How to add a nuget package to the package.config the proper way?

Question

For my C# project I am maintaining a packages.config which includes all the dependencies my project requires. Over the time I have been copy-pasting the entries manually using a regular text editor, checking in the version number I found on the NuGet website and so on. To restore the package upon a checkout, I use nuget -o nuget-packages install packages.config which worked good so far (I am using Xamarin Studio on non-windows systems, so no VS available).

I was just realizing that messing with the packages.config in a text editor couldn't be the intended way. I know from npm and bower that a npm install --save-dev <pkg-xy> will to the job and write the package version back to the config. Is there an equivalent of this in NuGet.exe?

Answer 1

From the command line this not supported. You will have to edit the packages.config file manually, or write a utility to do this work for you, or extend NuGet.exe with this feature.

There is no equivalent in NuGet to NPM's npm install -save

Currently the only way to have the packages.config file automatically updated when you want to install a new NuGet package to your project is to use an IDE, such as Visual Studio or Xamarin Studio, and actually install the package. Using NuGet.exe from the command line does not have an option to add/remove entries in to/from the packages.config file when installing a new package.

NuGet.exe does have an update command which will update the package to the latest version. Whilst this would update your packages.config file it also updates your project file by adding any assembly references that the NuGet package needs.

Answer 2

You really shouldn't be editing packages.config. Package Restore doesn't do what you think it does. It simply downloads any missing packages that are listed in packages.config.

You might think this is what you want, but Package Restore does NOT add references to your project. It also doesn't do any of the other things the package creator had intended like running an install.ps1 script.

When installing a package, NuGet handles all of this, so your project files have added references, content, etc. This and the packages.config file is what you would commit to source control. You can leave out the actual packages folder, so you don't have to commit large binary files.

When you open the solution and build, NuGet will see that the packages are missing and will download them as if you had checked them in. The actual "install" was already done (and committed). That is all that Package Restore does: no more, no less.

If you are using Xamarin Studio, you can install NuGet by following the instructions here:

https://github.com/mrward/monodevelop-nuget-addin