I am trying to setup automated nuget package restoration on a vs build or command line build.
When following the specified Microsoft article:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget/consume-packages/package-restore#migrate-to-automatic-package-restore-visual-studio
I am unable to get Visual Studio 2019 or the following commands (nuget restore mysolution.sln, msbuild -t:restore, msbuild -restore) to read from a packages.config file in each of my projects
I have tried the following:
removing any references to PackageReference in each of the project files
deleting the bin and obj folders in each project
adding a local nuget.config with the following:
deleting the local packages folder
deleting the global packages folder
running the following command: nuget locals all -clear
Updated Visual Studio -> Tools -> Options -> NuGet Package Manager and set "Allow Nuget to download missing packages" and "Automatically check for missing packages during build in Visual" and set the Default Package management format to "Packages.config"
Restarting Visual Studio a few times.
When I run the nuget restore command for my solution it attempts to restore from packagereference inside each of the project files but since I do not have any it does nothing but still creates the corresponding nuget.g.props and project.assets.json files. I cannot use packagereferences inside of project files since this is not portable to other projects.
I require the ability to use packages.config file with one of the build commands.
I am stumped as to why this is not working
You have to delete the .vs hidden folder from the solution folder, it still restores the old nuget management format PackageReference, and still use it.
Try the following steps:
1) Close VS, delete .vs hidden folder and every bin and obj folder.
2) make sure the every packages.config is in the project folder so that it will work.
3) If you use your own nuget.config, please make sure its package source contains all the nuget packages. Or the file is redundant, you should remove it and then add the nuget package source under VS IDE.
3) restart VS, run update-package -reinstall under Tools-->Nuget Package Manager-->Package Manager Console
4) After that, you can delete global nuget folder and local nuget folder and then run nuget restore xxx.sln to check it.
EDIT: Make sure your project is not an SDK-style project; SDK projects are not supported with packages.config files (see this).
Related
Let's say I have a solution called MyFirstSolution and inside I have project with name MyFirstProject. Inside that project I'm installing nuget packages like Dapper, EntityFramework etc...
How things should work:
packages folder should be created into the folder MyFirstSolution and inside should be downloaded and installer all nuget packages referenced into the project.
The problem I'm having is that the packages folder is not created and the nuget packages are downloaded one level above the MyFirstSolution folder into some folder called XYZHelper.
When I download a solution from some repository nuget packages are restored to that same folder, not to the solution itself and references in csproj file says that they should be in solutionFolder\packages so all of my projects don't build.
If I copy the packages manually to the folder that they should be, it's all good but after every build a copy is made into that XYZHelper folder.
I don't have any postbuild events or anything like it configured into the projects. It is something with the visual studio I guess, but I can't figure out what.
How things should work: packages folder should be created into the
folder MyFirstSolution and inside should be downloaded and installer
all nuget packages referenced into the project.
Hi Stdfan, not sure about your VS version. But for VS2015 and earlier versions, the nuget packages are controlled by packages.config file. And things should work like what you mentioned.
But for VS2017 and VS2019, they have two methods to manage nuget: Packages.config and PackageReference. And for PackageReference format, the packages are stored in C:\Users\xxx\.nuget\packages. So if your vs version is VS2017 or VS2019, you can try if changing the format to PackageReference help resolve this issue.
The problem I'm having is that the packages folder is not created and
the nuget packages are downloaded one level above the MyFirstSolution
folder into some folder called XYZHelper.
Direction1:
Like zivkan suggested,I also think something affects the restore process.Normal for Packages.config format, the folders would be stored in packages folder. But according to
this document, we can customize nuget.config file to control nuget behavior. So please check locations where nuget.config exists,there might be some changes in the nuget.config for computer or some settings in nuget.config for users which causes this issue.(The nuget.config for user won't exist unless we create it there)
Direction2:
When I download a solution from some repository nuget packages are
restored to that same folder
As the restore process is invisible in build output, so there is possibility that the nuget restore works well, but something in build process move the content of packages folder into XYZhelper.
Check customize your build. Please check your directory structure for the Directory.build.xx file, it can affect your build process if it exists in any folder of the structure: C:\xxx\lancel\source\repos\
I don't have any postbuild events or anything like it configured into
the projects. It is something with the visual studio I guess, but I
can't figure out what.
This is not about VS normal settings. I think some custom file causes this issue(no matter nuget.config or directory.build.xxx), and please check if you've installed any third-party software or vs extension. Try close vs, delete the .vs, bin and obj folders and then run vs as safe mode.
