Unity activation fails inside Windows Docker container (exit code -1073741515) when using game-ci/unity-builder@v4 ... @4.7.0

[IamBiswajitSahoo]

Bug description

The Unity build fails during the activation step when running on the Windows Docker image unityci/editor:windows-2022.3.62f2-windows-il2cpp-3.

The process exits with code -1073741515, indicating a possible missing dependency or runtime issue within the container.

NOTE: All Unity credentials and license parameters are provided and verified as correct.

Error Log

Run game-ci/unity-builder@v4
  with:
    projectPath: DummyProject
    targetPlatform: StandaloneWindows64
    buildsPath: builds
    allowDirtyBuild: true
    buildMethod: DummyNamespace.Editor.EditorCIBuildConfigurations.BuildCI
    customParameters: --buildType beta --customBuildPath builds
    versioning: None
    unityVersion: auto
    androidExportType: androidPackage
    androidSymbolType: none
    runAsHostUser: false
    dockerIsolationMode: default
    containerRegistryRepository: unityci/editor
    containerRegistryImageVersion: 3
    awsStackName: game-ci
    providerStrategy: local
    kubeVolumeSize: 5Gi
    watchToEnd: true
    cacheUnityInstallationOnMac: false
    dockerWorkspacePath: /github/workspace
    skipActivation: false
  env:
    BUILD_TYPE: beta
    UNITY_EMAIL: ***
    UNITY_PASSWORD: ***
    UNITY_SERIAL: ***

Warning: 
      Library folder does not exist.
      Consider setting up caching to speed up your workflow,
      if this is not your first build.
    
Versioning strategy is set to none, so android version code should not be applied.
Building locally
C:\Windows\system32\reg.exe export "HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v10.0" c:/regkeys/winsdk.reg /y
C:\Windows\system32\docker.exe run --workdir c:/github/workspace --rm --env UNITY_EMAIL=*** --env UNITY_PASSWORD=*** --env UNITY_SERIAL=*** --env SKIP_ACTIVATION=false --env UNITY_VERSION=2022.3.62f2 --env PROJECT_PATH=DummyProject --env BUILD_TARGET=StandaloneWindows64 --env BUILD_NAME=StandaloneWindows64 --env BUILD_PATH=builds/StandaloneWindows64 --env BUILD_FILE=StandaloneWindows64.exe --env BUILD_METHOD=DummyNamespace.Editor.EditorCIBuildConfigurations.BuildCI --env MANUAL_EXIT=false --env ENABLE_GPU=false --env VERSION=none --env ANDROID_VERSION_CODE=0 --env ANDROID_EXPORT_TYPE=androidPackage --env ANDROID_SYMBOL_TYPE=none --env "CUSTOM_PARAMETERS=--buildType beta --customBuildPath builds -logFile ./unity-editor.log" --env RUN_AS_HOST_USER=false --env GITHUB_REF=refs/heads/cycle21/fix/fix-unity-build-ci-broken --env GITHUB_SHA=adfc08ad2987f19c02dfe8ef6aed11838449518d --env GITHUB_REPOSITORY=DummyOrg/DummyProject --env GITHUB_ACTOR=DummyUser --env "GITHUB_WORKFLOW=Staging Windows and MacOS"
The operation completed successfully.
Unable to find image 'unityci/editor:windows-2022.3.62f2-windows-il2cpp-3' locally
windows-2022.3.62f2-windows-il2cpp-3: Pulling from unityci/editor
[Docker layer pulls...]
Status: Downloaded newer image for unityci/editor:windows-2022.3.62f2-windows-il2cpp-3

No .upmconfig.toml found at C:\githubhome
The operation completed successfully.
GIT_PRIVATE_TOKEN unset skipping

---------- git config --list -------------
[Standard git config output redacted for brevity]
remote.origin.url=https://github.com/DummyOrg/DummyProject
http.https://github.com/.extraheader=AUTHORIZATION: basic ***
branch.cycle21/fix/fix-unity-build-ci-broken.remote=origin
branch.cycle21/fix/fix-unity-build-ci-broken.merge=refs/heads/cycle21/fix/fix-unity-build-ci-broken

###########################
#        Activating       #
###########################
Requesting activation
Activation failed, with exit code -1073741515
Error: Build failed with exit code 1

How to reproduce

Use the following GitHub Actions workflow step on a windows-latest runner.

