Btukfyl

I am running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

I updated my .NET Core installation to the latest version 2.1.500 a few days ago.

Shortly after, I wanted to play with the source code for MS Build, so I cloned the MS Build git repo and ran their build.cmd file as instructed.

But it kept failing telling me it wasn't able to download the per-requisite .NET Core version 2.1.401.

C:SourceOfMSBuild> build.cmd



dotnet-install: Downloading link: 

https://dotnetcli.azureedge.net/dotnet/Sdk/2.1.401/dotnet-sdk-2.1.401-win-x64.zip



dotnet-install: Cannot download: 

https://dotnetcli.azureedge.net/dotnet/Sdk/2.1.401/dotnet-sdk-2.1.401-win-x64.zip



dotnet-install: Downloading legacy link: 

https://dotnetcli.azureedge.net/dotnet/Sdk/2.1.401/dotnet-dev-win-x64.2.1.401.zip



Exception calling "Invoke" with "0" argument(s): 

"Failed to download 

https://dotnetcli.azureedge.net/dotnet/Sdk/2.1.401/dotnet-dev-win-x64.2.1.401.zip."



yada yada yada yada...

So I downloaded the zip file https://dotnetcli.azureedge.net/dotnet/Sdk/2.1.401/dotnet-sdk-2.1.401-win-x64.zip manually, and unzipped it to find a dotnet.exe in it.

First thinking that it was a set-up file, I double-clicked it. It appeared and disappeared quickly.

Then, after a few failed attempts, I suspected it was indeed the SDK itself and wasn't an install-able set-up. So, I checked the folders in the unzipped file and they matched exactly the folders in my C:Program Filesdotnet folder (see the picture at the bottom of this question).

So, now, I don't know how to have this version of .NET Core that I just downloaded (v 2.1.401) co-exist with the latest version 2.1.500. I do see that the C:Program Filesdotnetsdk folder has several versions exist side by side:

C:Program Filesdotnetsdk>dir /b

1.0.0

1.0.0-preview2-003131

2.1.500

NuGetFallbackFolder

So, should I just go ahead and mess around with my folders manually? That is, should I just copy and paste the folders I downloaded and merge them with what I have? See below.

The contents of the two folders needn't have to be merged. One must download the .NET Core installer instead.

Two issues need to be addressed in answering this question.

1. 
   

   I had downloaded the binaries in a zip file and not an installer. I was led to install the binaries because the URL I saw on the console when I ran the build script pointed to the binaries and not to the installer.

   
   
   

   .NET Core comes in two kinds of packages:

   
   
   

   a. MSI installers; and

   
   
   

   b. Zip files containing the binaries. These are useful when you want to hold a private copy of .NET core in your application. Just like NPM packages have private installations in contrast to public/global ones. Just like you hold private assemblies (CopyLocal = True) of the .NET framework within your application in contrast with references them from the GAC or the Reference Assemblies folder.

   
   
   

   Look at this SDK download page on the Microsoft website. It lists both, the binaries and the installers for each version of the SDK and the runtime.

   
   



2. A Powershell script in the MS Build build process downloads the zip file containing only the binaries and it holds this version of the .NET Core privately. The version it is looking for is mentioned in the DotNetCliVersion property in the Version.props file.

From build1.ps

function Build {

  if (![string]::IsNullOrEmpty($DotNetCoreSdkDir) -and 

                               (Test-Path -Path $DotNetCoreSdkDir)) {

    $env:DOTNET_INSTALL_DIR = $DotNetCoreSdkDir

  }

  else {

    InstallDotNetCli

  }



  $env:DOTNET_HOST_PATH = Join-Path $env:DOTNET_INSTALL_DIR "dotnet.exe"



  ...