Nuget package backup

Question

It has been common practice to check nuget packages used in a solution into source control. With the new package restore feature of nuget 1.6 it is no longer necessary to check packages into source control. However, this leaves your projects dependent on nuget.org. There may come a time when a needed package is not available on nuget.org and not available locally in your organization, without which you would not be able to build your project.

Are there any enterprise solutions for backing up nuget packages used in projects in a centralized fashion? One scenario is to have an enterprise nuget proxy server, from which projects get their nuget packages. This proxy server can backup the requested packages in some fashion, like storing them on a backed up folder and checking the content into a shared source control repository. Another scenario is to have the backup logic done automatically on each developer's machine.

In summary, what are some good automated options for backing up nuget packages?

Answer 1

I don't know of any existing backup solutions, but this is definitely something we'd like to solve at some point. A couple of ideas come to mind.

1. Use DropBox to backup the packages directory into another location.
2. Run your own instance of NuGet.org locally and have your CI server populate the local one with installed packages.
3. Use MyGet.org to host a private feed of all the packages your team has installed.

Answer 2

You should look at Artifactory from JFrog (http://www.jfrog.com/): they recently added support for NuGet. Artifactory can act as a central cache for multiple NuGet feeds. I spoke to the development team at a conference earlier this year, and they're really switched on.

There is also ProGet, although I have not used this: http://inedo.com/proget/overview