How do I enable NuGet Package Restore in Visual Studio?

It took far too long but I finally found this document on Migrating MSBuild-Integrated solutions to Automatic Package Restore and I was able to resolve the issue using the methods described here.

Remove the '.nuget' solution directory along from the solution Remove all references to nuget.targets from your .csproj or .vbproj files. Though not officially supported, the document links to a PowerShell script if you have a lot of projects which need to be cleaned up. I manually edited mine by hand so I can't give any feedback regarding my experience with it.

When editing your files by hand, here's what you'll be looking for:

Solution File (.sln)

Project("{2150E333-8FDC-42A3-9474-1A3956D46DE8}") = ".nuget", ".nuget", "{F4AEBB8B-A367-424E-8B14-F611C9667A85}"
ProjectSection(SolutionItems) = preProject
    .nuget\NuGet.Config = .nuget\NuGet.Config
    .nuget\NuGet.exe = .nuget\NuGet.exe
    .nuget\NuGet.targets = .nuget\NuGet.targets
EndProjectSection
EndProject

Project File (.csproj / .vbproj)

  <Import Project="$(SolutionDir)\.nuget\NuGet.targets" Condition="Exists('$(SolutionDir)\.nuget\NuGet.targets')" />
  <Target Name="EnsureNuGetPackageBuildImports" BeforeTargets="PrepareForBuild">
    <PropertyGroup>
      <ErrorText>This project references NuGet package(s) that are missing on this computer. Enable NuGet Package Restore to download them.  For more information, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=322105. The missing file is {0}.</ErrorText>
    </PropertyGroup>
    <Error Condition="!Exists('$(SolutionDir)\.nuget\NuGet.targets')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', '$(SolutionDir)\.nuget\NuGet.targets'))" />
  </Target>

Microsoft has dropped support for the 'Enable NuGet Package Restore' in VS2015 and you need to do some manual changes to either migrate old solutions or add the feature to new solutions. The new feature is described pretty well in NuGet Package Restore.

There is also a migration guide for existing projects (as previously mentioned) here: NuGet Migration Guide

When upgrading:

do not delete the .nuget directory. Delete the nuget.exe and nuget.targets files. Leave the nuget.config. Purge each of the project files of any reference to the NuGet targets by hand. The Powershell script mentioned seemed to do more damage than good.

When creating a new project:

In your Visual Studio 2015 solution, create a Solution Directory called .nuget. Create an actual directory of the solution directory (where the .sln file lives) and call it .nuget (note that the solution directory is not the same as the actual file system directory even though they have the same name). Create a file in the .nuget directory called nuget.config. Add the 'nuget.config' to the solution directory created in step #2. Place the following text in the nuget.config file:

This configuration file will allow you to consolidate all your packages in a single place so you don't have 20 different copies of the same package floating around on your file system. The relative path will change depending on your solution directory architecture but it should point to a directory common to all your solutions.

You need to restart visual studio after doing step 5. Nuget won't recognize the changes until you do so.

Finally, you may have to use the 'Nuget Package Manager for Solutions' to uninstall and then re-install the packages. I don't know if this was a side-effect of the Powershell script I ran or just a method to kick NuGet back into gear. Once I did all these steps, my complicated build architecture worked flawlessly at bringing down new packages when I checked projects out of TFVC.

As already mentioned by Mike, there is no option 'Enable NuGet Package Restore' in VS2015. You'll have to invoke the restore process manually. A nice way - without messing with files and directories - is using the NuGet Package Management Console: Click into the 'Quick start' field (usually in the upper right corner), enter console, open the management console, and enter command:

Update-Package –reinstall

This will re-install all packages of all projects in your solution. To specify a single project, enter:

Update-Package –reinstall -ProjectName MyProject

Of course this is only necessary when the Restore button - sometimes offered by VS2015 - is not available. More useful update commands are listed and explained here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget/consume-packages/reinstalling-and-updating-packages

Optionally you can remove all folders from "packages" folder and select "Manage NuGet Packages for Solution...". In this case "Restore" button appears on NuGet Packages Windows.

https://i.imgur.com/cbXbpMx.png

Click on it and the required packages will be installed automatically. I believe this is what you're looking for, this solved my problems.

Use this command to restore all packages

dotnet restore

When upgrading projects with nuget packages from Vx20XX to VS2015, you might have a problem with nuget packages.

