Include all dependencies using dotnet pack - asp.net-core

Question

Is there any way to force dotnet pack to include all referenced assemblies (all dependencies in project.json)?
I believe this is related:
https://github.com/dotnet/cli/issues/1290
https://github.com/dotnet/cli/issues/3959

Answer 1

As of 2020 there is no officially supported way to do this. However various people have come up with ways to achieve it, and the current best way is to install a NuGet package prepared by the amazing Teroneko. Then all you need to do is edit your .csproj to update all your project to be flagged with PrivateAssets="all", as per the package README.
If you are unable to install the aforementioned NuGet package, you can achieve the same effect by editing by editing your .csproj to include the following (once again, this was discovered by Teroneko - it's essentially what the NuGet package he created does):
<Project>
<PropertyGroup>
<TargetsForTfmSpecificBuildOutput>$(TargetsForTfmSpecificBuildOutput);CopyProjectReferencesToPackage</TargetsForTfmSpecificBuildOutput>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="CopyProjectReferencesToPackage" DependsOnTargets="BuildOnlySettings;ResolveReferences">
<ItemGroup>
<!-- Filter out unnecessary files -->
<_ReferenceCopyLocalPaths Include="#(ReferenceCopyLocalPaths->WithMetadataValue('ReferenceSourceTarget', 'ProjectReference')->WithMetadataValue('PrivateAssets', 'All'))"/>
</ItemGroup>
<!-- Print batches for debug purposes -->
<Message Text="Batch for .nupkg: ReferenceCopyLocalPaths = #(_ReferenceCopyLocalPaths), ReferenceCopyLocalPaths.DestinationSubDirectory = %(_ReferenceCopyLocalPaths.DestinationSubDirectory) Filename = %(_ReferenceCopyLocalPaths.Filename) Extension = %(_ReferenceCopyLocalPaths.Extension)" Importance="High" Condition="'#(_ReferenceCopyLocalPaths)' != ''" />
<ItemGroup>
<!-- Add file to package with consideration of sub folder. If empty, the root folder is chosen. -->
<BuildOutputInPackage Include="#(_ReferenceCopyLocalPaths)" TargetPath="%(_ReferenceCopyLocalPaths.DestinationSubDirectory)"/>
</ItemGroup>
</Target>
</Project>
As with the package, you then mark the depended-upon project reference(s) in your .csproj with PrivateAssets="all", and it Just Works(tm).

Answer 2

I was looking for this answer and was annoyed when I couldn't find an obvious one. The solution that worked best for me was to create a nuspec, add the list of DLLs I wanted in the nupkg to that spec and then build with dotnet pack. I created an easy sample and readme here - nuget sample app

Answer 3

Another solution to the problem is to create a custom .targets file to include in your projects. You can add some msbuild instructions to include the files that you need in the package. There is some documentation here on how to do it, here a short example
<PropertyGroup Condition="$(PackAsComponent) != ''">
<TargetsForTfmSpecificBuildOutput>$(TargetsForTfmSpecificBuildOutput);CustomBuildOutput</TargetsForTfmSpecificBuildOutput>
<TargetsForTfmSpecificContentInPackage>$(TargetsForTfmSpecificContentInPackage);CustomContentInPackage</TargetsForTfmSpecificContentInPackage>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="CustomBuildOutput">
<ItemGroup>
<BuildOutputInPackage Include="$(OutputPath)*.dll" Exclude="$(TargetPath)" />
<BuildOutputInPackage Include="$(OutputPath)*.pdb" />
<BuildOutputInPackage Include="$(OutputPath)*.exe" Exclude="$(TargetPath)" />
</ItemGroup>
</Target>
<Target Name="CustomContentInPackage">
<ItemGroup>
<TfmSpecificPackageFile Include="abc.txt">
<PackagePath>mycontent/$(TargetFramework)</PackagePath>
</TfmSpecificPackageFile>
</ItemGroup>
</Target>
Basically I activate this when I set the PackAsComponent property in my project.
This preserve the "dotnet pack" functionality 100% without the need to specify any parameter.

Answer 4

As I've installed Octopus build tools on my build system I use octo pack to create the packages. Although this is basically the same thing as just calling good old nuget.exe.
https://octopus.com/docs/packaging-applications/create-packages/octopus-cli

Answer 5

I hope this will help you.
nuget pack yournuspecfile.nuspec -properties Configuration=Release -IncludeReferencedProjects
or your command whatever.