebHeaders'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-BinFile'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyDesktopLink'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyEnvironmentVariable'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyExplorerMenuItem'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyFileAssociation'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyInstallPackage'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyPackage'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyPath'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyPinnedTaskBarItem'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyPowershellCommand'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyShortcut'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyVsixPackage'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyZipPackage'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-Vsix'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Set-EnvironmentVariable'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Set-PowerShellExitCode'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Start-ChocolateyProcessAsAdmin'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Test-ProcessAdminRights'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function
'Uninstall-BinFile'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Uninstall-ChocolateyEnvironmentVariable'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Uninstall-ChocolateyPackage'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Uninstall-ChocolateyZipPackage'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Update-SessionEnvironment'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Write-ChocolateyFailure'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Write-ChocolateySuccess'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Write-FileUpdateLog'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Write-FunctionCallLogMessage'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting alias 'Get-ProcessorBits'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting alias 'Get-OSBitness'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting alias 'Get-InstallRegistryKey'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting alias 'Generate-BinFile'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting alias 'Add-BinFile'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting alias 'Start-ChocolateyProcess'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting alias 'Invoke-ChocolateyProcess'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting alias 'Remove-BinFile'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting alias 'refreshenv'.</S><S S="debug">Loading community extensions</S><S S="debug">Importing 'C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\extensions\chocolatey-core\chocolatey-core.psm1'</S><S S="verbose">Loading module from path 'C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\extensions\chocolatey-core\chocolatey-core.psm1'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-UninstallRegistryKey'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-AppInstallLocation'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-AvailableDriveLetter'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-EffectiveProxy'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-PackageCacheLocation'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-PackageParameters'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-WebContent'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Register-Application'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Get-AppInstallLocation'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Get-AvailableDriveLetter'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Get-EffectiveProxy'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Get-PackageCacheLocation'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Get-PackageParameters'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Get-UninstallRegistryKey'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Get-WebContent'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Register-Application'.</S><S S="debug">Importing 'C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\extensions\chocolatey-visualstudio\chocolatey-visualstudio.extension.psm1'</S><S S="verbose">Loading module from path 'C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\extensions\chocolatey-visualstudio\chocolatey-visualstudio.extension.psm1'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Add-VisualStudioComponent'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Add-VisualStudioWorkload'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-VisualStudioInstaller'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-VisualStudioInstallerHealth'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-VisualStudioInstance'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-VisualStudioVsixInstaller'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-VisualStudio'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-VisualStudioInstaller'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-VisualStudioVsixExtension'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Remove-VisualStudioComponent'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Remove-VisualStudioProduct'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Remove-VisualStudioWorkload'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Uninstall-VisualStudio'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Uninstall-VisualStudioVsixExtension'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Add-VisualStudioComponent'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Add-VisualStudioWorkload'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Get-VisualStudioInstaller'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Get-VisualStudioInstallerHealth'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Get-VisualStudioInstance'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Get-VisualStudioVsixInstaller'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Install-VisualStudio'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Install-VisualStudioInstaller'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Install-VisualStudioVsixExtension'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Remove-VisualStudioComponent'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Remove-VisualStudioProduct'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function
'Remove-VisualStudioWorkload'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Uninstall-VisualStudio'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Uninstall-VisualStudioVsixExtension'.</S><S S="debug">Importing 'C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\extensions\chocolatey-windowsupdate\chocolatey-windowsupdate.psm1'</S><S S="verbose">Loading module from path 'C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\extensions\chocolatey-windowsupdate\chocolatey-windowsupdate.psm1'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-WindowsUpdate'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Test-WindowsUpdate'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Install-WindowsUpdate'.