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.netvisual-studio-2017nugetnuget-package-restorenuspec

Can I prevent a nuget package from loading all of its dependencies?

My C# .Net Framework 4.7.2 project is using a NuGet package, call it package A. Package A has a package reference to package B. Package B causes me issues and I don't want it in my project. Package B is only a dependency due to the default implementation of an interface provided in package A. I can provide a new implementation of the interface, but how can I prevent a NuGet restore from pulling in the unwanted and now unneeded Package B?

Solution

  • I can provide a new implementation of the interface, but how can I prevent a NuGet restore from pulling in the unwanted and now unneeded Package B?

    Since you have installed Package A with its dependency Package B in your project, you could try these:

    First, try to enter your packages.config file and delete Package B like this:

    Delete this:

    <package id="Package B" version="xxx" targetFramework="net472" />

    Second, delete Package B under xxx.csproj file(unload your project-->Edit xxx.csproj) and delete this:

    <Reference Include="Package B, Version=xxx Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=adb9793829ddae60, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
      <HintPath>..\packages\xxx\PackageB.dll</HintPath>
    </Reference>

    Then reload your project and it will not load Package B during Restore step or Build time.

    In addition, if you want to install a nuget package without its dependencies, you can try to run this under Tools-->NuGet Package Manager-->Nuget Packager Console:

    Install-Package <package name> -IgnoreDependencies

    It will not install all dependencies of the nuget package.

    If there is more than one dependency in your nuget package and you only want to remove one of them, you can only install the nuget package and all the dependencies as usual and then remove the nuget package using my solution.