[Bug]: dotnet restore throws error NU1202 with dotnet sdk 8.0.300 for some centrally managed packages about home

[brettfo]

@nkolev92 I was able to repro this. I created a repo at https://github.com/brettfo/13453 with all of the relevant information in the README, but the short version is that a Directory.Build.props further up the tree sets the ManagePackageVersionsCentrally property to false and in the /src directory, Directory.Packages.props used to be able to override this property in the 205 SDK, but it doesn't in the 300 SDK. It's a regression between the versions, but it's certainly possible that it only "worked" in 205 on accident.

[AR-May]

---

Issue moved from dotnet/msbuild#10157

• Please respond to @AR-May.

---

From @AR-May on Tuesday, May 21, 2024 2:05:08 PM

Team triage: it seems like it is a NuGet issue, moving it to NuGet repository.

[nkolev92]

@AR-May

There's some breaking changes for CPM opt-in in 8.0.3xx, namely: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget/release-notes/nuget-6.10#breaking-changes.

In particular, you shouldn't need ManagePackageVersionsCentrally anymore.

Now, I'm not sure I see how that breaking change could lead to the behavior you're seeing.

I'm not able to repro it with: https://github.com/nkolev92/13453

E:\NuGet\temp\13453 [main ≡]> dotnet restore
  Determining projects to restore...
  Restored E:\NuGet\temp\13453\13453.csproj (in 212 ms).
E:\NuGet\temp\13453 [main ≡]> dotnet --version
8.0.300
E:\NuGet\temp\13453 [main ≡]>

Can you help me understand how my repro is different from yours?

[nkolev92]

I think only Directory.Packages.props is supposed to be imported.
Very likely that it was accidentally working.

cc @jeffkl

[tomasfabian]

In my case, I disabled ManagePackageVersionsCentrally in the root Directory.Build.Props file for the entire solution. This detail wasn't included in my original issue that was transferred here:

<Project>
    <PropertyGroup>
        <ManagePackageVersionsCentrally>false</ManagePackageVersionsCentrally>
    </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

and enabled it only for individual test projects:

<Project Sdk="MSTest.Sdk/3.3.1">

    <PropertyGroup>
        <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
        <IsPackable>false</IsPackable>
    </PropertyGroup>

    <PropertyGroup>
        <ManagePackageVersionsCentrally>true</ManagePackageVersionsCentrally>
    </PropertyGroup>

    <ItemGroup>
        <PackageReference Include="FluentAssertions" />
    </ItemGroup>

</Project>

If it is no longer possible to configure ManagePackageVersionsCentrally in the Directory.Build.Props file in the root folder, I can move the Directory.Packages.Props file to the UnitTests subfolder.

[jeffkl]

It seems that this has to do with MSBuild import order. Any Directory.Build.props next to the project or any parent folder is imported first. A little after that, the Directory.Packages.props is imported but only if ManagePackageVersionsCentrally is set to true. Since you're disabling central package management (CPM) in Directory.Build.props, its too late to enable it in a project since the Directory.Packages.props was already not imported.

Its rather usual to use central package management but only for a select set of projects. Like you suggested, you could move Directory.Packages.props to a sub-directory with only those projects in it. Alternatively, you can create a Directory.Build.props next to each project that wants to use CPM with ManagePackageVersionsCentrally=true:

Project-level Directory.Build.props:

<Project>
  <PropertyGroup>
        <!-- Enable CPM for the project in this directory -->
    <ManagePackageVersionsCentrally>true</ManagePackageVersionsCentrally>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <!-- Import parent Directory.Build.props which respects the ManagePackageVersionsCentrally property already being set  -->
  <Import Project="$([MSBuild]::GetPathOfFileAbove('Directory.Build.props', '$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)../'))" />
</Project>

Root Directory.Build.props:

<Project>
  <PropertyGroup>
    <!-- Disable CPM by default unless something already enabled it -->
    <ManagePackageVersionsCentrally Condition="'$(ManagePackageVersionsCentrally)' != 'true'">false</ManagePackageVersionsCentrally>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

I'm closing this issue as "by design" for now since with Directory.Build.props its not possible to disable CPM globally but then enable it per-project.