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dotnet pack
This article applies to: ✔️ .NET Core 3.1 SDK and later versions
NAME
dotnet-pack - Packs the code into a NuGet package.
SYNOPSIS
dotnet pack [<PROJECT>|<SOLUTION>] [--artifacts-path <ARTIFACTS_DIR>]
[-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] [--tl:[auto|on|off]] [-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 a src 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. If the packed project has references to
other projects, the other projects aren’t included in the package. 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.
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.
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.
Workload manifest downloads
When you run this command, it initiates an asynchronous background download of advertising
manifests for workloads. If the download is still running when this command finishes, the
download is stopped. For more information, see Advertising manifests.
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
• --artifacts-path <ARTIFACTS_DIR>
All build output files from the executed command will go in subfolders under the
specified path, separated by project. For more information see Artifacts Output Layout.
Available since .NET 8 SDK.
• -c|--configuration <CONFIGURATION>
Defines the build configuration. If you’re developing with the .NET 8 SDK or a later
version, the command uses the Release configuration by default for projects whose
TargetFramework is set to net8.0 or a later version. The default build configuration is
Debug for earlier versions of the SDK and for earlier target frameworks. You can
override the default in project settings or by using this option. For more information,
see `dotnet publish' uses Release configuration and `dotnet pack' uses Release
configuration.
• --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 description of how to use 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.
• -o|--output <OUTPUT_DIRECTORY>
Places the built packages in the directory specified.
• .NET 7.0.200 SDK
In the 7.0.200 SDK, if you specify the --output option when running this command on a
solution, the CLI will emit an error. This is a regression and was fixed in 7.0.201
and later versions of the .NET SDK.
• --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
(https://aka.ms/nupkgservicing).
• --tl:[auto|on|off]
Specifies whether the terminal logger should be used for the build output. The default
is auto, which first verifies the environment before enabling terminal logging. The
environment check verifies that the terminal is capable of using modern output features
and isn’t using a redirected standard output before enabling the new logger. on skips
the environment check and enables terminal logging. off skips the environment check and
uses the default console logger.
The terminal logger shows you the restore phase followed by the build phase. During
each phase, the currently building projects appear at the bottom of the terminal. Each
project that’s building outputs both the MSBuild target currently being built and the
amount of time spent on that target. You can search this information to learn more
about the build. When a project is finished building, a single “build completed”
section is written that captures:
• The name of the built project.
• The target framework (if multi-targeted).
• The status of that build.
• The primary output of that build (which is hyperlinked).
• Any diagnostics generated for that project.
This option is available starting in .NET 8.
• -v|--verbosity <LEVEL>
Sets the verbosity level of the command. Allowed values are q[uiet], m[inimal],
n[ormal], d[etailed], and diag[nostic]. For more information, see
<xref:Microsoft.Build.Framework.LoggerVerbosity>.
• --version-suffix <VERSION_SUFFIX>
Defines the value for the VersionSuffix MSBuild property. The effect of this property
on the package version depends on the values of the Version and VersionPrefix
properties, as shown in the following table:
Properties with values Package version
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
None 1.0.0
Version $(Version)
VersionPrefix only $(VersionPrefix)
VersionSuffix only 1.0.0-$(VersionSuffix)
VersionPrefix and VersionSuffix $(VersionPrefix)-$(VersionSuffix)
If you want to use --version-suffix, specify VersionPrefix and not Version in the
project file. For example, if VersionPrefix is 0.1.2 and you pass --version-suffix rc.1
to dotnet pack, the package version will be 0.1.2-rc.1.
If Version has a value and you pass --version-suffix to dotnet pack, the value specified
for --version-suffix is ignored.
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 the PackageVersion 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) for the restore operation:
dotnet pack --runtime win-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, and NuspecProperties, see
the following resources:
• Packing using a .nuspec
• Advanced extension points to create customized package
• Global properties
2024-10-02 dotnet-pack(1)