</S><S S="verbose">Importing function 'Test-WindowsUpdate'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Format-FileSize'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-ChecksumValid'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-ChocolateyUnzip'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-ChocolateyWebFile'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-EnvironmentVariable'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-EnvironmentVariableNames'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-FtpFile'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-OSArchitectureWidth'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-PackageParameters'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-PackageParametersBuiltIn'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-ToolsLocation'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-UACEnabled'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-UninstallRegistryKey'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-VirusCheckValid'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-WebFile'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-WebFileName'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-WebHeaders'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-BinFile'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyDesktopLink'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyEnvironmentVariable'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyExplorerMenuItem'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyFileAssociation'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyInstallPackage'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyPackage'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyPath'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyPinnedTaskBarItem'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyPowershellCommand'.</S><S
S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyShortcut'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyVsixPackage'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyZipPackage'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-Vsix'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Set-EnvironmentVariable'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Set-PowerShellExitCode'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Start-ChocolateyProcessAsAdmin'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Test-ProcessAdminRights'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Uninstall-BinFile'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Uninstall-ChocolateyEnvironmentVariable'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Uninstall-ChocolateyPackage'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Uninstall-ChocolateyZipPackage'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Update-SessionEnvironment'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Write-ChocolateyFailure'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'xPackage'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-ChocolateyZipPackage'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-Vsix'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Set-EnvironmentVariab
le'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Set-PowerShellExitCode'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Start-ChocolateyProcessAsAdmin'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Test-ProcessAdm
inRights'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Uninstall-BinFile'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Uninstall-ChocolateyEnvironmentVariable'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Unins
tall-ChocolateyPackage'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Uninstall-ChocolateyZipPackage'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Update-SessionEnvironment'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting fu
nction 'Write-ChocolateyFailure'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Write-ChocolateySuccess'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Write-FileUpdateLog'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting functi
on 'Write-FunctionCallLogMessage'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-AppInstallLocation'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-AvailableDriveLetter'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting f
unction 'Get-EffectiveProxy'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-PackageCacheLocation'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-WebContent'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Regi
ster-Application'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Add-VisualStudioComponent'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Add-VisualStudioWorkload'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-
VisualStudioInstaller'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-VisualStudioInstallerHealth'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Get-VisualStudioInstance'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting fun
ction 'Get-VisualStudioVsixInstaller'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-VisualStudio'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-VisualStudioInstaller'.</S><S S="verbose">Expo
rting function 'Install-VisualStudioVsixExtension'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Remove-VisualStudioComponent'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Remove-VisualStudioProduct'.</S><
S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Remove-VisualStudioWorkload'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Uninstall-VisualStudio'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Uninstall-VisualStudioVsixE
xtension'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Install-WindowsUpdate'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting function 'Test-WindowsUpdate'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting alias 'Get-ProcessorBits'.</S><S
 S="verbose">Exporting alias 'Get-OSBitness'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting alias 'Get-InstallRegistryKey'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting alias 'Generate-BinFile'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting alia
s 'Add-BinFile'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting alias 'Start-ChocolateyProcess'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting alias 'Invoke-ChocolateyProcess'.</S><S S="verbose">Exporting alias 'Remove-BinFile'.<
/S><S S="verbose">Exporting alias 'refreshenv'.</S></Objs>
ERROR: Running ["C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" -NoLogo -NonInteractive -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -InputFormat Text -OutputFormat Text -EncodedCommand IAAg
ACAAIAAgACAAJABuAG8AUwBsAGUAZQBwACAAPQAgACQAVAByAHUAZQANAAoAIAAgACAAIAAgACAAIwAkAGUAbgB2ADoAQwBoAG8AYwBvAGwAYQB0AGUAeQBFAG4AdgBpAHIAbwBuAG0AZQBuAHQARABlAGIAdQBnAD0AJwBmAGEAbABzAGUAJwANAAoAIAAg
ACAAIAAgACAAIwAkAGUAbgB2ADoAQwBoAG8AYwBvAGwAYQB0AGUAeQBFAG4AdgBpAHIAbwBuAG0AZQBuAHQAVgBlAHIAYgBvAHMAZQA9ACcAZgBhAGwAcwBlACcADQAKACAAIAAgACAAIAAgACYAIABpAG0AcABvAHIAdAAtAG0AbwBkAHUAbABlACAALQBu
AGEAbQBlACAAJwBDADoAXABQAHIAbwBnAHIAYQBtAEQAYQB0AGEAXABjAGgAbwBjAG8AbABhAHQAZQB5AFwAaABlAGwAcABlAHIAcwBcAGMAaABvAGMAbwBsAGEAdABlAHkASQBuAHMAdABhAGwAbABlAHIALgBwAHMAbQAxACcAIAAtAFYAZQByAGIAbwBz
AGUAOgAkAGYAYQBsAHMAZQAgAHwAIABPAHUAdAAtAE4AdQBsAGwAOwANAAoAIAAgACAAIAAgACAAdAByAHkAewANAAoAIAAgACAAIAAgACAAIAAgACQAcAByAG8AZwByAGUAcwBzAFAAcgBlAGYAZQByAGUAbgBjAGUAPQAiAFMAaQBsAGUAbgB0AGwAeQBD
AG8AbgB0AGkAbgB1AGUAIgANAAoAIAAgACAAIAAgACAAIAAgAGMAbQBkAC4AZQB4AGUAIAAvAGMAIABEAEkAUwBNACAALwBPAG4AbABpAG4AZQAgAC8ATgBvAFIAZQBzAHQAYQByAHQAIAAvAEUAbgBhAGIAbABlAC0ARgBlAGEAdAB1AHIAZQAgAC8ARgBl
AGEAdAB1AHIAZQBOAGEAbQBlADoATgBlAHQARgB4ADMADQAKACAAIAAgACAAIAAgACAAIABpAGYAKAAhACQAbgBvAFMAbABlAGUAcAApAHsAcwB0AGEAcgB0AC0AcwBsAGUAZQBwACAANgB9AA0ACgAgACAAIAAgACAAIAB9AA0ACgAgACAAIAAgACAAIABj
AGEAdABjAGgAewANAAoAIAAgACAAIAAgACAAIAAgAGkAZgAoACEAJABuAG8AUwBsAGUAZQBwACkAewBzAHQAYQByAHQALQBzAGwAZQBlAHAAIAA4AH0ADQAKACAAIAAgACAAIAAgACAAIAB0AGgAcgBvAHcADQAKACAAIAAgACAAIAAgAH0A] was not su
ccessful. Exit code was '1'. See log for possible error messages.
The install of dotnet3.5 was NOT successful.
Error while running 'C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\lib\DotNet3.5\Tools\ChocolateyInstall.ps1'.
 See log for details.

