dotnet-ef isn't packed properly on MacOS

[msaussac]

Summary

I am on MacOS and I am trying to use local version of dotnet-ef tool.
I found and following page : https://github.com/dotnet/efcore/blob/main/docs/getting-and-building-the-code.md#building-local-packages

I am building local package with :
./build.sh --pack

The successfully result :

[...]
Successfully created package '[...]/efcore/artifacts/packages/Debug/Shipping/Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Specification.Tests.9.0.0-dev.symbols.nupkg'.

Build succeeded.
    0 Warning(s)
    0 Error(s)

In another folder, I created a NuGet.Config file with local packages reference :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
  <packageSources>
    <add key="nuget.org" value="https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json" protocolVersion="3" />
    <add key="Local" value="[...]\efcore\artifacts\packages\Debug\Shipping" />
  </packageSources>
</configuration>

I generated tool-manifest with :
dotnet new tool-manifest

I am trying to install dotnet tool with :
dotnet tool install dotnet-ef --version 9.0.0-dev --local

Error :

Unhandled exception: Microsoft.DotNet.ToolPackage.ToolConfigurationException: Entry point file 'dotnet-ef.dll' for command 'dotnet-ef' was not found in the package.
   at Microsoft.DotNet.ToolPackage.ToolPackageInstance.GetCommands()
   at System.Lazy`1.ViaFactory(LazyThreadSafetyMode mode)
   at System.Lazy`1.ExecutionAndPublication(LazyHelper executionAndPublication, Boolean useDefaultConstructor)
   at System.Lazy`1.CreateValue()
   at Microsoft.DotNet.Tools.Tool.Install.ToolInstallLocalCommand.Install(FilePath manifestFile)
   at System.CommandLine.Invocation.InvocationPipeline.Invoke(ParseResult parseResult)
   at Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Program.ProcessArgs(String[] args, TimeSpan startupTime, ITelemetry telemetryClient)

I performed the same operation on Windows successfully.

I am trying to analyze the differences between macOS and Windows nuget package. I am unzipped the package nuget dotnet-ef.9.0.0-dev.nupkg.
I can't find the file dotnet-ef.dll on macOS.

Include provider and version information

EF Core version: 8.0.101
Operating system: MacOS Sonoma 14.3.1

[roji]

Confirmed, this indeed repros for me, and I can see differences in the produced dotnet-ef.9.0.0-dev.nupkg between Macos and Windows.

@msaussac we'll look into this, but note that in general there's absolutely no need for you to build and use the EF command line tools from the main branch - the CLI package is just a very thin wrapper around EF components (especially the EFCore.Design package). So you should generally be able to use the last version of the ef-tools (8.0.x or the latest published preview) with the latest bits in main - that should unblock anything you're trying to do.

[msaussac]

Thanks you for your reply.

I thought at first that the problem is in https://github.com/dotnet/efcore/blob/main/src/dotnet-ef/dotnet-ef.csproj :
<NuspecProperty Include="Output=$(PublishDir)**\*" />
and https://github.com/dotnet/efcore/blob/main/src/dotnet-ef/dotnet-ef.nuspec :
<file src="$Output$" target="tools\$targetFramework$\any" />
Maybe, the copy doesn't work properly. I tried doing it file by file but without success.

I would like use the package nuget in order to add a new migration script command in the CLI.

[AndriySvyryd]

@roji What's the difference in the produced dotnet-ef.9.0.0-dev.nupkg?

[roji]

@AndriySvyryd the one mentioned in the OP - I couldn't see a dotnet-ef.dll in the resulting nupkg generated on MacOS, whereas it did exist in the Windows-generate nupkg.

Let me know if you want me to share the two nupkgs.

[AndriySvyryd]

There haven't been any significant changes to that project in a long time, so I don't think this is a regression. Since the final nupkg should contain .NET Framework binaries it's not even possible to build it on a Mac. At best we could show an error message, but then we'd need to special-case our CI builds