Updating nuget packages in all projects in a solution

Question

I have a .net solution (say A) with multiple projects(say B,C,D). I want to update all nuget packages for all projects in the solution. I know I can update nuget packages using command line but passing in the path to packages.config

nuget update A/B/packages.config

Is there a way to update packages for all packages.configs inside folder A using command line without having to specify them individually? (I know this can be done from inside visual studio.) Something like

nuget update A/*/packages.config

Answer 1

As found in NuGet documentation, you can type:

Update-Package

This will :

Update all packages in all projects of the current solution to the latest versions.

To open the Package Manager Console:

Tools > NuGet Package Manager > Package Manager Console

Now, in order to have only one instance of all packages, I have, in my solution folder, a file named nuget.config that contains:

<configuration>
  <config>
    <add key="repositoryPath" value="..\Path\To\My\Packages" />
  </config>
</configuration>

You might need to reload your solution in order to make it work properly.

Answer 2

You have used command line examples, but your question does not state if you require a command line answer. If you do not require command line, you can right-click on your solution in the Solution Explorer, and select Manage NuGet Packages for Solution ... This displays a dialog where you can make your selections. Other than that, you'd need to write a script at this point in time anyway (as far as I know).

Answer 3

First you have to restore all packages using nuget restore solution_file.sln then update them to latest version by executing nuget update solution_file.sln.

Read more about nuget command line

Updated link to Nuget command line documentation

Nuget Package Manager Console documentation (Visual Studio for Windows)

Edit: Previous link is dead. Added working equivalent and bonus Package Manager Console link.

Answer 4

You could use nuget's new "Central Package Management" feature.

Example problem:

Suppose you have monorepo (i.e. VS "solution" or VSCode "workspace") with multiple projects.

ProjectA.csproj:

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="Foo.Bar.Baz" Version="1.0.0" />
  <PackageReference Include="Spam.Ham.Eggs" Version="4.0.0" />
</ItemGroup>

ProjectB.csproj:

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="Foo.Bar.Qux" Version="1.2.3" />
  <PackageReference Include="Spam.Ham.Eggs" Version="4.5.6" />
</ItemGroup>

Some items are the same whereas others differ. And you need to remember to keep the versions in sync - the example shows that you forgot to do that!

Step 1: remove the versions

ProjectA.csproj:

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="Foo.Bar.Baz" />
  <PackageReference Include="Spam.Ham.Eggs" />
</ItemGroup>

ProjectB.csproj:

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="Foo.Bar.Qux" />
  <PackageReference Include="Spam.Ham.Eggs" Version="4.0.0" />  <!-- note version override for this project -->
</ItemGroup>

Step 2: add file named Directory.Packages.props to your repo's root

<Project>
  <PropertyGroup>
    <ManagePackageVersionsCentrally>true</ManagePackageVersionsCentrally>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <!-- use 'PackageVersion' rather than 'PackageReference' -->
    <PackageVersion Include="Foo.Bar.Baz" Version="1.2.3" />
    <PackageVersion Include="Foo.Bar.Qux" Version="1.2.3" />
    <PackageVersion Include="Spam.Ham.Eggs" Version="4.5.6" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

Step 3: restore

For each project:

• clear build output: dotnet clean
• restore packages: dotnet restore

All your projects will now use the versions you've specified in the config file.

There are more options, like version overrides, and transitive dependency pinining - read the docs for more.