Add Windows Native AOT release artifacts (win-x64, win-arm64)

[FrankRay78]

Summary

Extend the Native AOT release pipeline to Windows: add win-x64 and win-arm64 AOT artifacts alongside the Linux AOT artifacts delivered in #176, applying the same naming, validation, and clean-trim policy. This brings desktop Windows users to parity with Linux/IoT and rounds out the AOT story for the two most common platform families. macOS AOT remains a separate, later initiative.

Motivation

#176 delivers Linux AOT (linux-x64, linux-arm64) plus the cross-cutting groundwork — IsAotCompatible=true on both projects, clean-trim warning policy, XmlExtensions.cs rewrite, Humanizer resolution, and the matrix-extension pattern.

Once that lands, the work to ship Windows AOT is largely plumbing, not code:

• Native AOT cannot be cross-compiled — win-x64 requires windows-latest, win-arm64 requires windows-11-arm (GA since April 2025, free for public repos). Linux runners cannot produce Windows AOT binaries.
• Toolchain: windows-latest ships with MSVC v143 + the Windows 11 SDK pre-installed; no setup-msbuild or setup-vs step required.
• All trim/AOT code fixes from Add Linux Native AOT release artifacts (linux-x64, linux-arm64) for IoT deployments #176 are platform-agnostic and apply unchanged.

The platform-specific surface that genuinely differs is small: archive format (.zip, already handled by the existing branch on win-*), .exe extension, .pdb companion files, and the SmartScreen/AV implications of unsigned native binaries.

Proposal

1. Workflow changes — release-binaries.yml

Add two further matrix.include: entries to the same matrix #176 extends:

• win-x64-aot — runs-on: windows-latest. AOT publish, PublishSingleFile=false, archive as .zip.
• win-arm64-aot — runs-on: windows-11-arm. Same flags, same archive format.

Both entries inherit the deployment: aot and publish_single_file: false shape from #176 unchanged. The publish step's existing if [[ "${{ matrix.runtime }}" == win-* ]] archive branch already produces .zip for Windows RIDs — no change needed there.

2. Naming convention

Inherits the convention locked in #176:

RID	Filename
win-x64	netpace-{tag}-win-x64-aot.zip
win-arm64	netpace-{tag}-win-arm64-aot.zip

Total release-asset count rises from 14 (post-#176) to 16.

3. .pdb symbol files

Native AOT on Windows produces a .pdb next to the .exe. Two options:

• Exclude .pdb from the release archive — smaller download, end users don't typically need symbols, matches the bare-binary posture of the Linux AOT archives.
• Include .pdb — useful for end-user crash debugging on devices without a build environment.

Default (this issue): exclude. Symbol publishing (NuGet .snupkg or a separate symbol artifact) is its own initiative and out of scope here.

4. Smoke test

On each Windows runner, post-publish:

./NetPace.exe --version
./NetPace.exe --help

5. Globalization

Inherit whatever globalization mode #176 locks (recommendation in that issue is InvariantGlobalization=true for AOT publish only). No Windows-specific divergence — the AOT publish flags should be identical to Linux except for the runtime and runner.

6. Documentation

• README.md — install table extended with the two new win-*-aot.zip rows.
• docs/RELEASING.md (created in Add Linux Native AOT release artifacts (linux-x64, linux-arm64) for IoT deployments #176) — matrix and naming table extended; the win-arm64 runner choice (windows-11-arm) noted explicitly so future contributors don't reach for cross-compile.
• CHANGELOG.md — entry under the next release after Add Linux Native AOT release artifacts (linux-x64, linux-arm64) for IoT deployments #176 ships.
• USER_GUIDE.md — already covers AOT vs self-contained vs framework-dependent in Add Linux Native AOT release artifacts (linux-x64, linux-arm64) for IoT deployments #176; one-line note that AOT is now also available for Windows.

Out of scope

• macOS AOT (osx-x64, osx-arm64) — separate follow-up issue. Different runner family (macos-13, macos-14), separate notarization considerations.
• Code signing / Authenticode — unsigned native exes will trigger SmartScreen warnings on first download. Existing -standalone Windows builds aren't signed either; signing is a separate, larger initiative covering all release variants.
• AntiVirus heuristic mitigation — submitting binaries to Microsoft Defender / other AV vendors for whitelisting belongs with the signing initiative, not here.
• .pdb symbol distribution — see §3; out of scope until a symbol-publishing initiative exists.
• win-arm64 cross-compile from windows-latest — supported by the SDK but loses the same-job smoke test; rejected in favour of the native ARM runner.
• Renaming existing -standalone / -net8 suffixes for Windows — same compatibility argument as Add Linux Native AOT release artifacts (linux-x64, linux-arm64) for IoT deployments #176; preserved indefinitely here.
• Tag format change — same as Add Linux Native AOT release artifacts (linux-x64, linux-arm64) for IoT deployments #176, unrelated churn.
• Migrating away from self-contained for Windows — kept indefinitely; future deprecation may revisit.

