This quick reference post shows how to fix the following error:

   System.TypeInitializationException : The type initializer for 'Microsoft.Data.Sqlite.SqliteConnection' threw an exception.
---- System.Reflection.TargetInvocationException : Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.
-------- System.Exception : Library e_sqlite3 not found

The scenario where this happens is something like:

• You've got an Xunit project that targets more than one Target Framework Moniker
• One of those is .NET Framework
• You're referencing SQLite, either directly, or indirectly such as via EntityFramework.Sqlite
• You run your tests with dotnet test

The solution is to add a file named xunit.runner.json to your test project:

{
  "$schema": "https://xunit.net/schema/current/xunit.runner.schema.json",
  "shadowCopy": false
}

Be sure to set the file properties to Content and Copy if newer so that it actually ends up in the output folder along with the binaries for your test project.

I had this issue and it took a while to find the solution, so I thought I'd share it here with you.

In my situation, I had a test project that targeted:

  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFrameworks>net461;netcoreapp2.1;netcoreapp3.1;net5.0;net6.0</TargetFrameworks>

and I was referencing Entity Framework:

  <ItemGroup Condition=" '$(TargetFramework)' == 'net6.0'">
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore" Version="6.0.0-*" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Sqlite" Version="6.0.0-*" />
    <PackageReference Include="System.Text.Json" Version="6.0.0-*" />

  </ItemGroup>

  <ItemGroup Condition=" '$(TargetFramework)' == 'net5.0'">
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore" Version="5.0.0" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Sqlite" Version="5.0.0" />
    <PackageReference Include="System.Text.Json" Version="4.7.2" />
  </ItemGroup>

  <ItemGroup Condition=" '$(TargetFramework)' != 'net5.0'">
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore" Version="3.1.17" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Sqlite" Version="3.1.17" />
    <PackageReference Include="System.Text.Json" Version="4.7.2" />
  </ItemGroup>

When running my tests in Visual Studio, everything ran fine. However, when running from the command line, I see the dreaded Library e_sqlite3 not found.

I found quite a few hits when searching, but it was the advice above which came from this thread that fixed it.

Hope this helps!

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Published 25 Jan 2022