Target folder of nuget packages can also be set using the envirenment variable NUGET_PACKAGES.
And you can do this in your existing project-file like this:
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
...
<Target Name="NugetPublicfolder" BeforeTargets="PreBuildEvent">
<Exec Command="SET NUGET_PACKAGES=C:\MyProjectA\libraries\"/>
</Target>
...
</Project>
Now when you build/publish the project the libraries will be placed in C:\MyProjectA\libraries\
Actually the nuget packages are first downloaded to the socalled http-cache folder (%userprofile%\AppData\Local\NuGet\v3-cache), where it will be extacted from to the above folder (which is called the globalPackagesFolder folder)
The solution packages folder can be changed with a nuget.config (the setting name is called repositoryPath). So, check for nuget.config files that might be setting this value. You can get an exact list of nuget.config files used by a restore by downloading nuget.exe from nuget.org/downloads and running nuget restore MyFirstSolution.sln. Near the end of the output it will list every nuget.config file that was read.
When there is no config file that changes the solution packages folder (repository path), it always defaults to a subdirectory named packages in the same directory as the .sln file. The only way I know of to change this location for packages.config projects is with a nuget.config file, so I feel confident you should be able to solve it by finding the right config file.
I am using mspec (machine specification) unit test framework for .NET project.
I used nuget to get all required packages.
There is a specific package, that is not part of the code. It is the "Console" application for the mspec that I used to run my unit tests from outside VS, from the command line.
(It is located here):
When I use Nuget to install it, Nuget doesn't add it to the normal "packages.config" file inside of the Test project.
It is adding it to a "packages.config" folder that exists in ".nuget" folder.
But when my colleague open the project and build, his VS doesn't get that package.
How to change that, to force VS to get the package automatically?
Nuget doesn't add it to the normal "packages.config" file inside of the Test project. It is adding it to a "packages.config" folder that exists in ".nuget" folder.
That is because you are using NuGet 2.7 or later and have a solution that is still configured by old package restore method "MSBuild-integrated restore". This will cause builds to fail with an error stating that you have not given consent to restore packages. Visual Studio will skip automatic package restore.
How to change that, to force VS to get the package automatically?
To resolve this question, you can follow below steps:
Close Visual Studio to avoid file potential file locks and conflicts.
If using TFS: a. Remove nuget.exe and nuget.targets from the solution's .nuget folder and remove those files from the solution workspace. a. Retain nuget.config with the disableSourceControlIntegration setting as explained in Omitting packages with Team Foundation Version Control.
If not using TFS: a. Remove the .nuget folder from the solution and the solution workspace.
Edit each project file in the solution, remove the <RestorePackages> element, and remove any references to the nuget.targets file. For more detail information, you can refer to Migrating to automatic restore.
There are some nuget packages (e.g. OpenCover or ReportGenerator) installed without changing packages.config in any of the project, but there is a [Solution Dir]\.nuget\packages.config created with the package reference information.
When VS builds the solution, the packages defined in that file are not downloaded at all (even I have auto restore nuget enabled).
How can I restore them automatically?
The MSBuild based package restore, that uses NuGet.targets, which is enabled in Visual Studio by selecting Enable NuGet Package Restore, does not seem to support restoring solution level packages, which are those that are defined in the [SolutionDir]\.nuget\packages.config file.
Looking at the NuGet.targets file on build it restores the packages for the project using the project's packages.config file but does not use the solution's packages.config file.
So your options are:
Stop using the MSBuild based package restore. Visual Studio, with recent versions of NuGet, will automatically restore all packages, including all solution level packages, when you build.
Run NuGet.exe restore YourSolution.sln from the command line, or PowerShell console, or as a pre-build step, to restore all packages. NuGet.exe can be used to restore all packages on a build server if you are using one.
The MSBuild based package restore has been deprecated by the NuGet team so I would use option 1) if this is possible.
Why do I get the following build output error when I already have NuGet package restore enabled?
Restoring NuGet packages...
To prevent NuGet from downloading packages during build, open the
Visual Studio Options dialog, click on the Package Manager node and
uncheck 'Allow NuGet to download missing packages'.
All packages listed in packages.config are already installed.
MyProject.csproj: error : This project references NuGet package(s)
that are missing on this computer. Enable NuGet Package Restore to
download them.
It only happens on one project.
I am using Visual Studio 2013 and NuGet 2.8.
