Portable, Side-by-Side PowerShell Universal Instances

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This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://blog.ironmansoftware.com/portal-side-by-side-powershell-universal/
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Hi Adam!

I tried this side-by-side installation on 2 different windows servers in our environment, but when I try to start that portable instance it always fails with this error:

[13:38:00 FTL] Fatal error starting PowerShell Universal.
System.ArgumentNullException: Value cannot be null. (Parameter 'name')
   at System.ArgumentNullException.Throw(String paramName)
   at System.Environment.ExpandEnvironmentVariables(String name)
   at Universal.Server.Services.DashboardAssetManager..ctor(IConfigurationService configuration, IDatabase database, ILogger`1 logger) in C:\actions-runner\_work\universal\universal\src\Universal.Server\Services\Dashboard\DashboardAssetManager.cs:line 20
   at System.RuntimeMethodHandle.InvokeMethod(Object target, Void** arguments, Signature sig, Boolean isConstructor)
   at System.Reflection.ConstructorInvoker.Invoke(Object obj, IntPtr* args, BindingFlags invokeAttr)
   at System.Reflection.RuntimeConstructorInfo.Invoke(BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteRuntimeResolver.VisitConstructor(ConstructorCallSite constructorCallSite, RuntimeResolverContext context)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteVisitor`2.VisitCallSiteMain(ServiceCallSite callSite, TArgument argument)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteRuntimeResolver.VisitDisposeCache(ServiceCallSite transientCallSite, RuntimeResolverContext context)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteVisitor`2.VisitCallSite(ServiceCallSite callSite, TArgument argument)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteRuntimeResolver.VisitConstructor(ConstructorCallSite constructorCallSite, RuntimeResolverContext context)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteVisitor`2.VisitCallSiteMain(ServiceCallSite callSite, TArgument argument)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteRuntimeResolver.VisitRootCache(ServiceCallSite callSite, RuntimeResolverContext context)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteVisitor`2.VisitCallSite(ServiceCallSite callSite, TArgument argument)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteRuntimeResolver.VisitIEnumerable(IEnumerableCallSite enumerableCallSite, RuntimeResolverContext context)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteVisitor`2.VisitCallSiteMain(ServiceCallSite callSite, TArgument argument)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteVisitor`2.VisitCallSite(ServiceCallSite callSite, TArgument argument)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteRuntimeResolver.Resolve(ServiceCallSite callSite, ServiceProviderEngineScope scope)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.DynamicServiceProviderEngine.<>c__DisplayClass2_0.<RealizeService>b__0(ServiceProviderEngineScope scope)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceProvider.GetService(Type serviceType, ServiceProviderEngineScope serviceProviderEngineScope)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceProviderServiceExtensions.GetRequiredService(IServiceProvider provider, Type serviceType)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceProviderServiceExtensions.GetRequiredService[T](IServiceProvider provider)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.Internal.Host.StartAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.HostingAbstractionsHostExtensions.RunAsync(IHost host, CancellationToken token)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.HostingAbstractionsHostExtensions.RunAsync(IHost host, CancellationToken token)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.HostingAbstractionsHostExtensions.Run(IHost host)
   at Universal.Server.Program.<>c__DisplayClass3_0.<Main>b__0(Options o) in C:\actions-runner\_work\universal\universal\src\Universal.Server\Program.cs:line 80
Unhandled exception. System.ArgumentNullException: Value cannot be null. (Parameter 'name')
   at System.ArgumentNullException.Throw(String paramName)
   at System.Environment.ExpandEnvironmentVariables(String name)
   at Universal.Server.Services.DashboardAssetManager..ctor(IConfigurationService configuration, IDatabase database, ILogger`1 logger) in C:\actions-runner\_work\universal\universal\src\Universal.Server\Services\Dashboard\DashboardAssetManager.cs:line 20
   at System.RuntimeMethodHandle.InvokeMethod(Object target, Void** arguments, Signature sig, Boolean isConstructor)
   at System.Reflection.ConstructorInvoker.Invoke(Object obj, IntPtr* args, BindingFlags invokeAttr)
   at System.Reflection.RuntimeConstructorInfo.Invoke(BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteRuntimeResolver.VisitConstructor(ConstructorCallSite constructorCallSite, RuntimeResolverContext context)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteVisitor`2.VisitCallSiteMain(ServiceCallSite callSite, TArgument argument)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteRuntimeResolver.VisitDisposeCache(ServiceCallSite transientCallSite, RuntimeResolverContext context)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteVisitor`2.VisitCallSite(ServiceCallSite callSite, TArgument argument)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteRuntimeResolver.VisitConstructor(ConstructorCallSite constructorCallSite, RuntimeResolverContext context)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteVisitor`2.VisitCallSiteMain(ServiceCallSite callSite, TArgument argument)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteRuntimeResolver.VisitRootCache(ServiceCallSite callSite, RuntimeResolverContext context)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteVisitor`2.VisitCallSite(ServiceCallSite callSite, TArgument argument)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteRuntimeResolver.VisitIEnumerable(IEnumerableCallSite enumerableCallSite, RuntimeResolverContext context)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteVisitor`2.VisitCallSiteMain(ServiceCallSite callSite, TArgument argument)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteVisitor`2.VisitCallSite(ServiceCallSite callSite, TArgument argument)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.CallSiteRuntimeResolver.Resolve(ServiceCallSite callSite, ServiceProviderEngineScope scope)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceLookup.DynamicServiceProviderEngine.<>c__DisplayClass2_0.<RealizeService>b__0(ServiceProviderEngineScope scope)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceProvider.GetService(Type serviceType, ServiceProviderEngineScope serviceProviderEngineScope)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceProviderServiceExtensions.GetRequiredService(IServiceProvider provider, Type serviceType)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.ServiceProviderServiceExtensions.GetRequiredService[T](IServiceProvider provider)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.Internal.Host.StartAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.HostingAbstractionsHostExtensions.RunAsync(IHost host, CancellationToken token)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.HostingAbstractionsHostExtensions.RunAsync(IHost host, CancellationToken token)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.HostingAbstractionsHostExtensions.Run(IHost host)
   at Universal.Server.Program.<>c__DisplayClass3_0.<Main>b__0(Options o) in C:\actions-runner\_work\universal\universal\src\Universal.Server\Program.cs:line 80
   at CommandLine.ParserResultExtensions.WithParsed[T](ParserResult`1 result, Action`1 action)
   at Universal.Server.Program.Main(String[] args) in C:\actions-runner\_work\universal\universal\src\Universal.Server\Program.cs:line 52

