.NET CLI Cheat Sheet

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The .NET Command Line Interface (CLI) is a cross-platform tool that can create, build, run, and publish .NET projects. For more information about it, visit the official documentation site

It can be handy in cases such as:

  • Environments where you don’t have an IDE, such as Visual Studio
  • Automation tasks using scripts
  • Environments where a UI is not available

Get help

Get help related to all available dotnet commands
dotnet --help
Get help related to a specific dotnet command

Get help about a specific command, replace [command-name] by an actual command.

dotnet [command-name] --help

Example: Get help about dotnet new command.

dotnet new --help

Check versions available

Check dotnet version

Will display the dotnet SDK version the CLI will use. The last version available will be used in case multiple versions are installed.

dotnet --version
List SDKs

List available Software Develpment Kits (SDK) available in the machine. The CLI will use the latest version found by default.

dotnet --list-sdks
List runtimes

List available .NET Core runtimes.

dotnet --list-runtimes
Target a specific SDK

In some cases you may want to target a specific SDK version different from the latest one. For this purpose you can specify the version in a globaljson file.

dotnet new globaljson --sdk-version [version]
List available templates

List available templates; the list will vary depending on the current SDK.

dotnet new --list

Development Cycle

Create a new Solution

Creates a new empty solution in the folder where the command executed.

dotnet new sln -n [solution-name] -o [output-folder]
Adds gitignore file

Adds gitignore, this command should be run in the root folder of your git repository.

dotnet new gitignore
Create a new Project

Creates a new project in the path specified. This command will only create the project, you still need to add it to a solution.

dotnet new [template-name] -n [project-name] -o [output-folder]
Add a Project to a Solution

Adds the project to the specified solution. Run this command from the solution folder.

dotnet sln add [path to the csproj to add]
Add a nuget package to a project

Add a nuget package.

dotnet add [project] package [package-name] --version [version-number]
Build

Builds as solution.

dotnet build
Run

Run an application, automatically runs dotnet build.

dotnet run --project [path-to-the-project]
Publish

Publish an application.

dotnet publish -r win-x64 -c Release -o [output-path]

Examples

Creating a Console App with .NET CLI
  • Set the SDK version to 5.0.403
  • Creates a new foler for the solution
  • Creates a new solution
  • Navigates to the Solution folder
  • Creates a folder for the source files
  • Creates a new Project using the "console" template
  • Add the new Project to the Solution
dotnet new globaljson --sdk-version 5.0.403
md ConsoleApp
dotnet new sln -n ConsoleApp -o ConsoleApp
cd ConsoleApp
md src
dotnet new console -n ConsoleApp -o src/ConsoleApp
dotnet sln add src/consoleapp/consoleapp.csproj
dotnet build
dotnet run --project src/consoleapp
Creating a MVC App with .NET CLI
  1. Creates a new foler for the solution
  2. Creates a new solution in the folder created in the previous step
  3. Navigates to the Solution folder
  4. Creates a folder for the source files
  5. Creates a new mvc app
  6. Adds the new Project to the Solution
  7. Builds the solution
  8. Runs the app
md MvcApp
dotnet new sln -n MvcApp -o MvcApp
cd MvcApp
md src
dotnet new mvc -uld --auth individual -n MvcApp -o src/MvcApp
dotnet sln add src/MvcApp/MvcApp.csproj
dotnet build
dotnet run --project src/MvcApp/MvcApp.csproj
Creating a Web API with .NET CLI
  1. Creates a new foler for the solution
  2. Creates a new solution in the folder created in the previous step
  3. Navigates to the Solution folder
  4. Creates a folder for the source files
  5. Creates a new Web API
  6. Adds the new Project to the Solution
  7. Builds the solution
  8. Runs the Web API
md WebApi
dotnet new sln -n WebApi -o WebApi
cd WebApi
md src
dotnet new webapi -n WebApi -o src/WebApi --use-program-main true
dotnet sln add src/WebApi/WebApi.csproj
dotnet build
dotnet run --project src/WebApi/WebApi.csproj

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