dotnet pack

  • Article

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.

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.

Note

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.

  • --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 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: