Include pdb files into my nuget (nupkg) files

I am using MSBuild to generate my nuget packages.

Is there any command I need to set, to allow it to include my .pdb files, for stepping into the source while debugging?

I do not want the source files to be included into the project that is pulling in the nuget package.

Solution 1:

If you are using VS2017 15.4 or later, you can define a MSBuild property in your project file

<AllowedOutputExtensionsInPackageBuildOutputFolder>$(AllowedOutputExtensionsInPackageBuildOutputFolder);.pdb</AllowedOutputExtensionsInPackageBuildOutputFolder>

This is discussed in NuGet #4142

However, there is still an issue as the new project system does not copy the pdbs from packages to the bin/publish folder for .NET Core 3.0+, a good summary is also at sourcelink/#628

Currently this is not planned to be fixed until .NET 6 :-(

Solution 2:

While it may not help for debugging, it's definitely useful to include .pdb files so that stack traces have line numbers.

In the nuspec file, include a <files> element (child of <package>, sibling of <metadata>). This is what I have in one of my class libraries:

<files>
    <file src="bin\$configuration$\$id$.pdb" target="lib\net452\" />
</files>

Make sure the target is the same folder as where your .dll file is put in the package.

Solution 3:

With the new csproj format NuGet creation is pretty easier, since MSBuild does most of the work.

In order to include your pdb files you just have to enter the tag

<IncludeSymbols>true</IncludeSymbols>

in a property group in the csproj file of the project you are packing. This will create an additional .symbols.nupkg package, which you can release to your (debug) feed.