NuGet nuspec files allow you to specify the target for <file> elements.
eg.
<files>
<file src="things/**/*" target="content/stuff/" />
</files>
Is there an equivalent if you're using a csproj (and dotnet pack), instead of a .nuspec file?
eg. Given
<ItemGroup>
<Content Include="things/**/*" />
</ItemGroup>
Can I add something to that to make those files end up in content/stuff in the .nupkg file?
According to the Microsoft docs, I'd say it should look like this:
<Content Include="things/**/*">
<Pack>true</Pack>
<PackagePath>content/stuff/</PackagePath>
</Content>
Related
I have following dll's among others in a solution:
Base
Core
Basics
R1
R2
Types
I want to put them all in one single nuget package and upload it to Azure DevOps -> Artifacts. Is this possible ?
Is there a way to create a nuget package consisting multiple projects
including some which dont have reference to any other project?
The short answer is Yes, We could use .nuspec to pack up the assemblies:
Download the nuget.exe.
Create a new project.
Open a cmd and switch path to nuget.exe
Use command line: nuget spec "PathOfProject\TestDemo.csproj"
Open the TestDemo.csproj.nuspec file and modify it and add the assemblies as file; below is my .nuspec file:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<package>
<metadata>
<id>TestDemo</id>
<version>1.0.0</version>
<authors>Tester</authors>
<owners>Tester</owners>
<requireLicenseAcceptance>false</requireLicenseAcceptance>
<description>TestDemo</description>
<releaseNotes>Summary of changes made in this release of the package.</releaseNotes>
<copyright>Copyright 2017</copyright>
<tags>Tag1 Tag2</tags>
</metadata>
<files>
<file src="ThePathOfTheDll\*.Base.dll" target="lib\net461" />
<file src="ThePathOfTheDll\*.Core.dll" target="lib\net461" />
<file src="ThePathOfTheDll\*.Basics.dll" target="lib\net461" />
<file src="ThePathOfTheDll\*.R1.dll" target="lib\net461" />
<file src="ThePathOfTheDll\*.R2.dll" target="lib\net461" />
<file src="ThePathOfTheDll\*.Types.dll" target="lib\net461" />
</files>
</package>
Use pack command: nuget pack TestDemo.csproj.nuspec
Besides, if your project is donet project, you can edit your csproj file, add an ItemGroup to include the dlls as below: This will pack the other dlls along with your current project dll in the nuget package:
<ItemGroup>
<Content Include="<path to other dll>">
<Pack>true</Pack>
<PackagePath>lib\$(TargetFramework)</PackagePath>
</Content>
</ItemGroup>
Bear with me - this is an unusual scenario.
I have 4 projects in my solution. The top most project references the 3 other projects. None of the 3 other projects reference each other. So the architecture is like this:
Now, when I build project A I want it to produce a nuget package containing projects B, C and D but not project A. As this is in .NET standard I can configure the packages tab of project A to produce a nuget package automatically when it builds by checking the 'Generate NuGet package on build option.' Then, I can get it to include B, C and D by making the following changes to A's csproj file:
<ItemGroup>
<ProjectReference Include="..\B.csproj">
<PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
</ProjectReference>
<ProjectReference Include="..\C.csproj">
<PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
</ProjectReference>
<ProjectReference Include="..\D.csproj">
<PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
</ProjectReference>
</ItemGroup>
<PropertyGroup>
<TargetsForTfmSpecificBuildOutput>$(TargetsForTfmSpecificBuildOutput);CopyProjectReferencesToPackage</TargetsForTfmSpecificBuildOutput>
<Version>1.0.0-beta</Version>
<PackageId>A</PackageId>
<Company></Company>
<Product>A</Product>
<Description></Description>
<Authors></Authors>
<GeneratePackageOnBuild>true</GeneratePackageOnBuild>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="CopyProjectReferencesToPackage" DependsOnTargets="ResolveReferences">
<ItemGroup>
<BuildOutputInPackage Include="#(ReferenceCopyLocalPaths->WithMetadataValue('ReferenceSourceTarget', 'ProjectReference')->WithMetadataValue('PrivateAssets', 'all'))" />
</ItemGroup>
</Target>
Ideally I would like to add a line to remove A.dll from the nuget package. Is this possible? A is a wrapper project which consuming code will never need to use. It is not possible for B, C and D to reference each other.
