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dotnet build
This article applies to: ✔️ .NET Core 3.1 SDK and later versions
NAME
dotnet-build - Builds a project and all of its dependencies.
SYNOPSIS
dotnet build [<PROJECT>|<SOLUTION>] [-a|--arch <ARCHITECTURE>]
[-c|--configuration <CONFIGURATION>] [-f|--framework <FRAMEWORK>]
[--disable-build-servers]
[--force] [--interactive] [--no-dependencies] [--no-incremental]
[--no-restore] [--nologo] [--no-self-contained] [--os <OS>]
[-o|--output <OUTPUT_DIRECTORY>]
[-p|--property:<PROPERTYNAME>=<VALUE>]
[-r|--runtime <RUNTIME_IDENTIFIER>]
[--self-contained [true|false]] [--source <SOURCE>]
[--tl [auto|on|off]] [--use-current-runtime, --ucr [true|false]]
[-v|--verbosity <LEVEL>] [--version-suffix <VERSION_SUFFIX>]
dotnet build -h|--help
DESCRIPTION
The dotnet build command builds the project and its dependencies into a set of binaries. The binaries
include the project’s code in Intermediate Language (IL) files with a .dll extension. Depending on the
project type and settings, other files may be included, such as:
• An executable that can be used to run the application, if the project type is an executable targeting
.NET Core 3.0 or later.
• Symbol files used for debugging with a .pdb extension.
• A .deps.json file, which lists the dependencies of the application or library.
• A .runtimeconfig.json file, which specifies the shared runtime and its version for an application.
• Other libraries that the project depends on (via project references or NuGet package references).
For executable projects targeting versions earlier than .NET Core 3.0, library dependencies from NuGet
are typically NOT copied to the output folder. They’re resolved from the NuGet global packages folder at
run time. With that in mind, the product of dotnet build isn’t ready to be transferred to another ma‐
chine to run. To create a version of the application that can be deployed, you need to publish it (for
example, with the dotnet publish command). For more information, see .NET Application Deployment.
For executable projects targeting .NET Core 3.0 and later, library dependencies are copied to the output
folder. This means that if there isn’t any other publish-specific logic (such as Web projects have), the
build output should be deployable.
Implicit restore
Building requires the project.assets.json file, which lists the dependencies of your application. The
file is created when dotnet restore is executed. Without the assets file in place, the tooling can’t re‐
solve reference assemblies, which results in errors.
You don’t have to run dotnet restore because it’s run implicitly by all commands that require a restore
to occur, such as dotnet new, dotnet build, dotnet run, dotnet test, dotnet publish, and dotnet pack. To
disable implicit restore, use the --no-restore option.
The dotnet restore command is still useful in certain scenarios where explicitly restoring makes sense,
such as continuous integration builds in Azure DevOps Services or in build systems that need to explicit‐
ly control when the restore occurs.
For information about how to manage NuGet feeds, see the dotnet restore documentation.
This command supports the dotnet restore options when passed in the long form (for example, --source).
Short form options, such as -s, are not supported.
Executable or library output
Whether the project is executable or not is determined by the <OutputType> property in the project file.
The following example shows a project that produces executable code:
<PropertyGroup>
<OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
</PropertyGroup>
To produce a library, omit the <OutputType> property or change its value to Library. The IL DLL for a
library doesn’t contain entry points and can’t be executed.
MSBuild
dotnet build uses MSBuild to build the project, so it supports both parallel and incremental builds. For
more information, see Incremental Builds.
In addition to its options, the dotnet build command accepts MSBuild options, such as -p for setting
properties or -l to define a logger. For more information about these options, see the MSBuild Command-
Line Reference. Or you can also use the dotnet msbuild command.
When dotnet build is run automatically by dotnet run, arguments like -property:property=value
aren’t respected.
Running dotnet build is equivalent to running dotnet msbuild -restore; however, the default verbosity of
the output is different.
Workload manifest downloads
When you run this command, it initiates an asynchronous background download of advertising manifests for
workloads. If the download is still running when this command finishes, the download is stopped. For
more information, see Advertising manifests.
ARGUMENTS
PROJECT | SOLUTION
The project or solution file to build. If a project or solution file isn’t specified, MSBuild searches
the current working directory for a file that has a file extension that ends in either proj or sln and
uses that file.
OPTIONS
• -a|--arch <ARCHITECTURE>
Specifies the target architecture. This is a shorthand syntax for setting the Runtime Identifier
(RID), where the provided value is combined with the default RID. For example, on a win-x64 machine,
specifying --arch x86 sets the RID to win-x86. If you use this option, don’t use the -r|--runtime op‐
tion. Available since .NET 6 Preview 7.
• -c|--configuration <CONFIGURATION>
Defines the build configuration. The default for most projects is Debug, but you can override the
build configuration settings in your project.
• --disable-build-servers
Forces the command to ignore any persistent build servers. This option provides a consistent way to
disable all use of build caching, which forces a build from scratch. A build that doesn’t rely on
caches is useful when the caches might be corrupted or incorrect for some reason. Available since .NET
7 SDK.
• -f|--framework <FRAMEWORK>
Compiles for a specific framework. The framework must be defined in the project file. Examples:
net7.0, net462.
