Package versions

Question

If you have a project that requires a package that is already included in the solution, then it seems that the version has to match. 
 For example, if we include in a project 
 
 < PackageReference Include = "Microsoft.Data.SqlClient" Version = "7.0.2" /> 
 
 including it in the solution distribution, the website will not fire up and will sit on the maintenance page.

Not sure of the best way to handle this from a development perspective and also from the perspective of versioning becasue binding redirects are not available?

Michael Monteleone · Answer

Try adding ExcludeAssets to the package reference so it's not copied to /artifacts/build (which is the mount point for cfs/plugins in the local stack).

<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Data.SqlClient" Version="7.0.2">
  <ExcludeAssets>runtime</ExcludeAssets>
</PackageReference>

This isn't entirely different from the same challenge you'd have had pre-14. If your plugin depends on a different version from what's in Community, a binding redirect would have always been a risky move. The safest bet for packages already referenced by Community (full list, versions available in Administration > About) is to reference the version in Community and to not deploy it with your plugin.