Example of error message: This project references NuGet package(s) that are missing on this computer. Enable NuGet Package Restore to download them.

Update 2016-02-06: I had a link to the information but it does not work anymore. I suspect that a recent path has solved the problem ???

I fixed my problem writing a little program that do MSBuild-Integrated package restore vs. Automatic Package Restore

You can download executable of the tool here.

Please let me know the result :-) !

https://i.stack.imgur.com/c7Nqh.png

Code as reference:

<Window x:Class="FixNuGetProblemsInVs2015.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
        xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
        xmlns:local="clr-namespace:FixNuGetProblemsInVs2015"
        mc:Ignorable="d"
        Title="Fix NuGet Packages problems in Visual Studio 2015 (By Eric Ouellet)" Height="350" Width="525">
    <Grid>
        <Grid.RowDefinitions>
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto"></RowDefinition>
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto"></RowDefinition>
            <RowDefinition Height="*"></RowDefinition>
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto"></RowDefinition>
        </Grid.RowDefinitions>

        <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
            <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"></ColumnDefinition>
            <ColumnDefinition Width="10"></ColumnDefinition>
            <ColumnDefinition></ColumnDefinition>
        </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

        <TextBlock Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0">Root directory of projects</TextBlock>
        <Grid Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="2">
            <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                <ColumnDefinition></ColumnDefinition>
                <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"></ColumnDefinition>
            </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

            <TextBox Grid.Column="0" Name="DirProjects"></TextBox>
            <Button Grid.Column="1" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" Name="BrowseDirProjects" Click="BrowseDirProjectsOnClick">Browse...</Button>
        </Grid>

        <!--<TextBlock Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="0">Directory of NuGet Packages</TextBlock>
        <Grid Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="2">
            <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                <ColumnDefinition></ColumnDefinition>
                <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"></ColumnDefinition>
            </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

            <TextBox Grid.Column="0" Name="DirPackages"></TextBox>
            <Button Grid.Column="1"  Name="BrowseDirPackages" Click="BrowseDirPackagesOnClick">Browse...</Button>
        </Grid>-->

        <TextBox Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="0" Grid.ColumnSpan="3" Name="TxtLog" IsReadOnly="True"></TextBox>

        <Button Grid.Row="3" Grid.Column="0" Click="ButtonRevertOnClick">Revert back</Button>
        <Button Grid.Row="3" Grid.Column="2" Click="ButtonFixOnClick">Fix</Button>
    </Grid>
</Window>


using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Data;
using System.Windows.Documents;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Windows.Input;
using System.Windows.Media;
using System.Windows.Media.Imaging;
using System.Windows.Navigation;
using System.Windows.Shapes;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.Linq;
using Application = System.Windows.Application;
using MessageBox = System.Windows.MessageBox;

/// <summary>
/// Applying recommanded modifications in section : "MSBuild-Integrated package restore vs. Automatic Package Restore"
/// of : http://docs.nuget.org/Consume/Package-Restore/Migrating-to-Automatic-Package-Restore
/// </summary>

namespace FixNuGetProblemsInVs2015
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Interaction logic for MainWindow.xaml
    /// </summary>
    public partial class MainWindow : Window
    {
        public MainWindow()
        {
            InitializeComponent();

            DirProjects.Text = @"c:\prj";
            // DirPackages.Text = @"C:\PRJ\NuGetPackages";
        }

        private void BrowseDirProjectsOnClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        {
            FolderBrowserDialog dlg = new FolderBrowserDialog();
            dlg.SelectedPath = DirProjects.Text;
            if (dlg.ShowDialog() == System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK)
            {
                DirProjects.Text = dlg.SelectedPath;
            }
        }

        //private void BrowseDirPackagesOnClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        //{
        //  FolderBrowserDialog dlg = new FolderBrowserDialog();
        //  dlg.SelectedPath = DirPackages.Text;
        //  if (dlg.ShowDialog() == System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK)
        //  {
        //      DirPackages.Text = dlg.SelectedPath;
        //  }
        //}

