5 simple steps to publishing a NuGet package

There is a fair amount of info on making and publishing NuGet packages but I couldn’t find a simplified guide for the simple case. Here it is and start by downloading nuget.exe and putting it in your path.

1. Multi-platform considerations (optional)

Supporting multiple platforms gives you a choice to make:

1. Portable Class Library (PCL)
2. One project with MSBuild magic
3. Multiple projects

If you can go with PCL do it. For CSharpAnalytics we use platform-specific system info and hooks so it’s not an option — we went with multiple projects.

Multiple projects

Creating a separate .csproj for each platform and putting in the same folder means adding files isn’t too painful (show all files then include the ones you need) but you do need to take steps to make sure the build process for the projects don’t interfere with each other by separating the bin and obj paths:

1. Set the output path in the Build tab of project properties to be unique per configuration to for the bin files, e.g. bin\Net45\Release\
2. Edit the .csproj file adding a BaseIntermediateOutputPath tag for obj files, e.g. <BaseIntermediateOutputPath>obj\Net45</BaseIntermediateOutputPath>

2. Create your .nuspec definition

Now that you know which release dll files you need to include you can go ahead and create the nuspec file that tells nuget how to package your files up.

Open a PowerShell and type nuget spec to create you an XML file to edit in your text editor

Once you’ve entered your author details, a snappy description and links to your project page and license you can then add the files. Libraries will want to copy the .dlls into the lib folder with element like these:

<file src="..\bin\Net45\Release\MyLibrary.dll" target="lib\net45" />

Each platform will require a specific target and they should use platform name (e.g. net45, sl5, windows8) described in the NuSpec creating packages documentation. That page has a lot more detail on things such as content file types etc.

If you prefer a graphical UI then NuGet Package Explorer will make your life easier.

Remember to check your .nuspec file to source control (there is nothing private in it) and add it to your solution as a solution item so it doesn’t get missed.

3. Create your .nupkg package

The easiest part of the process. From PowerShell type:

nuget pack yourfile.nuspec

If all goes well it will create yourfile.nupkg.

4. Test your package

Just because your package was created doesn’t mean it works and you don’t want to publish to the world until you know it works especially given you can’t delete packages from NuGet:

1. Create a folder to be your own private testing NuGet repository, e.g. c:\testnuget
2. Publish to your test repository with nuget push yourfile.nupkg -source c:\testnuget
3. Configure Visual Studio to use your test repository by going to Tools > Library Package Manager > Package Manager Settings > Package Sources and then adding your test folder to the Available package sources test
4. Create a new test application and then add a reference using Manage NuGet Packages to choose your new package from your test repository.
5. Write a few lines of code to test you can actually use your package OK!

5. Publish to the world

Okay, you’re now ready to publish. If you haven’t yet signed up for an account over at Nuget.org you’ll need to do that first.

1. Go to Your Account and copy your API key
2. Run the PowerShell command nuget setApiKey followed by your API key, e.g. nuget setApiKey 99995594-38d2-42cd-a8b1-ddcd722bb7e7
3. Run nuget push yourfile.nupkg again this time without the -source option to publish to the default public repository

[)amien