Cheatsheet for managing local NuGet packages.

I have finally decided to set up a local NuGet repository for my utilities and libraries. I decided to start small and just create a local repository on my home network.

Below are some quick references for setting up a repository and creating packages.

Set up NuGet for use:

1. download nuget.exe to a folder in %path%
   1. see here for more details

Create a NuGet package:

1. Update the Properties -> Assembly Information for the project
   • Ensure Title and Assembly Version properly set
2. Build in Debug and Release mode
3. Open cmd prompt in the same library as the {project}.csproj

>nuget spec {project}.csproj

Edit the {project}.nuspec file:

1. remove licenseUrl
2. remove projectUrl
3. remove iconUrl
4. set authors = {my name}
5. set description = match Description from Assembly Information
6. set releaseNotes
7. set copyright
8. set tags
9. add dependencies

 >nuget pack

Add the package to the local repository

>nuget add {project}.{version}.nupkg -source {nugetrepositorydirectory}{packagespath} 

One issue I had was that when adding a package with dependencies, NuGet would fail to find the dependencies. For example, when using NuGet to add package ExtensionsLibrary (which depends on ExceptionsLibrary) I would get:

Unable to resolve dependency 'ExceptionsLibrary'. Source(s) used: 'nuget.org', 'Package source', 'Microsoft Visual Studio Offline Packages'.

The solution that worked for me was to go to the Nuget Package Manager Settings -> General and change the Default package management format to PackageReference. Thanks to Babu Annamalai who posted this helpful entry.