In part two of the GitHub series, Developer Adrian shows us how to publish a NuGet package.
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Using GitHub Packages for NuGet
GitHub Packages is a software package hosting service allowing you to host packages privately or publicly and use them as dependencies in your projects.
NuGet Package Configuration
First, create two access tokens:
- Read and write access token (for storing all versions of the package).
- Read access token (to access this package from another project).
Set-Up
1. Log in to your GitHub organization or profile account.
2. Go to "developer settings" then personal access tokens.
3. In the “note” field, describe your personal token and select checkboxes: **write:packages**, **read:packages** and **delete:packages**.
4. Repeat step three for the read-only token **read:packages**
Next, provide values in nuget.config:
```xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
<packageSources>
<clear />
<add key="github" value="https://nuget.pkg.github.com/yourOrganizationOrAccount/index.json" />
</packageSources>
<packageSourceCredentials>
<github>
<add key="Username" value="yourOrganizationOrAccountUserName" />
<add key="ClearTextPassword" value="readWriteToken" />
</github>
</packageSourceCredentials>
</configuration>
```
Keep nuget.config for local development. For CI/CD, use a dedicated step or task combined with secret values.
Publishing Your Package
After configuration, publish your package using commands:
```bash
$ dotnet pack --configuration Release
$ dotnet nuget push "bin/Release/YourPackageName.1.0.0.nupkg" --source "github"
```
Viewing Your Package
Your package should now be visible in your repository, under package and package details.
Additional Notes
- For private repositories, GitHub requires special deletion procedures.
- Deletion can be done via browser or GraphQL API.
Take it Further
Combine this tutorial with Azure DevOps pipelines and Npm package publishing for comprehensive package management.