Make sure to upgrade to the latest version of NuGet which does package restore automatically. See this post by David Ebbo for more information: http://blog.davidebbo.com/2014/01/the-right-way-to-restore-nuget-packages.html
You're going to want to delete the NuGet targets (delete the .nuget folder and then manually edit your .csproj files and remove the lines that import the NuGet.targets file). This is no longer needed. When you compile your solution, NuGet will restore it.
I have just created a workspace on a new machine, got latest of our project from TFS, enabled NuGet Restore, and I get the following (skimmed-down) output:
1>------ Rebuild All started: Project: Caching, Configuration: Debug Any CPU ------
1> Restoring NuGet packages...
1> To prevent NuGet from downloading packages during build, open the Visual Studio Options dialog, click on the Package Manager node and uncheck 'Allow NuGet to download missing packages'.
1> All packages listed in packages.config are already installed.
1> Caching Framework -> C:\MyProjLocation\Caching\bin\Debug\Caching.dll
2>------ Rebuild All started: Project: Library, Configuration: Debug Any CPU ------
2>C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\12.0\bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(1635,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "LumenWorks.Framework.IO". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors.
2>C:\MyProjLocation\Library\SomeClass.cs(2,7,2,17): error CS0246: The type or namespace name 'LumenWorks' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)
========== Rebuild All: 1 succeeded, 1 failed, 0 skipped ==========
None of the NuGet packages were restored (there are over 10 - I removed them from the above output for readability sake).
It looks like NuGet is not even trying to restore the packages for the second project (Library).
I have already tried moving the NuGet targets import below the CSharp targets import in the Library.csproj file, as mentioned here, but it's still not working:
<Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
<Import Project="$(SolutionDir)\.nuget\NuGet.targets" Condition="Exists('$(SolutionDir)\.nuget\NuGet.targets')" />
I am running the latest version of NuGet (2.7.41101.371) on Visual Studio 2013.
Edit: The packages.config exists and the NuGet Package Manager has the Library project ticked with the correct packages.
I had to go into Source Control and delete all of the files in the packages folder (except repositories.config) before NuGet would restore the missing packages. The idea is that you are using package restore rather than checking your packages in to source control. If it sees the packages in source control, it won't download them.
Have you deleted the NuGet.targets file from disk too?
If the NuGet.targets file is there, Visual Studio / NuGet.exe will try to do the MSBuild package restore.
See this doc for more info.
I have the same issue, also on the local machine. Although both Package Manager Console and nuget.exe restore MySolution.sln report that everything is installed, there is no packages folder to be found in the solution directory and no references to packages are being resolved.
I checked all project files and they expect packages to be placed in ..\packages folder, the same folder where the solution file itself is located.
The way I made it work is to run:
nuget.exe restore MySolution.sln -PackagesDirectory packages
This forced nuget.exe to download all packages to the specified folder and all references were restored.
Remember that from NuGet 2.7, the targets file is not supported, msbuild suppose to use some integrated way of restoring packages but it fails very often.
In fact, for my own work I prefer using Paket, which always work, when you get used to it. It also supports target files and nice way to create NuGet packages.
I'm not sure about the science behind this, but it worked for me just now after trying to build a freshly-downloaded Visual Studio project, and getting several MSB3245 warnings followed by a build failure due to missing references:
In Visual Studio, right-click on the project with the missing NuGet references, and select "Manage NuGet Packages..."
The Manage NuGet Packages dialog will open. I also saw a message quickly display and then auto-close, with text along the lines of "Restoring NuGet Packages..."
Close the Manage NuGet Packages dialog (without actually changing anything on the dialog), and retry the build.
Edit: Going back in my TimeSnapper auto-screenshot history (no affiliation with that tool -- I'm just a fan), it looks like there was also a message displayed at the top of the Manage NuGet Packages, along with a "Restore" button: "Some NuGet Packages are missing from this solution. Click to restore from your online package sources."
Although the "Restore" apparently automatically happened for me, clicking that button manually might also do the trick to resolve the missing packages issue.
Had to uninstall nuget packages and do a refresh install in order to make it work properly. This might help some of you facing the same issue
I was having the same problem. In my case, it was a NuGet.Configin the parent directory that was setting <add key="repositorypath" value="C:\CxCache" />. So the nuget restore was copying the packages to a folder I didn't know of. See NuGet Configuration Inheritance.
Deleting the NuGet.Config in the parent directory solved the problem.
On Mac; I commited the code to git and deleted everything (main folder), then downloaded it again. Worked afterwards.