[BUG] "-windows" TargetFramework requires "Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App" and can't be deployed to Azure

[jsquire]

Issue Transfer

This issue has been transferred from the Azure SDK for .NET repository, #41390.

Please be aware that @robertmuehsig is the author of the original issue and include them for any questions or replies.

Details

Describe the bug

When you create a "Windows" specific Web Application like that:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Web">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net6.0-windows</TargetFramework>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Azure.Identity" Version="1.10.4" />
  </ItemGroup>


</Project>

Then the resulting project will require the WindowsDesktop runtime:

{
  "runtimeOptions": {
    "tfm": "net6.0",
    "frameworks": [
      {
        "name": "Microsoft.NETCore.App",
        "version": "6.0.0"
      },
      {
        "name": "Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App",
        "version": "6.0.0"
      },
      {
        "name": "Microsoft.AspNetCore.App",
        "version": "6.0.0"
      }
    ],
    "configProperties": {
      "System.GC.Server": true,
      "System.Reflection.Metadata.MetadataUpdater.IsSupported": false,
      "System.Runtime.Serialization.EnableUnsafeBinaryFormatterSerialization": false
    }
  }
}

Microsoft.Identity.Client adds WebView2 and other stuff to the dependency tree:

The problem:
a) It was quite suprising that the target runtime dependency has changed.
b) This WindowsDesktop Runtime is not available on Azure (e.g. App Service).

Expected behavior

It seems wrong that the TargetFramework "net6.0-windows" is treated like "the application will be run on a desktop environment".
I always thought that "net6.0-windows" is for applications that uses Windows Specific APIs, which might be a Web Application. With the current behavior we had to use "net6.0" (which is in the end a good thing, but feels a bit drastic just because one NuGet package has a weird feature backed in).

Actual behavior

The desktop runtime is required.

Reproduction Steps

• Create a MVC App and use "net6.0-windows" (or net8.0-windows) as TargetFramework
• Add Azure.Identity
• Deploy to azure

Result:

You must install or update .NET to run this application.

App: C:\inetpub\wwwroot\primedocs\Service\PrimeDocs.Service.Host.dll
Architecture: x64
Framework: 'Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App', version '6.0.0' (x64)
.NET location: C:\Program Files\dotnet\

No frameworks were found.

Learn about framework resolution:
https://aka.ms/dotnet/app-launch-failed

Environment

Azure App Service

[pmaytak]

This is a known behavior. We're discussing the best approach to take. #4468 is the issue for tracking this.

Closing this as a duplicate.