The term 'Update-Database' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet

Question

I am using EF5 beta1 and while I was able to run the "Update-Database" before. Now that I shut down Visual Studio, I cannot get it to run. I get the following error:

The term 'Update-Database' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again. At line:1 char:16 + Update-Database <<<< -verbose + CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (Update-Database:String) [], CommandNotFoundException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException

I have tried to re-install EF5b1 and while was successful (already installed), the 'Update-Database' still does not work.

Can anyone help???

Yesterday I had a similar problem with a different cmdlet, and a complete system restart helped... — nemesv, Mar 13 '12 at 07:01
Reboot is not necessary. We don’t run init.ps1 scripts after performing package restore (that's why the command was not found). Simply exit and restart VS (or unload/reload the project). — RickAndMSFT, Jul 17 '13 at 01:45
I had this happen to me today. I opened a repo for a team project and it needed to restore some packages. After the restore, the `update-database` and `add-migration` commands wouldn't work. Restarting Visual Studio fixed it. — jmbertucci, Feb 09 '15 at 15:17
Add `Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools` to the web project — puerile, Jan 28 '22 at 17:03
I got on this page but for me `UpdateDatabase` should be `Update-Database` — Wouter, Jun 02 '23 at 14:44

score 185 · Answer 1 · edited Dec 25 '21 at 13:50

185

The solution is to close the Package Manager Console, close Visual Studio and then reopen them.

Rebooting also worked most of the time, but not always.

edited Dec 25 '21 at 13:50

Tomerikoo

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answered May 14 '12 at 18:57

Richard

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Usually you just need to exit restart VS. See my comments in the original question. On rare occasions you might need to exit/restart VS twice. – RickAndMSFT Jul 17 '13 at 01:46
1

Just faced the problem and restarted Visual Studio and things were working again. Thanks. – Shubh May 28 '15 at 10:13
Thank you, for an effective, if not crappy solution. It seems to be all that works out of a million things I've tried. – ProfK May 22 '17 at 13:34
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Yes, of course. This is the solution. Legit solution. Thank you Microsoft! – Khateeb321 Sep 12 '17 at 14:28
9

I installed "Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools" Version="3.1.0" on my data projects and "Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Design" Version="3.1.0" on my main web project, that resolved issue for me. – HaBo Dec 11 '19 at 16:56
That was it for me Habo. Thanks. You should add that as an answer instead of comment – Grayson Jan 30 '20 at 23:38
Need to do it 2 times.. but work – YannickIngenierie Jan 28 '22 at 07:45

Murat Yıldız · Answer 2 · 2021-12-26T14:35:20.980

56

If you use Entity Framework:

Error Message:

"Error Message (from the Update-Database command in the PMC): The term 'Update-Database' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again."

Solution:

Exit Visual Studio. Reopen project and try again.

For more information please visit: Advanced Entity Framework 6 Scenarios for an MVC 5 Web Application (12 of 12)

edited Dec 26 '21 at 14:35

answered Mar 13 '15 at 11:58

Murat Yıldız

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VS developer team should give Refresh VS button for such issues :) – sohaib javed Nov 21 '16 at 09:04
@sohaibjaved For some issues, restarting VS would not be enough and some directory cleaning is needed as indicated on [Visual Studio 2015 extremely slow](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/34395686/visual-studio-2015-extremely-slow/34450140?noredirect=1#comment67102254_34450140). FYI... – Murat Yıldız Nov 21 '16 at 09:07
i lost count of how many things are solved by restarting visual studio – EKanadily Jan 18 '17 at 15:43

score 50 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 10 '19 at 11:57

50

For anyone who is using .Net Core and EntityFrameworkCore:

You will need to install Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools package to resolve this issue.

