I’m creating a desktop app for Windows only and using Electron with ASP.NET Web api as an interface for a COM reference to antoher program. This is working great for me but when I want to launch the API outside VS (executing the binary) I get this error:

Unhandled exception. System.IO.IOException: Failed to bind to address http://localhost:5000.
 ---> System.AggregateException: One or more errors occurred. (An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.) (An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.)
 ---> System.Net.Sockets.SocketException (10013): An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.
   at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.UpdateStatusAfterSocketErrorAndThrowException(SocketError error, String callerName)
   at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.DoBind(EndPoint endPointSnapshot, SocketAddress socketAddress)
   at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.Bind(EndPoint localEP)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Sockets.SocketTransportOptions.CreateDefaultBoundListenSocket(EndPoint endpoint)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Sockets.SocketConnectionListener.Bind()
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Sockets.SocketTransportFactory.BindAsync(EndPoint endpoint, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.Internal.Infrastructure.TransportManager.BindAsync(EndPoint endPoint, ConnectionDelegate connectionDelegate, EndpointConfig endpointConfig, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.KestrelServerImpl.<>c__DisplayClass30_0`1.<<StartAsync>g__OnBind|0>d.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location ---
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.Internal.AddressBinder.BindEndpointAsync(ListenOptions endpoint, AddressBindContext context, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.LocalhostListenOptions.BindAsync(AddressBindContext context, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
 ---> (Inner Exception #1) System.Net.Sockets.SocketException (10013): An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.
   at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.UpdateStatusAfterSocketErrorAndThrowException(SocketError error, String callerName)
   at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.DoBind(EndPoint endPointSnapshot, SocketAddress socketAddress)
   at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.Bind(EndPoint localEP)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Sockets.SocketTransportOptions.CreateDefaultBoundListenSocket(EndPoint endpoint)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Sockets.SocketConnectionListener.Bind()
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Sockets.SocketTransportFactory.BindAsync(EndPoint endpoint, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.Internal.Infrastructure.TransportManager.BindAsync(EndPoint endPoint, ConnectionDelegate connectionDelegate, EndpointConfig endpointConfig, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.KestrelServerImpl.<>c__DisplayClass30_0`1.<<StartAsync>g__OnBind|0>d.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location ---
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.Internal.AddressBinder.BindEndpointAsync(ListenOptions endpoint, AddressBindContext context, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.LocalhostListenOptions.BindAsync(AddressBindContext context, CancellationToken cancellationToken)<---

   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.LocalhostListenOptions.BindAsync(AddressBindContext context, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.Internal.AddressBinder.DefaultAddressStrategy.BindAsync(AddressBindContext context, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.Internal.AddressBinder.BindAsync(IEnumerable`1 listenOptions, AddressBindContext context, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.KestrelServerImpl.BindAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.KestrelServerImpl.StartAsync[TContext](IHttpApplication`1 application, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.GenericWebHostService.StartAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
   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 Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder.WebApplication.Run(String url)
   at Program.<Main>$(String[] args) in C:UsersnllorensDesktopValidation AssistantServerValidationAssistantServerProgram.cs:line 29

I really don’t get this error as my Web API doesn’t use port 5000 as you can se in my ‘launchSettings.json’:

{
  "$schema": "https://json.schemastore.org/launchsettings.json",
  "iisSettings": {
    "windowsAuthentication": false,
    "anonymousAuthentication": true,
    "iisExpress": {
      "applicationUrl": "http://localhost:38827",
      "sslPort": 44328
    }
  },
  "profiles": {
    "WebApplication2": {
      "commandName": "Project",
      "dotnetRunMessages": true,
      "launchBrowser": true,
      "launchUrl": "swagger",
      "applicationUrl": "https://localhost:7101;http://localhost:5181",
      "environmentVariables": {
        "ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT": "Development"
      }
    },
    "IIS Express": {
      "commandName": "IISExpress",
      "launchBrowser": true,
      "launchUrl": "swagger",
      "environmentVariables": {
        "ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT": "Development"
      }
    }
  }
}

What can be the problem? I thought maybe that my COM reference is to a .NET Framework Interop (but why is it launching and working fine when done from VS then?)

I’m trying to launch it from bin/debug/net6.0/executable.exe (the same binary that is runned from VS console)