NuGetPackageChecker
An MSBuild extension to check for required packages and versions Classifications: BRONZE, HIGH
How does it work?
Validates NuGet pacakge references and versions for projects in the footprint. This works by adding an additional .targets file to the build process which checks the contents of package references.
Warnings and errors are written to the standard build output and any validation failures will fail the build.
Why?
There are often times when it is necessary to ensure the inclusion of certain packages or exclusion of others.
The most obvious examples currently are test projects which rely on additional packages, and the extensions contained within them, to augment the build process. Ensuing that test projects include the correct references with the correct versions is essential in order to be able to run the tests as part of CI pipelines or gather code coverage.
The requirement for package references and controlling versions is however not isolated to test projects and being able to ensure references or prevent the use of incompatible versions of packages is essential in avoiding issues rather than blindly permitting the use of any later versions.
This package provides a means of controlling required references and versions to ensure compatibility.
Usage
Add a reference to the nuget package which will add a build only dependency to your project. The easiest way to do this for a large number of projects is to include a Directory.Build.props file at the root of the repo containing:
<Project>
<ItemGroup>
<PackageReference Include="NuGetPackageChecker" Version="0.1.2" PrivateAssets="All"/>
</ItemGroup>
</Project>To automatically import the nuget pacakge into all projects.
Required or forbidden package references are configured using item groups which can be also be added to the Directory.Build.props files but can be updated/overridden as required.
<Project>
<ItemGroup>
<RequiredPackages Include="SecureBuildProcess" MinVersion="0.1" />
<ForbiddenPackages Include="DodgyPackage" />
</ItemGroup>
</Project>