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Hassan BOLAJRAF
Hassan BOLAJRAF

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C# | Create .Net custom template using GitHub Packages Registry

#microsoft #csharp #aspnetcore #github
Note
You can check other posts on my personal website: https://hbolajraf.net

Introduction

.NET gives us opportunity to create custom template for future use and GitHub packages registry is most popular now a days to host custom template. In this article, I will show you how to create .net custom template using GitHub packages registry.

Tools and Technology uses

  • Visual Studio 2022
  • .NET 6
  • C#
  • GitHub

Implementation

Step 1: Create a personal access token (PAT) from GitHub

  • Login into you GitHub
  • Go to settings -> Developer Settings -> Personal Access Tokens
  • Click “Generate new token” button
  • Type Note for the token, expiration days
  • Select scope for the token – here I have selected repo, write:packages, delete:packages as shown below.

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  • Now click “Generate Token” at the bottom of the panel
  • Copy the token and store the token for further use because you cannot find it later

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Step 2: Add Nuget Source in visual studio

  • Type the following command to add source
 dotnet nuget add source https://nuget.pkg.github.com/hbolajraf/index.json --name github-hbolajraf --username hbolajraf --password <Your personal Access Token>
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  • You will see a source is added in C:\Users\hbolajraf\AppData\Roaming\NuGet\NuGet.Config file

  • You can add source from visual studio Tools -> Options -> NuGet Package Manager -> Package Sources

  • Restart visual studio to get new nuget package source

Step 3: Create template for your application

  • Create a project or multiple projects using a solution file.
  • Here, I have created a clean architecture template with a solution file and multiple projects
  • Create a folder name – “.template.config” in the root directory of your application.

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  • Create a file template.json in .template.config folder.
  • Add the following content to template.json file

template.json

 { "$schema": "http://json.schemastore.org/template", "author": "hbolajraf Hasan", "classifications": [ "dotnet", "CleanArchitecture" ], "name": "Clean Architecture project template", "description": "Project template to create project using Clean Architecture", "identity": "CleanArchitecture", "shortName": "CleanArchitecture", "sourceName": "CleanArch", "tags": { "language": "C#", "type": "project" }, "symbols": { "Framework": { "type": "parameter", "description": "The target framework for the project.", "datatype": "choice", "choices": [ { "choice": "net6.0" }, { "choice": "net5.0" } ], "defaultValue": "net6.0", "replaces": "{TargetFramework}" } } }
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Step 4: Install and create template locally (Optional)

  • Go to one where “.template.config” folder exists.
  • Now run the following command. Don’t forgot to add space “.” at the end.
 dotnet new --install .
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  • You will see in the output that template is created. You will see Short Name of template which is used to install template.
  • Now go to the directory where you want to install template and type the following command.
 dotnet new CleanArchitecture  #or, dotnet new CleanArchitecture --force
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Here CleanArchitecture is short name of the template

  • To create template by another name type as follows.
 dotnet new CleanArchitecture -o Location
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Now projects name will be Location instead of CleanArch as mentioned in the previous json file.

  • Now go to the same directory to uninstall the template and type the following command.
 dotnet new --uninstall . ```console ## Step 5: Packing a template into a NuGet Package (nupkg file)  * Create a .csproj file one directory up of “.template.config” folder. * In my case the folder structure as follows ![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/4f719ewrw3yyt846xc3q.PNG) **Add the following content in TemplatePack.csproj project.** **TemplatePack.csproj** ```xml  <Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">  <PropertyGroup>  <PackageType>Template</PackageType>  <PackageVersion>1.0.0</PackageVersion>  <PackageId>hbolajraf.CleanArchitecture.Templates</PackageId>  <Title>Clean Architecture Template</Title>  <Authors>hbolajraf Hasan</Authors>  <Description>Clean Architecture Template</Description>  <PackageTags>dotnet-new;templates;clean-architecture</PackageTags>  <TargetFramework>netstandard2.0</TargetFramework>  <IncludeContentInPack>true</IncludeContentInPack>  <IncludeBuildOutput>false</IncludeBuildOutput>  <ContentTargetFolders>content</ContentTargetFolders>  <NoWarn>$(NoWarn);NU5128</NoWarn>  <NoDefaultExcludes>true</NoDefaultExcludes>  <RepositoryUrl>https://github.com/hbolajraf/public-packages</RepositoryUrl>  </PropertyGroup>  <ItemGroup>  <Content Include="CleanArchitecture\**\*" Exclude="CleanArchitecture\**\bin\**;CleanArchitecture\**\obj\**" />  <Compile Remove="..\**\*" />  </ItemGroup>  </Project>
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  • To create package go to the directory where TemplatePack.csproj file exists and type the following command.
 dotnet pack
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  • You will hbolajraf.CleanArchitecture.Templates.1.0.0.nupkg file is created in bin/Debug folder.

Step 6: Now push the package to github package registry

  • Go to the directory where hbolajraf.CleanArchitecture.Templates.1.0.0.nupkg is exists.

  • Type the following command to push the package in github package registry

    dotnet nuget push .\hbolajraf.CleanArchitecture.Templates.1.0.0.nupkg --api-key --source github-hbolajraf

  • Here, “github-hbolajraf” is a github source which we have added in step – 2.

  • Now login your github and you will see a template is uploaded to your package registry.

Step 7: Download template and install in local machine

  • Run the following command to install in local machine
 dotnet new --install hbolajraf.CleanArchitecture.Templates
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hbolajraf.CleanArchitecture.Templates is package Id.

output:

The following template packages will be installed: hbolajraf.CleanArchitecture.Templates Success: hbolajraf.CleanArchitecture.Templates::1.0.0 installed the following templates: Template Name Short Name Language Tags ----------------------------------- ----------------- -------- ------------------------ Clean Architecture project template CleanArchitecture [C#] dotnet/CleanArchitecture
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  • Now go to the directory where you want to regenerate the template and type the following command.
 dotnet new CleanArchitecture
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Here CleanArchitecture is the short name of the template

Note

  • To see installed template in locally use the following command. You will also see how to uninstall the particular template.
 dotnet new --uninstall
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  • To uninstall a particular template from local machine, use the following command.
 dotnet new --uninstall hbolajraf.CleanArchitecture.Templates dotnet new –uninstall <package id>
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