Read more here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/ef/core/miscellaneous/cli/powershell

answered Apr 10 '19 at 11:57

Vahid Farahmandian

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This worked for me. After install this pack, i had a problem at packs, then i ran "msbuild -t:restore". If you have a problem with authentication at this command, then run => msbuild -t:restore -p:NuGetInteractive="true". – Fabricio Leite Jan 11 '23 at 13:59

score 27 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 21 '14 at 10:59

27

Reinstalling the nuget package fixed this issue for me

ie, execute

Install-Package EntityFramework -Version 5.0.0

in the package manager

answered Jan 21 '14 at 10:59

atreeon

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This works for me. The project I worked on used EF and I automatically assume the package was installed. Turned out, it wasn't. The developer just referenced directly to EF dll. EntityFramework package must be installed in the project for Update-Database cmd to work. – stack247 Jun 18 '14 at 23:09
This answer seems unlikely to help however it it saved my day. Thanks, – Nelson Miranda Aug 14 '15 at 05:24
Wrestling with FK's today using Fluent API, etc. and somehow EntityFramework keeps getting dropped. What actually worked for me along these lines was to do yet another `Update-Package -Reinstall EntityFramework`. – Matt Borja Nov 19 '15 at 20:58
1

for me reinstall and reboot. just reinstall dont work, and just reboot dont work either) – RustemMazitov May 17 '19 at 08:03

score 21 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 27 '14 at 14:08

Sometimes when I load VS, I see this in my package manager console:

Value cannot be null.

Parameter name: path1

I have no idea what causes that yet but it seems that something goes wrong during the start-up of the Powershell console which interrupts the registering of specific modules, such as the EF powershell extensions. You can just manually load it however:

Import-Module .\packages\EntityFramework.6.1.1\tools\EntityFramework.psm1

Make sure you replace 6.1.1 with whatever your current version of Entity Framework is.

Thank you! Only solution that worked for me. However, for anyone using EF 6.1.3 with VS 2015 there is a bug in EntityFramework.psm1 and there's a patch available here http://stackoverflow.com/a/30062684/1267778. — parliament, Jun 10 '15 at 17:39

sudhansu63 · Answer 6 · 2016-07-26T12:04:59.923

you will get this error when the EF tools are not installed properly.

try the below command in Nuget package manager //Uninstalls and install the same Version of EF

Update-Package "EntityFramework" -reinstall

If you still face the same issue. create a new Web Project and run the below command in nuget.

(Note : no need to create the new Project in the same solution or same location.)

// This will update EF to latest version(including the tools) // if you want to use specific version , use the -version flag.

Update-Package "EntityFramework"

Once this is done, chcek your original project and you can delete the newly created project.

Yes!! Thanks =) I only had EntityFramwork, EF.Design, EF.SqlServer and EF.SqlServer.Design installed. — Janneman96, Jan 23 '20 at 09:16

score 10 · Answer 7 · answered Jun 07 '17 at 05:35

10

Just restart Visual Studio, it'll solve the problem. Works for me.

answered Jun 07 '17 at 05:35

Abdullah Ibn Mannan

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It's really funny how restarting my PC works for this issue – Prince Tegaton Aug 15 '19 at 06:09

score 9 · Answer 8 · answered Dec 19 '19 at 04:06

9

Install Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools solved the issue for me, used nuget packages

answered Dec 19 '19 at 04:06

Mario Berthely

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score 5 · Answer 9 · edited Dec 25 '21 at 13:53

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I solved this by uninstalling and reinstalling Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore and Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools

edited Dec 25 '21 at 13:53

Tomerikoo

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answered Jan 16 '19 at 14:20

Marco Rinaldi

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If you're using EF Core, this is the correct answer. Or at least, the problem for me was that `Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools` was not installed. – Kirk Woll Mar 09 '19 at 03:06

score 4 · Answer 10 · edited Sep 17 '12 at 17:36

4

I had this same problem, and the origin of it was on my path name, I had on my path a directory name with straight brackets, like this: C:\[PROJ]\TestApp.

