Robustly Upgrading Target .NET Framework Version

Written by Ken Dale

As I’ve walked through upgrading a number of solutions to target a new version of the .NET Framework, I’ve compiled a list of helpful steps:

  • Run git clean -xdf to remove files not in the repository (or, delete packages folder, all bin, all obj folders)
  • Update framework version on all projects
  • Delete all binding redirects in all projects (search the solution for <runtime>)
  • Package Manager Console: Get-Project -All | Update-Package -Reinstall (review for failures when complete, this may fail if any packages are delisted)
  • Package Manager Console: Get-Project -All | Add-BindingRedirect
  • Cleanup any unwanted files added by the reinstall of NuGet packages
  • Cleanup duplicate entries of <Private>True</Private>
  • Cleanup any other issues you may find (look through the changes)
  • Build solution and review output for binding redirect issues or anything else

Hopefully that helps you avoid issues encountered when upgrading to a newer .NET framework version. Leave a comment if anything is missing!

Published February 11, 2019 by

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Ken Dale Github Senior Application Developer (Former)

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