- name: Build Player
  id: build_step
  uses: game-ci/unity-builder@v4
  env:
    UNITY_EMAIL: ${{ secrets.UNITY_EMAIL }}
    UNITY_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.UNITY_PASSWORD }}
    UNITY_SERIAL: ${{ secrets.UNITY_SERIAL }}
  with:
    projectPath: DummyProject
    targetPlatform: StandaloneWindows64
    buildsPath: 'builds'
    allowDirtyBuild: true
    buildMethod: DummyNamespace.CIBuildConfigurations.BuildCI
    customParameters: '--buildType ${{ env.BUILD_TYPE }} --customBuildPath builds'
    versioning: None

The build will fail at the Unity activation step with the reported exit code.

Expected behavior

Unity should activate successfully within the Windows container and continue with the build process without exiting early.

Additional details

• The same action and project was getting successfully built on 10th Oct 2025. But failing now.
• Fails consistently for Windows IL2CPP builds.
• Docker image used: unityci/editor:windows-2022.3.62f2-windows-il2cpp-3
• Action version: game-ci/unity-builder@v4.7.0
• Unity version: 2022.3.62f2
• Build log attached above.

[davidmfinol]

Can you try using game-ci/unity-builder@main instead of game-ci/unity-builder@v4? I think it was fixed with #757 but we have not created a new version yet since we still have some concerns we're not sure about

[IamBiswajitSahooOfficial]

Can you try using game-ci/unity-builder@main instead of game-ci/unity-builder@v4? I think it was fixed with #757 but we have not created a new version yet since we still have some concerns we're not sure about

Thanks a lot @davidmfinol for the reply.

Indeed using the @main seems to be installing the C++ Redistributables 2013 after downloading the image and the actvation working afterwards. Sharing the logs below.

10250ee6620a: Pull complete
21438aad0aac: Pull complete
Digest: sha256:45d0d5685ad647a719ea59e1261b9d9b9326d8604c3dfedea04a4cbcb22c4df9
Status: Downloaded newer image for unityci/editor:windows-2022.3.62f2-windows-il2cpp-3

Handles  NPM(K)    PM(K)      WS(K)     CPU(s)     Id  SI ProcessName          
-------  ------    -----      -----     ------     --  -- -----------          
     79       7     1032       4076       0.03   4508   1 AggregatorHost       
     95       7     1156       4100       0.03   1528   1 CExecSvc             
    255      16     2544       6412       0.11   9336   1 csrss                
     41       8     1012       3356       0.02   4812   1 fontdrvhost          
      0       0       60          8                 0   0 Idle                 
    666      20     3588      11180       0.72   4028   1 lsass                
    546      30   282440      57488       0.66   9716   1 powershell           
    262      18     4048       7280       0.22   3300   1 services             
     56       5     1260       2292       0.22   9828   0 smss                 
    151      11     2268       8400       0.48   6376   1 sppsvc               
    668      29     6248      18220       0.23   1120   1 svchost              
    401      18     3016       8232       0.03   2076   1 svchost              
    734      40     8312      20844       0.25   2184   1 svchost              
    350      17     3632      10236       0.08   5112   1 svchost              
    427      20     8844      14908       0.13   5888   1 svchost              
    433      24     5136      12516       0.09   8048   1 svchost              
    148      10     2000       6312       0.03   8892   1 svchost              
    119       9     1548       5540       0.05   9300   1 svchost              
    376      18    28248      39224       0.67   9836   1 svchost              
    137      10     5352      10408       0.17  10060   1 svchost              
   4028       0       40        172      50.31      4   0 System               
    136      10     1804       7040       0.03   6764   1 taskhostw            
    169      13     2040       6488       0.06   4032   1 wininit              
No .upmconfig.toml found at C:\githubhome
The operation completed successfully.