UPDATE
This is how I solved it (thanks #tom redfern)
I created a nuspec file manually:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<package xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/packaging/2013/05/nuspec.xsd">
<metadata>
<id>A</id>
<version>1.0.0-beta</version>
<authors>Foo</authors>
<owners>Bar</owners>
<requireLicenseAcceptance>false</requireLicenseAcceptance>
<description>A package</description>
<dependencies>
<group targetFramework=".NETStandard2.0">
</group>
</dependencies>
</metadata>
<files>
<file src="bin\Release\netstandard2.0\B.dll" target="lib\netstandard2.0\B.dll" />
<file src="bin\Release\netstandard2.0\C.dll" target="lib\netstandard2.0\C.dll" />
<file src="bin\Release\netstandard2.0\D.dll" target="lib\netstandard2.0\D.dll" />
</files>
</package>
Then in my .csproj file for A I put the following to automatically pack it after a build:
<Target Name="__PackNuGetPackage" AfterTargets="Build">
<Exec Command="$(NugetPackage)nuget.exe pack "A.nuspec"" />
</Target>
Using patented(1) elite(2) debugging skills, we can figure out if it's possible without manually creating and maintaining a nuspec file.
First, let's start with NuGet's docs on creating a package with the dotnet CLI. It says "msbuild -t:pack is functionality equivalent to dotnet pack". So, first hint, it's just running MSBuild targets.
So, run dotnet msbuild my.csproj -pp:pp.txt. This "pre-processes" (evaluates all MSBuild import statements and writes the result into a single file) the csproj (just a standard MSBuild file). We then search for the pack target, and scroll up until we find the filename of the file that was imported. We see it's NuGet.Build.Tasks.Pack.targets, and since NuGet is open source on GitHub, I can point you to the source.
Searching NuGet.Build.Tasks.Pack.targets for Condition, to see what extensibility options the NuGet team has provided, I see <IncludeBuildOutput Condition="'$(IncludeBuildOutput)'==''">true</IncludeBuildOutput>. So, settings <IncludeBuildOutput Condition="'$(IncludeBuildOutput)'==''">false</IncludeBuildOutput> in your csproj, might work.
(1) not patented
(2) standard, but since people don't modify MSBuild files anywhere near as often as C#, the skills and tools aren't as well known
You can achieve this by using a nuspec file. Use nuspec when you need absolute control over the nuget pack process. A simple nuspec file:
<package >
<metadata>
<id>MyPackage</id>
<version>1.0</version>
<authors>Something</authors>
<owners>Something</owners>
<description>Somthing</description>
<copyright></copyright>
<dependencies>
<!-- any nuget package dependencies -->
<dependency id="AnotherPackage" version="2019.2.4.1" />
</dependencies>
</metadata>
<files>
<!-- this is where you can have complete control over which assemblies get added to your package. You can add them individually pr using wildcards. -->
<file src="..\obj\**\*.dll" target="lib" />
</files>
</package>
When you have created your .nuspec file, add it into your solution, and then make your "Nuget Pack" build step read the nuspec file rather than the project file.
I am creating a nuget package definition to include a whole bunch of DLLs. Some of them are needed only at design time, so according to the Nuspec Reference I created a references section to specify which assemblies should be referenced by the project.
I also specified a list of files to be included. Some of these files being the libraries, one is a PowerShell script that gets executed during package installation and one is simply a content file that should be added to the project lateron.
