Using build events to create nuget packages

In this post I’ll show you how to automate the creation of nuget packages using Build Events in Visual Studio.

Table of contents

• The problem
• The solution
  1. Download nuget.exe
  2. Generate the .nuspec file for the project
  3. Edit the AssemblyInfo.cs file
  4. Add a Post-Build Event to create the package and build the solution
  5. Confirm that the package was created correctly
• Final thoughts
• References

The Problem

You want to create a nuget package for a class library in order to use it in different applications. You want to execute this task every time you build the project/solution.

The solution

In short, you need to create a .nuspec file for the project and then use a Post-Build Event Command Line to create the package.

For demonstration purposes I created a small class library project that contains my XmlSerializer class. I’ll show you step by step how to create a nuget package for that project.