#########################################################
#     Installing Visual C++ Redistributables (2013)     #
#########################################################

Chocolatey v2.5.1
Installing the following packages:
vcredist2013
By installing, you accept licenses for the packages.
Downloading package from source 'https://community.chocolatey.org/api/v2/'

vcredist2013 v12.0.40660.20180427 [Approved]
vcredist2013 package files install completed. Performing other installation steps.
Downloading vcredist2013 64 bit
  from 'https://download.microsoft.com/download/0/5/6/056dcda9-d667-4e27-8001-8a0c6971d6b1/vcredist_x64.exe'

Download of vcredist_x64.exe (6.87 MB) completed.
Hashes match.
Installing vcredist2013...
vcredist2013 has been installed.
Downloading vcredist2013 
  from 'https://download.microsoft.com/download/0/5/6/056dcda9-d667-4e27-8001-8a0c6971d6b1/vcredist_x86.exe'

Download of vcredist_x86.exe (6.21 MB) completed.
Hashes match.
Installing vcredist2013...
vcredist2013 has been installed.
  vcredist2013 may be able to be automatically uninstalled.
 The install of vcredist2013 was successful.
  Software installed as 'exe', install location is likely default.

Chocolatey installed 1/1 packages. 
 See the log for details (C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\logs\chocolatey.log).
GIT_PRIVATE_TOKEN unset skipping
---------- git config --list -------------
diff.astextplain.textconv=astextplain
filter.lfs.clean=git-lfs clean -- %f
filter.lfs.smudge=git-lfs smudge -- %f
filter.lfs.process=git-lfs filter-process
filter.lfs.required=true
http.sslbackend=schannel
core.autocrlf=true
core.fscache=true
core.symlinks=true
pull.rebase=false
credential.helper=manager
credential.https://dev.azure.com.usehttppath=true
init.defaultbranch=master
safe.directory=*
core.repositoryformatversion=0
core.filemode=false
core.bare=false
core.logallrefupdates=true
core.ignorecase=true
remote.origin.url=https://github.com/CompanyX/ProjectX
remote.origin.fetch=+refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
gc.auto=0
http.https://github.com/.extraheader=AUTHORIZATION: basic ***
branch.cycle21/fix/fix-unity-build-ci-broken.remote=origin
branch.cycle21/fix/fix-unity-build-ci-broken.merge=refs/heads/cycle21/fix/fix-unity-build-ci-broken
---------- git config --list --show-origin -------------
file:C:/Program Files/Git/etc/gitconfig	diff.astextplain.textconv=astextplain
file:C:/Program Files/Git/etc/gitconfig	filter.lfs.clean=git-lfs clean -- %f
file:C:/Program Files/Git/etc/gitconfig	filter.lfs.smudge=git-lfs smudge -- %f
file:C:/Program Files/Git/etc/gitconfig	filter.lfs.process=git-lfs filter-process
file:C:/Program Files/Git/etc/gitconfig	filter.lfs.required=true
file:C:/Program Files/Git/etc/gitconfig	http.sslbackend=schannel
file:C:/Program Files/Git/etc/gitconfig	core.autocrlf=true
file:C:/Program Files/Git/etc/gitconfig	core.fscache=true
file:C:/Program Files/Git/etc/gitconfig	core.symlinks=true
file:C:/Program Files/Git/etc/gitconfig	pull.rebase=false
file:C:/Program Files/Git/etc/gitconfig	credential.helper=manager
file:C:/Program Files/Git/etc/gitconfig	credential.https://dev.azure.com.usehttppath=true
file:C:/Program Files/Git/etc/gitconfig	init.defaultbranch=master
file:C:/Users/ContainerAdministrator/.gitconfig	safe.directory=*
file:.git/config	core.repositoryformatversion=0
file:.git/config	core.filemode=false
file:.git/config	core.bare=false
file:.git/config	core.logallrefupdates=true
file:.git/config	core.ignorecase=true
file:.git/config	remote.origin.url=https://github.com/CompanyX/ProjectX
file:.git/config	remote.origin.fetch=+refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
file:.git/config	gc.auto=0
file:.git/config	http.https://github.com/.extraheader=AUTHORIZATION: basic ***
file:.git/config	branch.cycle21/fix/fix-unity-build-ci-broken.remote=origin
file:.git/config	branch.cycle21/fix/fix-unity-build-ci-broken.merge=refs/heads/cycle21/fix/fix-unity-build-ci-broken