These are the relevant sections of my nuspec file:
<package xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/packaging/2011/08/nuspec.xsd">
<metadata>
<!-- Most of the metadata stuff left out for brevity -->
<dependencies />
<references>
<reference file="MyComponent.dll" />
<reference file="MyComponent.Data.dll" />
<reference file="MyComponent.Other.dll" />
</references>
</metadata>
<files>
<file src="MyPackage.install.ps1" target="tools\install.ps1" />
<file src="MyComponent.ReadMe.txt" target="ReadMe.txt" />
<file src="C:\Some\Path\MyComponent.*.dll" target="lib\net45" />
<file src="C:\Some\Path\MyComponent.*.xml" target="lib\net45" />
<file src="C:\Some\Other\Path\*.dll" target="lib\net45" />
</files>
</package>
Now here is my problem: The licenses.licx file does not get included in the project when the package is being installed. What must I change to achieve this?
Adding it to the references section does not work, because, well, it is no library...
I found out what was wrong. To include a file into the targeted project the file needs to be placed in a sub-folder named content in the package's folder structure:
The correct files section of the nuspec file would then look like this:
<files>
<!-- other files omitted for brevity -->
<file src="MyComponent.ReadMe.txt" target="content\ReadMe.txt" />
</files>
I have a nuget package with one dll that needs to be referenced and one dll that just needs to be included in the output of the program.
Relavent info from nuspec:
<references>
<reference file="dllA.dll" />
</references>
</metadata>
<files>
<file src="dllA.dll" target="lib" />
<file src="dllB.dll" target="content" />
</files>
I have been playing around with the install.ps1 file to try to modify the .csproj to add this section:
<Content Include="<path to dllB.dll">
<Link>dllB.dll</Link>
<CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
</Content>
I don't know how to get the path to dllB and I'm having trouble modifying the .csproj during the nuget package install with powershell.
I'm creating the package for my assembly but I dont' want to include the docs/*.xml files in my nuget package. I have tried the -Exclude switch of the pack command and the exclude property for the files section in the nuspec file to explictly excluding these files. None of these worked. So every time I generate my nuget package and then test it by installing it in the target project it always adds a docs folder with all the xml files. How can I avoid that the xml files are included into the nuget package? Any help would be highly appreciated.
To exclude all .xml files you should use the **\*.xml wildcard. I am guessing that you are using *.xml which will not work.
To exclude all .xml files you could use a nuget command line similar to the following:
nuget.exe pack MyPackage.nuspec -Exclude **\*.xml
If you only need to exclude .xml files in the docs directory then you can use a nuget command line similar to the following:
nuget.exe package MyPackage.nuspec -Exclude **\docs\*.xml
The wildcards seem to work relative to the folder that your .nuspec file is in.So if you have an .xml file in a docs subfolder relative to the .nuspec file then a wildcard if docs*.xml should work too.
Thank you Matt, I'm already doing what you mentioned but seems to me that Nuget does some other things by convention. Even if I use the exclude just like you said the docs folder is included. I resolved the issue by generating the nuspec file with the -a switch (I was using my .csproj file). I also had to copy the .dll file to a folder outside of my solution's folder. This way everything worked fine and as expected.
Anyway your answer is accurate but in my scenario it wasn't working. Not sure if this is by design.
Here's my final msbuild file which I'm currently using to generate the package. Hopefully Nuget soon will add more switches to the spec command so we won't have to modify so much the nuspec file afterwards.