        // private string _dirPackages;

        private void ButtonFixOnClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        {
            DoJob(false);
        }

        private void ButtonRevertOnClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        {
            DoJob(true);
        }

        private void DoJob(bool revert = false)
        {
            TxtLog.Text = "";

            string dirProjects = DirProjects.Text;
            // _dirPackages = DirPackages.Text;

            if (!Directory.Exists(dirProjects))
            {
                MessageBox.Show("Projects directory does not exists: " + dirProjects);
                return;
            }

            //if (!Directory.Exists(_dirPackages))
            //{
            //  MessageBox.Show("Packages directory does not exists: " + _dirPackages);
            //  return;
            //}

            RecurseFolder(dirProjects, revert);
        }

        private void RecurseFolder(string dirProjects, bool revert = false)
        {
            if (revert)
            {
                Revert(dirProjects);
            }
            else
            {
                FixFolder(dirProjects);
            }

            foreach (string subfolder in Directory.EnumerateDirectories(dirProjects))
            {
                RecurseFolder(subfolder, revert);
            }
        }

        private const string BackupSuffix = ".fix_nuget_backup";

        private void Revert(string dirProject)
        {
            foreach (string filename in Directory.EnumerateFiles(dirProject))
            {
                if (filename.ToLower().EndsWith(BackupSuffix))
                {
                    string original = filename.Substring(0, filename.Length - BackupSuffix.Length);
                    if (File.Exists(original))
                    {
                        File.Delete(original);                                          
                    }
                    File.Move(filename, original);
                    Log("File reverted: " + filename + " ==> " + original);
                }
            }
        }

        private void FixFolder(string dirProject)
        {
            BackupFile(System.IO.Path.Combine(dirProject, "nuget.targets"));
            BackupFile(System.IO.Path.Combine(dirProject, "nuget.exe"));

            foreach (string filename in Directory.EnumerateFiles(dirProject))
            {
                if (filename.ToLower().EndsWith(".csproj"))
                {
                    FromProjectFileRemoveNugetTargets(filename);
                }
            }
        }

        private void BackupFile(string path)
        {
            if (File.Exists(path))
            {
                string backup = path + BackupSuffix;
                if (!File.Exists(backup))
                {
                    File.Move(path, backup);
                    Log("File backup: " + backup);
                }
                else
                {
                    Log("Project has already a backup: " + backup);
                }
            }
        }

        private void FromProjectFileRemoveNugetTargets(string prjFilename)
        {
            XDocument xml = XDocument.Load(prjFilename);

            List<XElement> elementsToRemove = new List<XElement>();

            foreach (XElement element in xml.Descendants())
            {
                if (element.Name.LocalName == "Import")
                {
                    var att = element.Attribute("Project");
                    if (att != null)
                    {
                        if (att.Value.Contains("NuGet.targets"))
                        {
                            elementsToRemove.Add(element);
                        }
                    }
                }

                if (element.Name.LocalName == "Target")
                {
                    var att = element.Attribute("Name");
                    if (att != null && att.Value == "EnsureNuGetPackageBuildImports")
                    {
                        elementsToRemove.Add(element);
                    }
                }
            }

            if (elementsToRemove.Count > 0)
            {
                elementsToRemove.ForEach(element => element.Remove());
                BackupFile(prjFilename);
                xml.Save(prjFilename);
                Log("Project updated: " + prjFilename);
            }
        }

        private void Log(string msg)
        {
            TxtLog.Text += msg + "\r\n";
        }

    }
}

I faced the same issue while trying to build sample project gplus-quickstart-csharp-master.

I looked closely error message and found a workaround from overcoming this error, hopefully, this will help.

Right click on solution file and open in windows explorer.

Copy .nuget folder with NuGet.Config, NuGet.exe, NuGet.targets (download link or simply copy from other project and replaced)

Try to rebuild solution.

Enjoy !!

I suppose that for asp.net 4 project we're moving to automatic restore, so there is no need for this. For older projects I think a bit of work to convert is needed.

http://docs.nuget.org/docs/workflows/migrating-to-automatic-package-restore

Go at References in visual studio and look at which packages are missing. Now right click on Solution in Visual and click on open folder in file explorer. Now open packages folder and delete missing packages folder. Open visual studio and just build the solution. all the missing packages will be restore. Please mark this as answer if I helped.

This approach worked for me:

Close VS2015

Open the solution temporarily in VS2013 and enable nuget package restore by right clicking on the solution (i also did a rebuild, but I suspect that is not needed).

