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Install-Package (Package Manager Console in Visual Studio)

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This topic describes the command within the Package Manager Console in Visual Studio on Windows. For the generic PowerShell Install-Package command, see the PowerShell PackageManagement reference.

Installs a package and its dependencies into a project.

Syntax

Install-Package [-Id] <string> [-IgnoreDependencies] [-ProjectName <string>] [[-Source] <string>] 
    [[-Version] <string>] [-IncludePrerelease] [-FileConflictAction] [-DependencyVersion]
    [-WhatIf] [<CommonParameters>]

In NuGet 2.8+, Install-Package can downgrade an existing package in your project. For example, if you have Microsoft.AspNet.MVC 5.1.0-rc1 installed, the following command would downgrade it to 5.0.0:

Install-Package Microsoft.AspNet.MVC -Version 5.0.0.

Parameters

Parameter Description
Id (Required) The identifier of the package to install. (3.0+) The identifier can be a path or URL of a packages.config file or a .nupkg file. The -Id switch itself is optional.
IgnoreDependencies Install only this package and not its dependencies.
ProjectName The project into which to install the package, defaulting to the default project.
Source The URL or folder path for the package source to search. Local folder paths can be absolute, or relative to the current folder. If omitted, Install-Package searches the currently selected package source.
Version The version of the package to install, defaulting to the latest version.
IncludePrerelease Considers prerelease packages for the install. If omitted, only stable packages are considered.
FileConflictAction The action to take when asked to overwrite or ignore existing files referenced by the project. Possible values are Overwrite, Ignore, None, OverwriteAll, and (3.0+) IgnoreAll.
DependencyVersion The version of the dependency packages to use, which can be one of the following:
  • Lowest (default): the lowest version
  • HighestPatch: the version with the lowest major, lowest minor, highest patch
  • HighestMinor: the version with the lowest major, highest minor, highest patch
  • Highest (default for Update-Package with no parameters): the highest version
You can set the default value using the dependencyVersion setting in the Nuget.Config file.
WhatIf Shows what would happen when running the command without actually performing the install.

None of these parameters accept pipeline input or wildcard characters.

Common Parameters

Install-Package supports the following common PowerShell parameters: Debug, Error Action, ErrorVariable, OutBuffer, OutVariable, PipelineVariable, Verbose, WarningAction, and WarningVariable.

Examples

# Installs the latest version of Elmah from the current source into the default project
Install-Package Elmah

# Installs Glimpse 1.0.0 into the MvcApplication1 project
Install-Package Glimpse -Version 1.0.0 -Project MvcApplication1

# Installs Ninject.Mvc3 but not its dependencies from c:\temp\packages
Install-Package Ninject.Mvc3 -IgnoreDependencies -Source c:\temp\packages

# Installs the package listed on the online packages.config into the current project
# Note: the URL must end with "packages.config"
Install-Package https://raw.githubusercontent.com/linked-data-dotnet/json-ld.net/master/.nuget/packages.config

# Installs jquery 1.10.2 package, using the .nupkg file under local path of c:\temp\packages
Install-Package c:\temp\packages\jQuery.1.10.2.nupkg

# Installs the specific online package
# Note: the URL must end with ".nupkg"
Install-Package https://globalcdn.nuget.org/packages/microsoft.aspnet.mvc.5.2.3.nupkg