Operation
An application that employs SxS must have a manifest. Manifests are typically a section embedded in the application's executable file but may also be an external file. When the operating system loads the application and detects the presence of a manifest, the operating system DLL loader is directed to the version of the DLL corresponding to that listed in the manifest. If there is no manifest, the DLL loader loads a default version of all DLL dependencies. If the DLL is a COM server, it must have a manifest of its own for registration-free activation to succeed.
On Windows Vista and later, application start failures due to SxS misconfiguration can be diagnosed using sxstrace.exe.
Because it is sometimes desirable to override manifest-specified assemblies anyway, for example in the case of security patches applied to a library, a publisher configuration file can globally redirect assemblies. Digital signatures may be used to ensure that this redirection is legitimate.
Read more about this topic: Side-by-side Assembly
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