NuGet Training — .NET Package Management, Creation & Enterprise Distribution

What Is NuGet?

NuGet is the package manager for .NET — the standard way to distribute, consume, and manage .NET libraries and tools. NuGet packages (.nupkg files) contain compiled assemblies, related files, and a manifest describing the package's dependencies, version, and metadata. The NuGet Gallery (nuget.org) hosts hundreds of thousands of public packages. For enterprises, internal NuGet feeds (Azure Artifacts, Nexus, Artifactory, GitHub Packages) provide governed, auditable distribution of internal and approved external packages.

Role in the DevOps Supply Chain

NuGet is the dependency management backbone of .NET applications. In CI/CD, NuGet restore resolves dependencies, dotnet pack creates packages, and dotnet push publishes them to feeds. Internal NuGet feeds provide: caching of external packages (faster restores, resilience), hosting of internal libraries (shared across teams), and governance (approval workflows, vulnerability scanning, license compliance). For .NET DevOps, mastering NuGet is as fundamental as mastering Git.

Who Should Attend

• .NET developers creating and consuming NuGet packages
• DevOps engineers managing .NET CI/CD pipelines
• Build/release engineers managing internal NuGet feeds

Learning Outcomes

• Create NuGet packages with dotnet pack, nuspec files, and MSBuild properties
• Implement semantic versioning for NuGet packages
• Configure NuGet feeds — nuget.org, Azure Artifacts, Nexus, Artifactory
• Integrate NuGet with Azure DevOps and GitHub Actions CI/CD
• Manage NuGet dependencies — transitive dependencies, version conflicts, vulnerability scanning
• Implement internal NuGet feed governance — approval, retention, license compliance

Course Modules

1. NuGet Fundamentals — Package structure (.nupkg). Package ID, version, dependencies. nuget.org. dotnet CLI.
2. Package Creation — dotnet pack. nuspec files. MSBuild package properties. Content files. Symbols packages.
3. Package Versioning — SemVer. Pre-release versions. Version ranges. Floating versions. Central Package Management.
4. NuGet Feeds — nuget.org. Azure Artifacts. Nexus. Artifactory. GitHub Packages. Feed configuration.
5. NuGet in CI/CD — Azure DevOps + NuGet. GitHub Actions + NuGet. Automated pack and push.
6. Enterprise NuGet Governance — Package approval workflows. Vulnerability scanning. License compliance. Retention.

Hands-on Labs (10 total)

Create a NuGet package for a .NET class library. Implement SemVer with automatic versioning from Git. Configure an internal NuGet feed in Azure Artifacts. Build a GitHub Actions workflow that packs and publishes NuGet packages. Implement Central Package Management for a multi-project solution.

Related Courses

See Chocolatey Training, MSBuild Training, .NET Build & Release, and DevOps Engineering.