How do I install a NuGet package into the second project in a solution?

Question

I'm currently working on a solution that initially contained one project (My.First.Project.Name). I've installed Castle Windsor by executing:

Install-Package Castle.Windsor

I've just added another project (My.Second.Project.Name) to the solution and want to install Castle Windsor into this project also, but when I run Install-Package Castle.Windsor again, I get the error:

'Castle.Core 2.5.2' already installed
'Castle.Windsor 2.5.2' already installed
My.First.Project.Name already has a reference to 'Castle.Core 2.5.2'
My.First.Project.Name already has a reference to 'Castle.Windsor 2.5.2'

So my question is: How do I persuade the NuGet Package Manager to install the package into the second project?

score 326 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 06 '14 at 20:20

326

There's 3 approaches :).
In NuGet 1.1 (The latest release) we've improved powershell pipelining so you can do this:

Get-Project -All | Install-Package SomePackage

That will install "SomePackage" into all of your projects. You can use wildcards to narrow down which projects:

Get-Project Mvc* | Install-Package SomePackage

That will use wildcard semantics (in this case, find all projects that start with mvc).

Get-Project SomeProject | Install-Package SomePackage

That will install SomePackage into SomeProject and nothing else.

edited Jan 06 '14 at 20:20

Chase Florell

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answered Feb 13 '11 at 01:27

davidfowl

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and 3th approache is simply calling `Install-Package SomePackage` to install it on current project. – Jalal Jun 02 '12 at 11:29
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But what is "current" project? – Chris W Aug 27 '15 at 11:19
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The selected one in the dropdown – davidfowl Aug 31 '15 at 16:39
@jalal That doesn't work, just tried it in VS2015. The package always installed to the first project, not the current one. – Eternal21 Mar 30 '16 at 19:02
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@Eternal21 You can select current project from project drop-down in Package Manager Console window. – Jalal Mar 31 '16 at 19:21
Pressing the tab key after Get-Project will give a drop-down of projects to choose from and can save a few keystrokes. – rstreet Oct 20 '21 at 20:32

score 143 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 13 '11 at 00:46

There's two approaches.

As you already learned, the Package Manager Console has a drop down that lists the projects in your solution.

The other approach is to use the -Project flag. Nice thing about that is it gives you Intellisense with the project names! For example:

Install-Package SomePackage -Project MvcApplication2

score 84 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 11 '11 at 13:04

84

The answer is, embarassingly, blindlingly simple.

The "Package Manager Console" has a drop-down titled "Default Project" in its toolbar, changing the project there to My.Second.Project.Name then allows Install-Package Castle.Windsor to install the package into the second project.

answered Feb 11 '11 at 13:04

Rob

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you adverb usage is unbelievably, unquestionably, delightful – Alex Gordon Mar 05 '17 at 14:00

Tom Studee · Answer 4 · 2016-07-13T12:11:54.580

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In Visual Studio 2015 (as of Nuget v3.1.2) the syntax is now:

Install-Package ThePackage -ProjectName YourProjectName

Note: -ProjectName vs -Project

edited Jul 13 '16 at 12:11

answered Aug 25 '15 at 15:38

Tom Studee

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score 9 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 09 '15 at 18:16

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In Visual Studio, you can go to Tools -> NuGet Package Manager -> Manage NuGet Packages for the entire Solution. From there, select the Nuget Package you want to share between projects and click Manage. This will allow you to add a specific installed NuGet Package to whichever other projects you want.

answered Apr 09 '15 at 18:16

SaiyanGirl

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I never knew about this window. Super powerful, nice! – willem Apr 29 '16 at 07:09
I have spend one hour looking around this functionnality ! Thank you very much for this one ! – Marco Guignard Jul 26 '18 at 07:28
I do not see a "Manage" button. Where is it supposed to be? – ROBERT RICHARDSON Nov 25 '20 at 19:59

score 7 · Answer 6 · answered Nov 21 '15 at 21:21

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If you just need to copy packages from existing project to the new one, just copy and/or modify packages.config file to the new project and run Update-Package -reinstall -Project YourProjectName

answered Nov 21 '15 at 21:21

AdvanTiSS

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score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Oct 31 '17 at 14:51

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There is also the option to force a reinstall. With certain problems, this helped me.

Update-Package Microsoft.Owin -Reinstall

answered Oct 31 '17 at 14:51

Damian Vogel

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How do I install a NuGet package into the second project in a solution?

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