This is the code from the run.ps1 file to start the instance:

param($Port = 5000)

$rootPath = $PSScriptRoot

# get settings.json
$settings = get-content -Path "$rootPath\App\appsettings.json" | ConvertFrom-Json -Depth 10

# get PSU version and set Port
Import-LocalizedData -BaseDirectory "$rootPath\App" -FileName Universal.psd1 -BindingVariable ModuleData
$Version = $ModuleData.ModuleVersion
if ($Port -eq 5000) {
    $Port = $("5"+$version[0]+$version[2]+$version[4])
}

# change settings
$settings.Data.RepositoryPath = "$rootPath\Repository"
$settings.Data.ConnectionString = "Data Source=$rootPath\Database.db"
$settings.Kestrel.Endpoints.HTTP.Url = "http://localhost:$Port"
$settings.Plugins[0] = "SQLite"
$settings.SystemLogPath = "$rootPath\Logs\SysLog.txt"

# save original appsettings.json if not already done.
if ($false -eq $(Test-Path -Path "$rootPath\App\appsettings_original.json")) {
    Copy-Item -Path "$rootPath\App\appsettings.json" -Destination "$rootPath\App\appsettings_original.json"
}

# write settings to file
$settings | convertto-json -Depth 10 | out-file -FilePath "$rootPath\App\appsettings.json"

& "$rootPath\App\Universal.Server.exe"

Environment:
PSU Version 4.3.4
PowerShell 7.4.3
Windows Server 2019 (1809)

Environment 2:
PSU Version 4.3.4
PowerShell 7.4.0
Windows Server 2022 (21H2)
Note: This server is also running our prod PSU instance 4.2.17

I hope you can help me to solve that somehow.

Thanks and best regards, Patrick