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dotnetup overview

Note

dotnetup is in public preview. Its features and behavior might change before general availability.

dotnetup is a cross-platform toolchain manager for user-level .NET installations. It installs .NET SDKs and runtimes without writing to a system-managed .NET directory. It also tracks the installation requirements that you select so that it can update or remove the related files later.

Use dotnetup to:

  • Install stable, preview, daily, or exact .NET versions.
  • Keep multiple SDK and runtime requirements in one managed installation.
  • Install the SDK required by the nearest global.json file.
  • Update tracked channels without changing exact-version requirements.
  • Configure how terminals and applications find the managed dotnet.
  • Run the managed dotnet without changing PATH.

Start

Run the interactive setup:

> dotnetup init
Welcome to dotnetup!

SDK Channel: latest
Mode: Terminal Mode (Suggested)

Would you like to install .NET with the recommended settings?
> Yes, proceed with defaults and install

Downloading SDK <resolved-version>
Installing SDK <resolved-version>
Installed SDK <resolved-version>
Setup complete!

The setup asks which SDK channel to install and how you want to access the managed dotnet command.

For a concise, noninteractive setup, install an SDK and configure the current shell:

> dotnetup install latest
Downloading SDK <resolved-version>
Installing SDK <resolved-version>
Installed SDK <resolved-version>

> dotnetup env set shell
dotnet and dotnetup are on your PATH.
To apply the change to this terminal now, run:
<shell-specific command>
Or open a new terminal.

> dotnetup list
Installations (managed by dotnetup):

  <default-installation-root>

    Tracked channels:
      SDK latest  (source: explicit)

    Installed versions:
      SDK <resolved-version>  (<architecture>)

Total: 1

> dotnet --version
<resolved-version>

If you do not want to change your shell profile, use the forwarding command:

> dotnetup install latest
Downloading SDK <resolved-version>
Installing SDK <resolved-version>
Installed SDK <resolved-version>

> dotnetup env set none
dotnetup is on your PATH. dotnet is not — run it with 'dotnetup dotnet <command>'.
Open a new terminal for the change to take effect.

> dotnetup dotnet --version
<resolved-version>

The mode, resolved version, architecture, installation path, and shell command depend on your system and the available releases.

How dotnetup manages .NET

dotnetup tracks the SDK installations that you request. This tracking lets dotnetup update many installations at the same time. It also lets dotnetup safely remove unused or out-of-support installations.

For more information, see How dotnetup works.

Goal Article
Decide whether dotnetup fits your scenario When to use dotnetup
Install dotnetup and run the first setup Get started with dotnetup
Understand channels, installation roots, and tracking How dotnetup works
Use a repository's global.json Manage repository SDK requirements
Install SDKs and runtimes Install .NET components
Update or remove installations Update installations
Update or remove dotnetup itself Update or remove dotnetup
Configure PATH and DOTNET_ROOT Manage the dotnetup environment
Try preview or daily builds Use preview and daily builds
Fix common problems Troubleshoot dotnetup
Learn what data dotnetup collects dotnetup telemetry
Look up command syntax dotnetup command reference

Availability

dotnetup is available as a public preview. Commands, options, and behavior might change between preview releases, and the support lifecycle for the generally available release isn't final.

To install dotnetup, see Get started with dotnetup. After you install it, run dotnetup --version to confirm the version and dotnetup --help to see the available commands.

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