<Project DefaultTargets="NugetPackage" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<PropertyGroup>
<Configuration Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == '' ">Debug</Configuration>
<OutputPathCore>NugetPkgs\$(Configuration)\My.Assembly</OutputPathCore>
<NuGetExePath>assets\nuget.exe</NuGetExePath>
<Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\MSBuildCommunityTasks\MSBuild.Community.Tasks.Targets"/>
<Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\ExtensionPack\4.0\MSBuild.ExtensionPack.tasks"/>
<Target Name="NugetPackage" DependsOnTargets="PackageClean;BuildNugetPackageMyAssembly">
<Target Name="PackageClean">
<RemoveDir Directories ="NugetPkgs\$(Configuration)" ContinueOnError ="true"/>
<Target Name="BuildNugetPackageMyAssembly">
<MakeDir Directories="$(OutputPathCore)" />
<MakeDir Directories="$(OutputPathCore)\Package" />
<MakeDir Directories="$(OutputPathCore)\lib\net40" />
<MakeDir Directories="$(OutputPathCore)\lib\net20" />
<MakeDir Directories="$(OutputPathCore)\lib\net20-cf" />
<Copy
DestinationFolder="$(OutputPathCore)\lib\net40"
SourceFiles="Source\My.Assembly\bin\$(Configuration)\My.Assembly.dll" />
<Copy
DestinationFolder="$(OutputPathCore)\lib\net20"
SourceFiles="VS2008\Source\My.Assembly\bin\$(Configuration)\My.Assembly.dll" />
<Copy
DestinationFolder="$(OutputPathCore)\lib\net20-cf"
SourceFiles="VS2008\Source\My.Assembly.CF\bin\$(Configuration)\My.Assembly.CF.dll" />
<Copy DestinationFolder="$(OutputPathCore)\content" SourceFiles="CHANGES" />
<Copy SourceFiles="Release Notes.txt" DestinationFiles="$(OutputPathCore)\Readme.txt" />
<Exec Command=""$(NuGetExePath)" spec -a "$(OutputPathCore)\lib\net40\My.Assembly.dll"" />
<XmlUpdate Namespace="http://schemas.microsoft.com/packaging/2010/07/nuspec.xsd" XmlFileName="My.Assembly.nuspec" XPath="//package/metadata/licenseUrl" Value="http://someurl" />
<XmlUpdate Namespace="http://schemas.microsoft.com/packaging/2010/07/nuspec.xsd" XmlFileName="My.Assembly.nuspec" XPath="//package/metadata/projectUrl" Value="http://someurl" />
<XmlUpdate Namespace="http://schemas.microsoft.com/packaging/2010/07/nuspec.xsd" XmlFileName="My.Assembly.nuspec" XPath="//package/metadata/iconUrl" Value="http://somenice.png" />
<XmlUpdate Namespace="http://schemas.microsoft.com/packaging/2010/07/nuspec.xsd" XmlFileName="My.Assembly.nuspec" XPath="//package/metadata/tags" Value="My.Assembly" />
<XmlUpdate Namespace="http://schemas.microsoft.com/packaging/2010/07/nuspec.xsd" XmlFileName="My.Assembly.nuspec" XPath="//package/metadata/releaseNotes" Value="Review readme.txt for details." />
<ItemGroup>
<file Include="Source\My.Assembly\bin\$(Configuration)\My.Assembly.dll"/>
<file Include="VS2008\Source\My.Assembly\bin\$(Configuration)\My.Assembly.dll"/>
<file Include="$(OutputPathCore)\Readme.txt"/>
</ItemGroup>
<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="RemoveElement" File="My.Assembly.nuspec" Element="dependencies" XPath="//package/metadata/dependencies" />
<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="AddElement" File="My.Assembly.nuspec" Key="" Value="" Element="files" XPath="//package" InsertAfterXPath="//package" />
<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="AddElement" File="My.Assembly.nuspec" Key="src" Value="%(file.Identity)" Element="file" XPath="//package/files" />
<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="AddAttribute" File="My.Assembly.nuspec" XPath="//package/files/*[1]" Key="target" Value="lib\net40" />
<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="AddAttribute" File="My.Assembly.nuspec" XPath="//package/files/*[2]" Key="target" Value="lib\net20" />
<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="AddAttribute" File="My.Assembly.nuspec" XPath="//package/files/*[3]" Key="target" Value=""/>
<Exec Command=""$(NuGetExePath)" pack My.Assembly.nuspec -OutputDirectory "$(OutputPathCore)\Package" -NoPackageAnalysis" />
<Delete Files ="My.Assembly.nuspec" />
Another thing I can think of is
Create a nuspec file and edit it. this needs to be done only once (could be checked in as well). Any reasons you are editing the nuspec file while doing build?
use files element in nuspec file to copy files to destination folders
<files>
<file src="bin\Debug\*.dll" target="lib" />
<file src="bin\Debug\*.pdb" target="lib" />
<file src="tools\*\.*" exclude="*\.log" />
</files>
3. pack command can remain to be done at build time.
more details for files can be found here http://docs.nuget.org/docs/reference/nuspec-reference