DotNet Restore Action
The DotNet Restore action in Continua CI is a wrapper around the .NET command line tools. If you're having trouble using the DotNet Restore action, please refer to the .NET CLI documentation.
The DotNet Restore action is used to restore the dependencies and tools of a .NET project.
DotNet Restore
Name
A friendly name for this action (will be displayed in the actions workflow area).
Enabled
Determines if this action will be run within the relevant stage.
Project/Solution Path
Path to project file, solution file or folder. If a folder is specified, it will be searched for a file that has a file extension that ends in 'proj' or is 'sln' or 'slnx'. Defaults to the workspace folder.
Working Folder
Optional working folder for running the executable. Defaults to the project folder.
Using
The Using drop down is populated with any property collector whose namespace matches the pattern defined by the DotNet CLI actions. The pattern for this action is ^NetCore\.App(?:\.|$)
If you create a property collector for this action, make sure you select the Path Finder PlugIn type and give it a name that will match the pattern above. Example names listed here, search the table's Plugin column for "DotNet Restore".
For more in-depth explanations on property collectors see Property Collectors.
Alternatively, you can select the Custom option from the Using drop down list and specify a path in the resulting input field that will be displayed. Please read Why it's a good idea to use a property collector before using this option.
DotNet Bitness
The bitness of the DotNet executable. Options are Default, 32 Bit (X86), or 64 Bit (X64).
SDK Version
The SDK version to set in global.json file before running the DotNet executable.
Custom SDK Version
A custom SDK version string. This field is only visible when the SDK Version is set to 'Custom'.
Settings
Package Sources
One or more NuGet package sources to use during the restore operation. This overrides all of the sources specified in the NuGet.config file(s). [--source]
Runtimes
One or more target runtimes to restore packages for. This is used to restore packages for runtimes not explicitly listed in the <RuntimeIdentifiers> tag in the .csproj file. For a list of Runtime Identifiers (RIDs), see the RID catalog. [--runtime]
Packages Directory
Directory to install packages in. If not specified, the default NuGet package cache is used, which is found in the .nuget/packages directory under the agent's home directory. [--packages]
Artifacts Path
All build output files will go in subfolders under the specified path, separated by project. The folder structure is artifacts/<output-type>/<project-name>/<pivot> where output type is bin, obj, publish, or package, and pivot is a combination of configuration, target framework, and runtime identifier (e.g., debug, release_net8.0, release_linux-x64). [--artifacts-path]
Requires .NET 8 or later.
Flags
Enable restoring multiple projects in parallel
If this is ticked, multiple restore operations are run concurrently. Untick to disable parallel restoring. [--disable-parallel]
Ignore failed sources
When this is ticked, package source failures are treated as warnings rather than errors. The restore will still succeed if the required packages can be found from other configured sources. This is useful when a secondary package source may be temporarily unavailable. [--ignore-failed-sources]
Cache packages and http requests
If this is ticked, packages and HTTP requests are cached. Untick to disable caching. On .NET 8 and later, this uses the --no-http-cache flag instead of --no-cache. [--no-cache]
Ignore dependencies
Tick this to ignore project-to-project (P2P) references and only restore the root project. [--no-dependencies]
Force
Force all dependencies to be resolved even if the last restore was successful. This is equivalent to deleting the project.assets.json file. Use this when package sources or versions have changed and cached restore results may be stale. [--force]
Requires .NET 2 or later.
Force evaluate
Force restore to reevaluate all dependencies even if a lock file already exists. Unlike the Force flag (which re-resolves all dependencies), this specifically forces the lock file to be regenerated. Use this when you want to update the lock file to reflect changed package versions. [--force-evaluate]
Requires .NET Core SDK 2.1.5 or later.
Locked mode
Fail the restore if the lock file needs to be updated. This ensures that builds are fully reproducible — if any dependency has changed since the lock file was generated, the restore will fail rather than silently updating. Use this in CI builds to enforce deterministic dependency resolution. [--locked-mode]
Requires .NET Core SDK 2.1.5 or later.
Use lock file
Generate a packages lock file (packages.lock.json) during restore. Lock files record the exact versions of all resolved packages, enabling reproducible builds and faster subsequent restores. An alternative lock file path can be specified on the Configuration tab. [--use-lock-file]
Requires .NET Core SDK 2.1.5 or later.
Use current runtime
Use the runtime version installed on the build agent as the target runtime. This is a convenient alternative to specifying a Runtime Identifier (RID) explicitly in the Runtime field. [--use-current-runtime]
Requires .NET 6 or later.
Configuration
Configuration File
The NuGet configuration file (NuGet.config) to use for the restore operation. [--configfile]
Lock File
The path to write the project lock file to. Leave empty to use the default path of packages.lock.json in the root folder of each project. This field is only visible when Use lock file is enabled on the Flags tab. Requires .NET Core SDK 2.1.5 or later. [--lock-file-path]
Additional Arguments
Additional Arguments
Use this to specify additional command line arguments and properties -- one per line. Note that these will be placed at the end of the command line and will override any other matching settings.
Options
No logo
Suppress the startup banner and copyright message from the build log output. [--nologo]
Requires .NET 3 or later.
Log standard output
If this is ticked, the command line output is written to the build log.
Verbosity
The amount of information detail to display in the build log. Only visible when Log standard output is enabled. [--verbosity]
Timeout (in seconds)
How long to wait for the action to finish running before timing out. Leaving this blank (or zero) will default to 86400 seconds (24 hours).
Treat failure as warning
Tick to continue build on failure marking the action with a warning status.
Ignore warnings
If this is ticked, any warnings logged will not mark the action with a warning status.
Environment
Environment Variables
Multiple environment variables can be defined - one per line. These are set before the command line is run.
Log environment variables
If this is ticked, environment variable values are written to the build log.
Generate system environment variables
Tick this checkbox to set up a list of new environment variables prefixed with 'ContinuaCI.' for all current system expression objects and variables.
Mask sensitive variable values in system environment variables
This checkbox is visible only if the 'Generate system environment variables' checkbox is ticked.
If this is ticked, the values of any variables marked as sensitive will be masked with **** when setting system environment variables. Clear this to expose the values.