GitHub Actions Workshop

Master GitHub Actions with hands-on labs and exercises. Learn how to automate workflows, run tests, deploy applications, and more using GitHub's powerful automation platform. This repository has everything you need to get started with continuous integration and continuous deployment.

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Lab: C# Extension Methods - Build, Test, and Publish NuGet Package

This lab will show you how to create a GitHub Actions workflow to test a C# Extension Methods project, create a NuGet package, and publish it to both GitHub Packages and NuGet.org.

Duration: 30-45 minutes

Instructions

  1. Navigate to the src\dotnet directory of the repository where you will find the CSharp.ExtensionMethods project. This folder contains the C# Extension Methods project and the CSharp.ExtensionMethods.Tests project.

  2. Note that the CSharp.ExtensionMethods project contains the extension methods and the CSharp.ExtensionMethods.Tests project has a reference to Csharp.ExtensionMethods project and contains the unit tests for the extension methods.

  3. Open the integrated terminal in Visual Studio Code, navigate to CSharp.ExtensionMethods sub-directory and run the following command to build the CSharp.ExtensionMethods project:

    dotnet build

  4. Now goto CSharp.ExtensionMethods.Tests directory and run the following command to run the unit tests:

    dotnet test

  5. Now we will create a GitHub Actions workflow to build and test the project. Create a new file named csharp-extension-methods-build-test-nuget.yml in the .github/workflows directory and add the following content:

    name: CSharp Extension Methods Build - Test - NuGet

on:
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Check out repository code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup .NET Core
        uses: actions/setup-dotnet@v1
        with:
          dotnet-version: 8.0.x

      - name: Build CSharp.ExtensionMethods
        run: dotnet build --configuration Release
        working-directory: ./src/dotnet/CSharp.ExtensionMethods/CSharp.ExtensionMethods

      - name: Build CSharp.ExtensionMethods.Tests
        run: dotnet build --configuration Release
        working-directory: ./src/dotnet/CSharp.ExtensionMethods/CSharp.ExtensionMethods.Tests

      - name: Run Unit Tests
        run: dotnet test --no-restore --verbosity normal
        working-directory: ./src/dotnet/CSharp.ExtensionMethods/CSharp.ExtensionMethods.Tests

  6. Commit the changes and push them to the repository.

  7. Navigate to the “Actions” tab in your repository to view the workflow runs.

  8. Click on the latest workflow run to view the details.

  9. Next, we will enhance the workflow to create a NuGet package for the CSharp.ExtensionMethods project. Add the following steps to the existing workflow:

    - name: Create NuGet Package
  run: dotnet pack --configuration Release
  working-directory: ./src/dotnet/CSharp.ExtensionMethods/CSharp.ExtensionMethods

  10. Commit the changes and push them to the repository.

  11. Navigate to the “Actions” tab in your repository to view the workflow runs.

  12. Click on the latest workflow run to view the details.

  13. Next, we will publish the NuGet package to GitHub Packages. Add the following steps to the existing workflow.

    - name: Publish NuGet Package to GitHub Packages
  run: dotnet nuget push ./src/dotnet/CSharp.ExtensionMethods/CSharp.ExtensionMethods/bin/Release/*.nupkg --source "https://nuget.pkg.github.com/$/index.json" --api-key $ --skip-duplicate

  14. Commit the changes and push them to the repository.

  15. Navigate to the “Actions” tab in your repository to view the workflow runs.

  16. Click on the latest workflow run to view the details.

  17. Next, we will publish the NuGet package to NuGet.org. Create a new NuGet API key by following the instructions here. Add the NuGet API key as a secret named NUGET_API_KEY in the repository.

  18. Add the following steps to the existing workflow:

    - name: Publish NuGet Package to NuGet.org
  run: dotnet nuget push ./src/dotnet/CSharp.ExtensionMethods/CSharp.ExtensionMethods/bin/Release/*.nupkg --source "https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json" --api-key $ --skip-duplicate

  19. Commit the changes and push them to the repository.

  20. Navigate to the “Actions” tab in your repository to view the workflow runs.

  21. Click on the latest workflow run to view the details.

  22. You have successfully created a GitHub Actions workflow to test a C# Extension Methods project, create a NuGet package, and publish it to both GitHub Packages and NuGet.org.

  23. Go to the “Packages” tab in your repository to view the published NuGet package.

  24. Navigate to the NuGet.org website to view the published NuGet package.

  25. You can now use the published NuGet package in your projects.

Summary

In this lab, you created a GitHub Actions workflow to test a C# Extension Methods project, create a NuGet package, and publish it to both GitHub Packages and NuGet.org.

References