dotnet pack
This article applies to: ✔️ .NET Core 2.x SDK and later versions
Name
dotnet pack
- Packs the code into a NuGet package.
Synopsis
dotnet pack [<PROJECT>|<SOLUTION>] [-c|--configuration <CONFIGURATION>]
[--force] [--include-source] [--include-symbols] [--interactive]
[--no-build] [--no-dependencies] [--no-restore] [--nologo]
[-o|--output <OUTPUT_DIRECTORY>] [--runtime <RUNTIME_IDENTIFIER>]
[-s|--serviceable] [-v|--verbosity <LEVEL>]
[--version-suffix <VERSION_SUFFIX>]
dotnet pack -h|--help
Description
The dotnet pack
command builds the project and creates NuGet packages. The result of this command is a NuGet package (that is, a .nupkg file).
If you want to generate a package that contains the debug symbols, you have two options available:
--include-symbols
- it creates the symbols package.--include-source
- it creates the symbols package with asrc
folder inside containing the source files.
NuGet dependencies of the packed project are added to the .nuspec file, so they're properly resolved when the package is installed. Project-to-project references aren't packaged inside the project. Currently, you must have a package per project if you have project-to-project dependencies.
By default, dotnet pack
builds the project first. If you wish to avoid this behavior, pass the --no-build
option. This option is often useful in Continuous Integration (CI) build scenarios where you know the code was previously built.
Note
In some cases, the implicit build cannot be performed. This can occur when GeneratePackageOnBuild
is set, to avoid a cyclic dependency between build and pack targets. The build can also fail if there is a locked file or other issue.
You can provide MSBuild properties to the dotnet pack
command for the packing process. For more information, see NuGet pack target properties and the MSBuild Command-Line Reference. The Examples section shows how to use the MSBuild -p
switch for a couple of different scenarios.
Web projects aren't packable by default. To override the default behavior, add the following property to your .csproj file:
<PropertyGroup>
<IsPackable>true</IsPackable>
</PropertyGroup>
Implicit restore
You don't have to run dotnet restore
because it's run implicitly by all commands that require a restore to occur, such as dotnet new
, dotnet build
, dotnet run
, dotnet test
, dotnet publish
, and dotnet pack
. To disable implicit restore, use the --no-restore
option.
The dotnet restore
command is still useful in certain scenarios where explicitly restoring makes sense, such as continuous integration builds in Azure DevOps Services or in build systems that need to explicitly control when the restore occurs.
For information about how to manage NuGet feeds, see the dotnet restore
documentation.
This command supports the dotnet restore
options when passed in the long form (for example, --source
). Short form options, such as -s
, are not supported.
Arguments
PROJECT | SOLUTION
The project or solution to pack. It's either a path to a csproj, vbproj, or fsproj file, or to a solution file or directory. If not specified, the command searches the current directory for a project or solution file.
Options
-c|--configuration <CONFIGURATION>
Defines the build configuration. The default for most projects is
Debug
, but you can override the build configuration settings in your project.--force
Forces all dependencies to be resolved even if the last restore was successful. Specifying this flag is the same as deleting the project.assets.json file.
-h|--help
Prints out a short help for the command.
--include-source
Includes the debug symbols NuGet packages in addition to the regular NuGet packages in the output directory. The sources files are included in the
src
folder within the symbols package.--include-symbols
Includes the debug symbols NuGet packages in addition to the regular NuGet packages in the output directory.
--interactive
Allows the command to stop and wait for user input or action (for example, to complete authentication). Available since .NET Core 3.0 SDK.
--no-build
Doesn't build the project before packing. It also implicitly sets the
--no-restore
flag.--no-dependencies
Ignores project-to-project references and only restores the root project.
--no-restore
Doesn't execute an implicit restore when running the command.
--nologo
Doesn't display the startup banner or the copyright message. Available since .NET Core 3.0 SDK.
-o|--output <OUTPUT_DIRECTORY>
Places the built packages in the directory specified.
--runtime <RUNTIME_IDENTIFIER>
Specifies the target runtime to restore packages for. For a list of Runtime Identifiers (RIDs), see the RID catalog.
-s|--serviceable
Sets the serviceable flag in the package. For more information, see .NET Blog: .NET Framework 4.5.1 Supports Microsoft Security Updates for .NET NuGet Libraries.
--version-suffix <VERSION_SUFFIX>
Defines the value for the
$(VersionSuffix)
MSBuild property in the project.-v|--verbosity <LEVEL>
Sets the verbosity level of the command. Allowed values are
q[uiet]
,m[inimal]
,n[ormal]
,d[etailed]
, anddiag[nostic]
.
Examples
Pack the project in the current directory:
dotnet pack
Pack the
app1
project:dotnet pack ~/projects/app1/project.csproj
Pack the project in the current directory and place the resulting packages into the
nupkgs
folder:dotnet pack --output nupkgs
Pack the project in the current directory into the
nupkgs
folder and skip the build step:dotnet pack --no-build --output nupkgs
With the project's version suffix configured as
<VersionSuffix>$(VersionSuffix)</VersionSuffix>
in the .csproj file, pack the current project and update the resulting package version with the given suffix:dotnet pack --version-suffix "ci-1234"
Set the package version to
2.1.0
with thePackageVersion
MSBuild property:dotnet pack -p:PackageVersion=2.1.0
Pack the project for a specific target framework:
dotnet pack -p:TargetFrameworks=net45
Pack the project and use a specific runtime (Windows 10) for the restore operation:
dotnet pack --runtime win10-x64
Pack the project using a .nuspec file:
dotnet pack ~/projects/app1/project.csproj -p:NuspecFile=~/projects/app1/project.nuspec -p:NuspecBasePath=~/projects/app1/nuget
For information about how to use
NuspecFile
,NuspecBasePath
, andNuspecProperties
, see the following resources: