Deployment on Windows Server 2019 vs VS on Windows Server 2019 - [HttpException (0x80004005): Could not load file or assembly 'PDFNet, Version=7.1.7.4119, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=45663c462b939c60' or one of its dependencies. The specified mod

I’m having an issue when deploying to Windows Server 2019.
The app works on another Windows Server 2019 with Visual Studio.

I’ve tried copying the recommended c++ dlls, but have not been successful.

[HttpException (0x80004005): Could not load file or assembly ‘PDFNet, Version=7.1.7.4119, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=45663c462b939c60’ or one of its dependencies. The specified module could not be found.]

The event logs don’t give me anything more than this:

Event code: 3005
Event message: An unhandled exception has occurred.
Event time: 2/20/2020 6:23:52 PM
Event time (UTC): 2/20/2020 4:23:52 PM
Event ID: 3f71086f4d664b5ba34944ae19c5a0d0
Event sequence: 2
Event occurrence: 1
Event detail code: 0

Application information:
Application domain: /LM/W3SVC/2/ROOT-3-132266894320917554
Trust level: Full
Application Virtual Path: /
Application Path: C:\sites\portal
Machine name: XXXXXXXXXXXX

Process information:
Process ID: 2884
Process name: w3wp.exe
Account name: IIS APPPOOL\Portal

Exception information:
Exception type: HttpException
Exception message: Could not load file or assembly ‘PDFNet, Version=7.1.7.4119, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=45663c462b939c60’ or one of its dependencies. The specified module could not be found.
at System.Web.HttpApplicationFactory.EnsureAppStartCalledForIntegratedMode(HttpContext context, HttpApplication app)
at System.Web.HttpApplication.RegisterEventSubscriptionsWithIIS(IntPtr appContext, HttpContext context, MethodInfo[] handlers)
at System.Web.HttpApplication.InitSpecial(HttpApplicationState state, MethodInfo[] handlers, IntPtr appContext, HttpContext context)
at System.Web.HttpApplicationFactory.GetSpecialApplicationInstance(IntPtr appContext, HttpContext context)
at System.Web.Hosting.PipelineRuntime.InitializeApplication(IntPtr appContext)

Could not load file or assembly ‘PDFNet, Version=7.1.7.4119, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=45663c462b939c60’ or one of its dependencies. The specified module could not be found.
at BoardView.Helpers.PDFHelper.Init()
at BoardView.ClientPortal.Forms.MvcApplication.Application_Start() in XXXXXX\Global.asax.cs:line 23

Could not load file or assembly ‘PDFNet.dll’ or one of its dependencies. The specified module could not be found.
at System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly._nLoad(AssemblyName fileName, String codeBase, Evidence assemblySecurity, RuntimeAssembly locationHint, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection, Boolean suppressSecurityChecks)
at System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.InternalLoadAssemblyName(AssemblyName assemblyRef, Evidence assemblySecurity, RuntimeAssembly reqAssembly, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection, Boolean suppressSecurityChecks)
at System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.InternalLoadFrom(String assemblyFile, Evidence securityEvidence, Byte[] hashValue, AssemblyHashAlgorithm hashAlgorithm, Boolean forIntrospection, Boolean suppressSecurityChecks, StackCrawlMark& stackMark)
at System.Reflection.Assembly.LoadFrom(String assemblyFile)
at pdftron.PDFNetLoader.PDFNetResolveEventHandler(Object sender, ResolveEventArgs args)
at System.AppDomain.OnAssemblyResolveEvent(RuntimeAssembly assembly, String assemblyFullName)

Request information:
Request URL: http://localhost/
Request path: /
User host address: ::1
User:
Is authenticated: False
Authentication Type:
Thread account name: IIS APPPOOL\Portal

Thread information:
Thread ID: 12
Thread account name: IIS APPPOOL\Portal
Is impersonating: False
Stack trace: at System.Web.HttpApplicationFactory.EnsureAppStartCalledForIntegratedMode(HttpContext context, HttpApplication app)
at System.Web.HttpApplication.RegisterEventSubscriptionsWithIIS(IntPtr appContext, HttpContext context, MethodInfo[] handlers)
at System.Web.HttpApplication.InitSpecial(HttpApplicationState state, MethodInfo[] handlers, IntPtr appContext, HttpContext context)
at System.Web.HttpApplicationFactory.GetSpecialApplicationInstance(IntPtr appContext, HttpContext context)
at System.Web.Hosting.PipelineRuntime.InitializeApplication(IntPtr appContext)

Custom event details:

Hello, the runtime dependency switched for this version.
https://www.pdftron.com/documentation/windows/changelog/#changed-behaviour

It is now the VC++ 2013 runtimes, since Microsoft is end of life for Visual Studio 2010 shortly.