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NuGet auto package restore does not work with MSBuild

I'm trying to build a solution with packages content missing (except repositories.config inside) with MSBuild 12.0. I expect it to auto restore all missing packages before building but this is not the case - MsBuild reports tons of errors:

"are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?"

NuGet Manager is 2.7 (I see this in Visual Studio 2013 about box). I even tried to pass EnableNuGetPackageRestore=true parameter - no luck. What am I missing?

Solution

  • UPDATED with latest official NuGet documentation as of v3.3.0

    Package Restore Approaches

    NuGet offers three approaches to using package restore.

    Automatic Package Restore is the NuGet team's recommended approach to Package Restore within Visual Studio, and it was introduced in NuGet 2.7. Beginning with NuGet 2.7, the NuGet Visual Studio extension integrates into Visual Studio's build events and restores missing packages when a build begins. This feature is enabled by default, but developers can opt out if desired.

    Here's how it works:

    1. On project or solution build, Visual Studio raises an event that a build is beginning within the solution.
    2. NuGet responds to this event and checks for packages.config files included in the solution.
    3. For each packages.config file found, its packages are enumerated and Checked for exists in the solution's packages folder.
    4. Any missing packages are downloaded from the user's configured (and enabled) package sources, respecting the order of the package sources.
    5. As packages are downloaded, they are unzipped into the solution's packages folder.

    If you have Nuget 2.7+ installed; it's important to pick one method for > managing Automatic Package Restore in Visual Studio.

    Two methods are available:

    1. (Nuget 2.7+): Visual Studio -> Tools -> Package Manager -> Package Manager Settings -> Enable Automatic Package Restore
    2. (Nuget 2.6 and below) Right clicking on a solution and clicking "Enable Package Restore for this solution".

    Command-Line Package Restore is required when building a solution from the command-line; it was introduced in early versions of NuGet, but was improved in NuGet 2.7. 

    nuget.exe restore contoso.sln

    The MSBuild-integrated package restore approach is the original Package Restore implementation and though it continues to work in many scenarios, it does not cover the full set of scenarios addressed by the other two approaches.