• --force
Forces all dependencies to be resolved even if the last restore was successful. Specifying this flag
is the same as deleting the project.assets.json file.
• -?|-h|--help
Prints out a description of how to use the command.
• --interactive
Allows the command to stop and wait for user input or action. For example, to complete authentication.
Available since .NET Core 3.0 SDK.
• --no-dependencies
Ignores project-to-project (P2P) references and only builds the specified root project.
• --no-incremental
Marks the build as unsafe for incremental build. This flag turns off incremental compilation and
forces a clean rebuild of the project’s dependency graph.
• --no-restore
Doesn’t execute an implicit restore during build.
• --nologo
Doesn’t display the startup banner or the copyright message.
• --no-self-contained
Publishes the application as a framework dependent application. A compatible .NET runtime must be in‐
stalled on the target machine to run the application. Available since .NET 6 SDK.
• -o|--output <OUTPUT_DIRECTORY>
Directory in which to place the built binaries. If not specified, the default path is ./bin/<configu‐
ration>/<framework>/. For projects with multiple target frameworks (via the TargetFrameworks proper‐
ty), you also need to define --framework when you specify this option.
• .NET 7.0.200 SDK and later
If you specify the --output option when running this command on a solution, the CLI will emit a warn‐
ing (an error in 7.0.200) due to the unclear semantics of the output path. The --output option is
disallowed because all outputs of all built projects would be copied into the specified directory,
which isn’t compatible with multi-targeted projects, as well as projects that have different versions
of direct and transitive dependencies. For more information, see Solution-level --output option no
longer valid for build-related commands.
• --os <OS>
Specifies the target operating system (OS). This is a shorthand syntax for setting the Runtime Identi‐
fier (RID), where the provided value is combined with the default RID. For example, on a win-x64 ma‐
chine, specifying --os linux sets the RID to linux-x64. If you use this option, don’t use the
-r|--runtime option. Available since .NET 6.
• -p|--property:<PROPERTYNAME>=<VALUE>
Sets one or more MSBuild properties. Specify multiple properties delimited by semicolons or by repeat‐
ing the option:
--property:<NAME1>=<VALUE1>;<NAME2>=<VALUE2>
--property:<NAME1>=<VALUE1> --property:<NAME2>=<VALUE2>
• -r|--runtime <RUNTIME_IDENTIFIER>
Specifies the target runtime. For a list of Runtime Identifiers (RIDs), see the RID catalog. If you
use this option with .NET 6 SDK, use --self-contained or --no-self-contained also. If not specified,
the default is to build for the current OS and architecture.
• --self-contained [true|false]
Publishes the .NET runtime with the application so the runtime doesn’t need to be installed on the tar‐
get machine. The default is true if a runtime identifier is specified. Available since .NET 6.
• --source <SOURCE>
The URI of the NuGet package source to use during the restore operation.
• --tl [auto|on|off]
Specifies whether the terminal logger should be used for the build output. The default is auto, which
first verifies the environment before enabling terminal logging. The environment check verifies that
the terminal is capable of using modern output features and isn’t using a redirected standard output
before enabling the new logger. on skips the environment check and enables terminal logging. off
skips the environment check and uses the default console logger.
The terminal logger shows you the restore phase followed by the build phase. During each phase, the
currently building projects appear at the bottom of the terminal. Each project that’s building outputs
both the MSBuild target currently being built and the amount of time spent on that target. You can
search this information to learn more about the build. When a project is finished building, a single
“build completed” section is written for that captures:
• The name of the built project
• The target framework (if multi-targeted)
• The status of that build
• The primary output of that build (which is hyperlinked)
• Any diagnostics generated for that project
This option is available starting in .NET 8.
• -v|--verbosity <LEVEL>
Sets the verbosity level of the command. Allowed values are q[uiet], m[inimal], n[ormal], d[etailed],
and diag[nostic]. The default is minimal. By default, MSBuild displays warnings and errors at all
verbosity levels. To exclude warnings, use /property:WarningLevel=0. For more information, see
<xref:Microsoft.Build.Framework.LoggerVerbosity> and WarningLevel.
• --use-current-runtime, --ucr [true|false]
Sets the RuntimeIdentifier to a platform portable RuntimeIdentifier based on the one of your machine.
This happens implicitly with properties that require a RuntimeIdentifier, such as SelfContained, Pub‐
lishAot, PublishSelfContained, PublishSingleFile, and PublishReadyToRun. If the property is set to
false, that implicit resolution will no longer occur.
• --version-suffix <VERSION_SUFFIX>
Sets the value of the $(VersionSuffix) property to use when building the project. This only works if
the $(Version) property isn’t set. Then, $(Version) is set to the $(VersionPrefix) combined with the
$(VersionSuffix), separated by a dash.
EXAMPLES
• Build a project and its dependencies:
dotnet build
• Build a project and its dependencies using Release configuration:
dotnet build --configuration Release
• Build a project and its dependencies for a specific runtime (in this example, Ubuntu 18.04):
dotnet build --runtime ubuntu.18.04-x64
• Build the project and use the specified NuGet package source during the restore operation:
dotnet build --source c:\packages\mypackages
• Build the project and set version 1.2.3.4 as a build parameter using the -p MSBuild option:
dotnet build -p:Version=1.2.3.4
2023-10-25 dotnet-build(1)