When I removed the brackets, to C:\PROJ\TestApp, it started to work just fine...

edited Sep 17 '12 at 17:36

Kyle Trauberman

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answered Sep 17 '12 at 10:23

António Mourão

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Usually you just need to exit restart VS. See my comments in the original question. – RickAndMSFT Jul 17 '13 at 01:45
@RickAndMSFT This is a lot closer to a better solution that "just" restarting VS. – ProfK May 22 '17 at 13:36
@Antonio Even I had the same problem and your solution worked for me as well. – User5590 Feb 23 '18 at 09:11

score 4 · Answer 11 · answered Aug 02 '14 at 07:25

4

Just ReOpen visual studio is work for me

answered Aug 02 '14 at 07:25

Wolf

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reza.cse08 · Answer 12 · 2015-05-11T08:47:56.553

4

For me the problem was the Nuget version.

uninstall Nuget Package Manager.
restart Visual Studio.
installed new version of Nuget Package Manager.
then re-start Visual Studio again.

edited May 11 '15 at 08:47

answered May 11 '15 at 08:40

reza.cse08

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This was the case for me but I just needed to update nuget in extensions and update – Oak Sep 10 '15 at 21:12
this worked for me, uninstalled nuget package manager, re installed nuget package manager, restarted visual studio, uninstalled EntityFramework, re installed EntityFramework – Rizan Zaky Oct 12 '16 at 04:10

score 2 · Answer 13 · answered Aug 30 '13 at 16:05

2

This problem seems to happen when you open the project directly from File Explorer. Try starting VS first and then opening the project - worked for me. I'm guessing this is about access to paths.

answered Aug 30 '13 at 16:05

Johnny Nintendo

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after restarting a few times and not getting it resolved, this helped solve my issue! – Niklas Jun 29 '19 at 12:46

score 1 · Answer 14 · answered Apr 24 '17 at 12:30

For me it turns out EntityFramework core was not installed on my project (because i started with blank project). So installing EntityFramework package resolved the problem. Sometimes if EntityFramework installation failed then try to install individual packages one by one

E.g.

Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Design
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer.Design
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools

HeshanHH · Answer 15 · 2020-12-24T10:54:01.293

Most of the time those beta versions have some issues, also if Entity Framework failed to load and also this can happen if you are install the Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools globally. try to install it locally into your project . you can try these steps until you fix the issue. and remember this method is not to fix the issue this is the other way to do this.

cd in to your project directory. not the sln directory to the project directory.
then dotnet ef to find out that you have correctly install the Entity Framework.
then use dotnet ef migrations add "ReplaceThisWithSomeText" command. And this will create new migration.
then use dotnet ef database update to update the database.

Migrations Overview. This will helps too..

Windows commands - cd

(This Is for EFCore projects)

score 0 · Answer 16 · edited Feb 26 '20 at 04:39

0

In my case, I did the following: - restored missing NuGet packages by clicking "Restore" button on top of the Package Manager Console - restarted Visual Studio - run update-database

edited Feb 26 '20 at 04:39

Dave

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answered Jul 15 '16 at 20:25

Dragos Bajenaru

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score 0 · Answer 17 · edited Dec 25 '21 at 13:53

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Restoring NuGet package didn't help me.

I had to reinstall package manager - https://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/4ec1526c-4a8c-4a84-b702-b21a8f5293ca

edited Dec 25 '21 at 13:53

Tomerikoo

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answered Aug 17 '16 at 13:56

Kate

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score 0 · Answer 18 · answered Dec 19 '16 at 10:45

0

If the other answers don't work (VS 2017): clear the NuGet cache, restart VS, then restore the packages.

answered Dec 19 '16 at 10:45

trees_are_great · Answer 19 · 2017-03-17T21:40:41.720

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I found that it was due to a corrupt package. I had installed Automapper when it was already installed. It was only clear that this package was corrupt when I tried to install another package.

Removing the corrupt package solved this issue for me.

