.NET RID Catalog

RID is short for Runtime Identifier. RID values are used to identify target platforms where the application runs. They're used by .NET packages to represent platform-specific assets in NuGet packages. The following values are examples of RIDs: linux-x64, ubuntu.14.04-x64, win7-x64, or osx.10.12-x64. For the packages with native dependencies, the RID designates on which platforms the package can be restored.

A single RID can be set in the <RuntimeIdentifier> element of your project file. Multiple RIDs can be defined as a semicolon-delimited list in the project file's <RuntimeIdentifiers> element. They're also used via the --runtime option with the following .NET CLI commands:

RIDs that represent concrete operating systems usually follow this pattern: [os].[version]-[architecture]-[additional qualifiers] where:

  • [os] is the operating/platform system moniker. For example, ubuntu.

  • [version] is the operating system version in the form of a dot-separated (.) version number. For example, 15.10.

    • The version shouldn't be marketing versions, as they often represent multiple discrete versions of the operating system with varying platform API surface area.

  • [architecture] is the processor architecture. For example: x86, x64, arm, or arm64.

  • [additional qualifiers] further differentiate different platforms. For example: aot.

RID graph

The RID graph or runtime fallback graph is a list of RIDs that are compatible with each other. The RIDs are defined in the Microsoft.NETCore.Platforms package. You can see the list of supported RIDs and the RID graph in the runtime.json file, which is located in the dotnet/runtime repository. In this file, you can see that all RIDs, except for the base one, contain an "#import" statement. These statements indicate compatible RIDs.

When NuGet restores packages, it tries to find an exact match for the specified runtime. If an exact match is not found, NuGet walks back the graph until it finds the closest compatible system according to the RID graph.

The following example is the actual entry for the osx.10.12-x64 RID:

"osx.10.12-x64": {
    "#import": [ "osx.10.12", "osx.10.11-x64" ]
}

The above RID specifies that osx.10.12-x64 imports osx.10.11-x64. So, when NuGet restores packages, it tries to find an exact match for osx.10.12-x64 in the package. If NuGet cannot find the specific runtime, it can restore packages that specify osx.10.11-x64 runtimes, for example.

The following example shows a slightly bigger RID graph also defined in the runtime.json file:

    win7-x64    win7-x86
       |   \   /    |
       |   win7     |
       |     |      |
    win-x64  |  win-x86
          \  |  /
            win
             |
            any

All RIDs eventually map back to the root any RID.

There are some considerations about RIDs that you have to keep in mind when working with them:

  • Don't try to parse RIDs to retrieve component parts.
  • Don't build RIDs programmatically.
  • Use RIDs that are already defined for the platform.
  • The RIDs need to be specific, so don't assume anything from the actual RID value.

Using RIDs

To be able to use RIDs, you have to know which RIDs exist. New values are added regularly to the platform. For the latest and complete version, see the runtime.json file in the dotnet/runtime repository.

Portable RIDs are values added to the RID graph that aren't tied to a specific version or OS distribution. They are the preferred choice, especially when dealing with multiple Linux distros since most distribution RIDs are mapped to the portable RIDs.

The following list shows a small subset of the most common RIDs used for each OS.

Windows RIDs

Only common values are listed. For the latest and complete version, see the runtime.json file in the dotnet/runtime repository.

  • Portable
    • win-x64
    • win-x86
    • win-arm
    • win-arm64
  • Windows 7 / Windows Server 2008 R2
    • win7-x64
    • win7-x86
  • Windows 8.1 / Windows Server 2012 R2
    • win81-x64
    • win81-x86
    • win81-arm
  • Windows 10 / Windows Server 2016
    • win10-x64
    • win10-x86
    • win10-arm
    • win10-arm64

For more information, see .NET dependencies and requirements.

Linux RIDs

Only common values are listed. For the latest and complete version, see the runtime.json file in the dotnet/runtime repository. Devices running a distribution not listed below may work with one of the Portable RIDs. For example, Raspberry Pi devices running a Linux distribution not listed can be targeted with linux-arm.

  • Portable
    • linux-x64 (Most desktop distributions like CentOS, Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, and derivatives)
    • linux-musl-x64 (Lightweight distributions using musl like Alpine Linux)
    • linux-arm (Linux distributions running on ARM like Raspbian on Raspberry Pi Model 2+)
    • linux-arm64 (Linux distributions running on 64-bit ARM like Ubuntu Server 64-bit on Raspberry Pi Model 3+)
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
    • rhel-x64 (Superseded by linux-x64 for RHEL above version 6)
    • rhel.6-x64
  • Tizen
    • tizen
    • tizen.4.0.0
    • tizen.5.0.0

For more information, see .NET dependencies and requirements.

macOS RIDs

macOS RIDs use the older "OSX" branding. Only common values are listed. For the latest and complete version, see the runtime.json file in the dotnet/runtime repository.

  • Portable
    • osx-x64 (Minimum OS version is macOS 10.12 Sierra)
  • macOS 10.10 Yosemite
    • osx.10.10-x64
  • macOS 10.11 El Capitan
    • osx.10.11-x64
  • macOS 10.12 Sierra
    • osx.10.12-x64
  • macOS 10.13 High Sierra
    • osx.10.13-x64
  • macOS 10.14 Mojave
    • osx.10.14-x64
  • macOS 10.15 Catalina
    • osx.10.15-x64
  • macOS 11.01 Big Sur
    • osx.11.0-x64
    • osx.11.0-arm64

For more information, see .NET dependencies and requirements.

See also