###########################
#        Activating       #
###########################

Requesting activation
[UnityConnectServicesConfig] Local config successfully read: "C:/ProgramData/Unity/config/services-config.json"
[UnityConnectServicesConfig] "clientConnectTimeoutSec" was overridden with "5"
[UnityConnectServicesConfig] "clientHandshakeTimeoutSec" was overridden with "10"
[UnityConnectServicesConfig] Service configuration:
    "servicesConfigBaseUrl": "",
    "disableServicesWindow": false,
    "disableUserLogin": false,
    "disableCollabWindow": false,
    "entitlementCacheTimeoutInSeconds": 60,
    "clientConnectTimeoutSec": 60,
    "clientHandshakeTimeoutSec": 5,
    "clientResolveEntitlementsTimeoutSec": 30,
    "clientUpdateLicenseTimeoutSec": 30,
    "licensingServiceBaseUrl": "",
    "enableProxyAutoconfig": "false"

CreateDirectory 'C:/Users/ContainerAdministrator/AppData/Local/Unity/Caches' failed: The system cannot find the path specified.

 (current dir: )
CreateDirectory 'C:/Users/ContainerAdministrator/AppData/Local/Unity/Caches' failed: The system cannot find the path specified.

 (current dir: )
User *** logged in successfully
[UnityConnect::TryLogin] Request Succeeded.
[Licensing::Module] Trying to connect to existing licensing client channel...
[Licensing::IpcConnector] Channel LicenseClient-ContainerAdministrator doesn't exist
[Licensing::Module] Successfully launched the LicensingClient (PId: 3940)
[Licensing::IpcConnector] Successfully connected to: "LicenseClient-ContainerAdministrator" at "2025-11-13T07:54:52.9419397Z"
[Licensing::Client] Code 10 while verifying Licensing Client signature (process Id: 3940, path: "C:/UnityEditor/2022.3.62f2/Editor/Data/Resources/Licensing/Client/Unity.Licensing.Client.exe")
[Licensing::Module] LicensingClient has failed validation; ignoring
[Licensing::Client] Handshaking with LicensingClient:
  Version:                 1.16.2+bdef8f5
  Session Id:              8b6773473e8c416a81d0e5630b2198db
  Correlation Id:          cca3a57b92dab1f5e1e42102520e437e
  External correlation Id: 7842227267605178319
  Machine Id:              NOLXHR8RPIaezYgpSVW0AH514Jo=
[Licensing::Module] Successfully connected to LicensingClient on channel: "LicenseClient-ContainerAdministrator" (connect: 0.85s, validation: 0.16s, handshake: 0.22s)
[Licensing::IpcConnector] Successfully connected to: "LicenseClient-ContainerAdministrator-notifications" at "2025-11-13T07:54:53.3208363Z"
[Licensing::Module] Connected to LicensingClient (PId: 3940, launch time: 0.00, total connection time: 1.23s)
[Licensing::Client] Successfully updated the access token
[Licensing::Module] Successfully updated the access token cyptnuagEh...
[Licensing::Client] Successfully processed license management request
[Licensing::Module] Successfully activated the entitlement license
[Licensing::Client] Successfully queried for the EntitlementGroupsDetails
[Licensing::Client] Successfully activated ULF license
[Licensing::Module] Serial number assigned to (masked): "***"
Built from '2022.3/respin/2022.3.62f2-4af31df585-v2' branch; Version is '2022.3.62f2 (7670c08855a9) revision 7762112'; Using compiler version '192829333'; Build Type 'Release'

Question - @davidmfinol Can we expect an updated builder version with this fix ? As using @main will always going to pull in the latest main which may contain some breaking changes. Or is there a pre-release version that we can use until the stable version is released ?

[webbertakken]

You can use the commit hash instead of main to pin it.

[IamBiswajitSahooOfficial]

Indeed. Thanks @webbertakken . Pinning the hash here that worked 3a2abf9037d0df5648e9b888402654639215fa1e -- same merged commit for #757.

[benbalter]

3a2abf9037d0df5648e9b888402654639215fa1e fixed the problem for me.

[webbertakken]

Released in v4.8.0