wixtoolset v3.11.1 [Approved]
wixtoolset package files install completed. Performing other installation steps.
Installing wixtoolset...

Solution

The .NET Framework 3.5 feature can only be installed from the \Sources\sxs folder off the installation ISO...so mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore won't work (unless you manually copy in the .cab files in and use DISM to install them.)

Luckily, Microsoft provides containers specifically suited for running Framework apps: https://hub.docker.com/_/microsoft-dotnet-framework

dotnet/framework/sdk: .NET Framework SDK
dotnet/framework/aspnet: ASP.NET Web Forms and MVC
dotnet/framework/runtime: .NET Framework Runtime
dotnet/framework/wcf: Windows Communication Framework (WCF)
dotnet/framework/samples: .NET Framework, ASP.NET and WCF Samples

For my situation, using FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/framework/aspnet:3.5 allowed me to install the WixToolset package from Chocolatey.

EDIT 2022-08-15: Including Dockerfile from Andreas comment below, since it's no longer part of the primary branch in Microsoft's repo:

# escape=`

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore:1903

# Install .NET Fx 3.5
RUN curl -fSLo microsoft-windows-netfx3.zip https://dotnetbinaries.blob.core.windows.net/dockerassets/microsoft-windows-netfx3-1903.zip `
    && tar -zxf microsoft-windows-netfx3.zip `
    && del /F /Q microsoft-windows-netfx3.zip `
    && DISM /Online /Quiet /Add-Package /PackagePath:.\microsoft-windows-netfx3-ondemand-package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~.cab `
    && del microsoft-windows-netfx3-ondemand-package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~.cab `
    && powershell Remove-Item -Force -Recurse ${Env:TEMP}\*

# Apply latest patch
RUN curl -fSLo patch.msu http://download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/updt/2019/09/windows10.0-kb4515871-x64_03a6aec54b0ca2fc40efcff09a810064f5d2ae60.msu `
    && mkdir patch `
    && expand patch.msu patch -F:* `
    && del /F /Q patch.msu `
    && DISM /Online /Quiet /Add-Package /PackagePath:C:\patch\Windows10.0-kb4515871-x64.cab `
    && rmdir /S /Q patch

# ngen .NET Fx
ENV COMPLUS_NGenProtectedProcess_FeatureEnabled 0
RUN \Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v2.0.50727\ngen uninstall "Microsoft.Tpm.Commands, Version=10.0.0.0, Culture=Neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=amd64" `
    && \Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v2.0.50727\ngen update `
    && \Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\ngen update