Close VS2013

Reopen the solution in VS2015

You have now enabled nuget package restore in VS2015 as well.

Ivan Branets 's solution is essentially what fixed this for me, but some more details could be shared.

In my case, I was in VS 2015 using Auto Package restore and TFS. This is all pretty default stuff.

The problem was that when another developer tried to get a solution from TFS, some packages were not fully getting restored. (Why, that I'm not quite sure yet.) But the packages folder contained a folder for the reference and the NuGet package, but it wasn't getting expanded (say a lib folder containing a .dll was missing.) This half there, but not really quite right concept was preventing the package from being restored.

You'll recognize this because the reference will have a yellow exclamation point about not being resolved.

So, the solution of deleting the folder within packages removes the package restore blocking issue. Then you can right click at the top solution level to get the option to restore packages, and now it should work.

Close VS. Delete everything under packages folder. Reopen your solution. Right click on your project, select 'Manage nuget packages...'. You will see a yellow bar appear on top of 'Nuget Package Manager' window, asking you to restore packages. This has worked for me.

Package Manager console (Visual Studio, Tools > NuGet Package Manager > Package Manager Console): Run the Update-Package -reinstall -ProjectName command where is the name of the affected project as it appears in Solution Explorer. Use Update-Package -reinstall by itself to restore all packages in the solution. See Update-Package. You can also reinstall a single package, if desired.

from https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget/quickstart/restore

In case anyone else finds this problem in Visual Studio 2017, make sure the project is opened by the .sln file and not the folder, as visual studio won't pick up the settings if it's opened by folder. This happens by default if you're using Visual Studio online services for git.

If all else fails (or perhaps before then) you may want to check and see if NuGet is a package source. I installed VS2017, and it was NOT there by default. I thought it was kind of odd.

Tools - NuGet Package Manager - Package Manager Settings Click 'Package Sources' on left nav of dialog. Use plus sign (+) to add Nuget URL: https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json

VS 2019 Version 16.4.4 Solution targeting .NET Core 3.1

After having tried almost all the solutions proposed here, I closed VS. When I reopened it, after some seconds all was back to be OK...

Could also be a result of running the program while you're trying to install the package. it's grayed out if you try to click it while the built in IIS is running in the background.

For .NET Core projects, run dotnet restore or dotnet build command in NuGet Package Manager Console (which automatically runs restore)

You can run console from

Tools > NuGet Package Manager > Package Manager Console

I used msbuild /t:restore.

Credit and source:

My problem was with MSBuild So I followed @Vinney Kelly's link: Migrating MSBuild-Integrated solutions to Automatic Package Restore

and...

That worked LIKE A CHARM =]

MSBuild: use the msbuild /t:restore command, which restores packages packages listed in the project file (PackageReference only). Available only in NuGet 4.x+ and MSBuild 15.1+, which are included with Visual Studio 2017. nuget restore and dotnet restore both use this command for applicable projects.

I had to remove packages folder close and re-open (VS2015) solution. I was not migrating and I did not have packages checked into source control. All I can say is something got messed up and this fixed it.

Helped me through Tools >>> Nuget Package Manager >>> General then tick option Allow Nuget to download missing package and Automatically check for missing packages during build in visual studio.

https://i.stack.imgur.com/rP3Pf.png

I am facing the same problem. I am trying to add a MVC project which was created on Visual Studio 2015 to a solution that I made on Visual Studio 2019.

There are already existing projects on Visual Studio 2019, so adding this existing project which I created on VS 2015 triggers this same error. I've tried all the answers here but it doesn't fixes the problem.

What I did is just put the .nuget folder on the solution folder. Originally the hierarchy of the folder is this:

Solution Folder (VS 2019)
  -> MVC 1 Project
  -> MVC 2 Project
  -> MVC 3 Project (Project that I am adding)
         -> .nuget folder (It contains a .nuget folder)

So the issue was fixed when I moved the .nuget folder on the solution folder itself:

    Solution Folder (VS 2019)
  -> MVC 1 Project
  -> MVC 2 Project
  -> MVC 3 Project (Project that I am adding)
  -> .nuget folder (It contains a .nuget folder)

Even simpler, add a .nuget folder to your solution and the 'Restore Nuget Packages' will appear (not sure whether nuget.exe needs to be present for it to work).