Acceptance criteria

• Pushing a tag (after this issue ships) produces 16 release archives: the 14 from post-Add Linux Native AOT release artifacts (linux-x64, linux-arm64) for IoT deployments #176 unchanged, plus netpace-{tag}-win-x64-aot.zip and netpace-{tag}-win-arm64-aot.zip.
• Each Windows AOT archive contains a single native netpace.exe (no .dll, no .deps.json, no .runtimeconfig.json, no .pdb).
• Each Windows AOT archive is materially smaller than its -standalone counterpart (aot.zip < standalone.zip size assertion in the validation step, mirroring Add Linux Native AOT release artifacts (linux-x64, linux-arm64) for IoT deployments #176 / Q6).
• ./netpace.exe --version, ./netpace.exe --help, and ./netpace.exe servers exit 0 on their respective native runners (windows-latest / windows-11-arm).
• dotnet publish src/NetPace.Console -c Release -r win-x64 -p:PublishAot=true completes with the trim/AOT warning codes (IL2026, IL2090, IL3050, IL3056) treated as errors and exits 0.
• Same publish for -r win-arm64 exits 0.
• windows-11-arm runner is confirmed available for FrankRay78/NetPace (public repo, free tier) — captured as a workflow comment so future contributors don't doubt it.
• README.md, docs/RELEASING.md, CHANGELOG.md, and USER_GUIDE.md reflect the two new artifacts.
• No regression in existing 14 archives; existing self-contained / framework-dependent / Linux-AOT artefacts remain byte-identical to a comparable post-Add Linux Native AOT release artifacts (linux-x64, linux-arm64) for IoT deployments #176 release.

Open questions / future work

• SmartScreen / AV false positives — track via real release feedback once Windows AOT ships; remediation belongs with the code-signing initiative.
• Symbol publishing — eventual .snupkg or separate symbol-artifact channel for AOT crash debugging.
• macOS AOT follow-up — third and final platform issue in this series.
• Drop self-contained for Windows — once Windows AOT is proven across two or three releases without regression, consider deprecating the win-*-standalone archives in line with the eventual Linux deprecation.
• win-arm64 cross-compile fallback — if windows-11-arm runner availability becomes flaky or gets paywalled, document the cross-compile path as a contingency.

Confirmed decisions

• Smoke-test depth: Windows AOT smoke runs --version and --help only — no servers, no retry/timeout wrapper. Matches the two-command contract shipped by Add Linux Native AOT release artifacts (linux-x64, linux-arm64) for IoT deployments #176; broader smoke enhancements belong in a separate cross-cutting issue.
• CHANGELOG.md: Dropped from documentation scope and AC Upload speed test #8 — the project has no CHANGELOG.md; per-release notes are GitHub-auto-generated per docs/RELEASING.md#L67-L69.
• Smoke-test shell: Use shell: bash on the smoke step (Git Bash ships with both Windows runners) with an if-branch for unzip vs tar -xzf. Binary is NetPace (case-sensitive) on all platforms — NetPace.exe on Windows.
• Windows AOT runners: windows-latest (x64) for win-x64-aot, windows-11-arm (ARM64) for win-arm64-aot. Block on failure (no continue-on-error); cross-compile rejected to preserve the native smoke test, mirroring the Linux AOT runner choice in docs/RELEASING.md#L33-L35.

Related

• Depends on Add Linux Native AOT release artifacts (linux-x64, linux-arm64) for IoT deployments #176 — this issue cannot ship until Add Linux Native AOT release artifacts (linux-x64, linux-arm64) for IoT deployments #176 has merged. Specifically inherits: IsAotCompatible=true on both projects, the clean-trim warning policy, the XmlExtensions.cs rewrite, the Humanizer resolution, and the AOT matrix infrastructure.
• release-binaries.yml — workflow being extended.
• src/NetPace.Console/NetPace.Console.csproj
• src/NetPace.Core/NetPace.Core.csproj
• CLAUDE.md — AOT-trim-safety constraint.
• docs/conventions/change-intent-records.md — CIR for Add Linux Native AOT release artifacts (linux-x64, linux-arm64) for IoT deployments #176 should reference this follow-up; whether this issue also warrants its own CIR depends on the answer to Add Linux Native AOT release artifacts (linux-x64, linux-arm64) for IoT deployments #176's Q7.