adding nuget packages in TFS - does packages.config need to be Checked In?

Question

I am wondering if anyone is aware of how to properly include an Nuget package in my application. Installing it - adds the references automatically in Solution Explorer. In addition it create/display a file called package.config - and it looks like it wants to be added in my project. It is shown in Solution Explorer but appears in my root folder with a little + sign next to it - and allows me to Check In Pending Changes / add it. Am I supposed to add it to my project?

I basically don't want to screw up anything.

Answer 1

Yes the packages.config file is required. This file holds the packages you reference and the versions youre using. NuGet uses this file to restore your packages in a TFS build of on the machine of another developer.

Here is some more information on NuGet dependency resolution

Note that you should not checkin the packages folder in your solution folder. NuGet will restore packages to this folder using the packages.config file

UPDATE: the <PackageReference> format was introduced a while back. It can be used with both the old and new .csproj formats. One of the benifits is that the paths to the packages are no longer in your project file so you will get a lot less updates/merge conflicts when updating NuGet packages. See this page for more information: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget/consume-packages/package-references-in-project-files

Answer 2

Yes, it's usually checked in as part of your solution. Source control and all that.