You can then reinstall automapper. The issue was with version 5.4, I am now happily on 6.0.

edited Mar 17 '17 at 21:40

answered Feb 06 '17 at 11:58

trees_are_great

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score 0 · Answer 20 · answered May 04 '17 at 17:37

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I solved by updateing Package Manager Console.

I was not getting Update-Database in Package Manager Console. Then i restart several time. Also restart Windows.

Then I download new one from nuget and then it was solved.

answered May 04 '17 at 17:37

Shiblee

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score 0 · Answer 21 · answered Mar 16 '18 at 10:12

0

I had this problem in Visual Studio 2015 and resolved it by updating the version of Nuget.

Tools -> Extensions and Updates -> Updates -> Visual Studio Gallery

answered Mar 16 '18 at 10:12

Owen Pauling

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score 0 · Answer 22 · edited Dec 12 '18 at 01:21

0

Simple fix for me was to make sure there was a dash between update and database, like this: update-database and use lowercase. It may be coincidental, but when I did this in Packet Manager Console, the database actually updated and I got the done message rather than the not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file error.

edited Dec 12 '18 at 01:21

bunbun

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answered Dec 11 '18 at 15:16

user10776524

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score 0 · Answer 23 · answered Mar 08 '19 at 16:20

I started having the same issue after I accidentally opened a Visual Studio solution with Visual Studio 2015 instead of 2017. The project worked just fine before that mishap. It was an older project with EF 5.0 and not EF Core.

I tried everything suggested - restarted Visual Studio countless times, cleaned up NuGet cache, deleted everything in packages folder, reinstalled EF 5 for the project - no good, add-migration was not recognized. If I upgraded EF to 6, it started to recognize the commands, but I did not want to upgrade yet. So, as soon as I reverted back to EF 5, the problem returned.

The only thing that finally saved me was to do the following:

close Visual Studio
delete everything from packages folder
delete .vs folder in the root of your solution. This folder is usually hidden, you have to turn on Show hidden files and folders setting or check Hidden items in folder View tab
start Visual Studio and open your solution. It will ask to restore NuGet packages, agree to it.

Now EF commands finally started working again.

score 0 · Answer 24 · answered Mar 11 '19 at 14:58

In my case:

Reload project did not help
Restart VS did not help
Restart computer did not help
Reinstal EF did not help

But I found an article where suggestion was to manualy import missing EF package, using PM Conole:

Import-Module .\packages\EntityFramework.X.X.X\tools\EntityFramework.psm1

And this solution solved my problem.

score 0 · Answer 25 · answered Aug 14 '19 at 19:31

In my case restarting Visual Studio (many, many times) did not work, then as I was looking elsewhere I found a message on the output terminal:

The current .NET SDK does not support targeting .NET Core 2.2. Either target .NET Core 2.1 or lower, or use a version of the .NET SDK that supports .NET Core 2.2.

So I installed the required version of .NET Core and the command ran successfully.

score 0 · Answer 26 · answered Nov 26 '19 at 16:00

I had this problem in VS 2019 with an existing project using EntityFramework 6.3.0. This project had some strange version changes done to it over a period of time, and nothing would get it working. I believe I tried every suggestion listed here with no luck.

Finally, updating to the pre-release version of EntityFramework (currently 6.4.0-preview3-19553-01) did fix the problem, by running this in the Package Manager Console: Update-Package EntityFramework -prerelease. I'm hopeful that when this version is released live in the next few weeks it will work properly.

score 0 · Answer 27 · answered Jul 13 '23 at 09:45

0

this is an old issue but as I encountered this today I will add an updated solution For entity Framework 7, make sure that you have installed:

EntityFramework.core
EntityFramework.Tools
EntityFramework.Design

then you are safe to run it

answered Jul 13 '23 at 09:45

Pedro Azevedo

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score -1 · Answer 28 · answered Nov 25 '14 at 02:33

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For me the problem was the Nuget version.

I removed and re-installed Nuget then re-started Visual Studio and then all started working.

answered Nov 25 '14 at 02:33

Luke

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The term 'Update-Database' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet

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