How to download a Nuget package without nuget.exe or Visual Studio extension?

Question

How can I download a NuGet package? I don't have the NuGet Visual Studio extension or the command line program nuget.exe. How can I download the .nupack file from the web? As I understand I will be able to extract the .dll files from it (with 7-zip) to use as normal.

The package I happen to be interested in is http://nuget.org/packages/Microsoft.Bcl.Async, but I would like to know how to do this generally.

In the world of Ruby this would be easy - every package page on the RubyGems website has a download link to a .gem file, e.g.: https://rubygems.org/gems/pony

The argument over NuGet's manifest destiny belongs elsewhere. It doesn't matter to this question why I eschew it. I'm not the only one though.

@JonSkeet: My development system is not connected to the internet (for security reasons) except by using a Windows Terminal Server session. This WTS does allow downloads, but I cannot start executeables, so there is no (convenient) way for me to get stuff that's only available via nuget (at least whilst at work, anyway). — Gorgsenegger, Mar 08 '13 at 16:22

score 223 · Answer 1 · edited Feb 18 '13 at 11:06

223

Either make an account on the Nuget.org website, then log in, browse to the package you want and click on the Download link on the left menu.

Or guess the URL. They have the following format:

https://www.nuget.org/api/v2/package/{packageID}/{packageVersion}

Then simply unzip the .nupkg file and extract the contents you need.

edited Feb 18 '13 at 11:06

Colonel Panic

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answered Feb 15 '13 at 12:53

Xavier Decoster

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Thanks Xavier, that worked. For the library I wanted it was https://www.nuget.org/api/v2/package/Microsoft.Bcl.Async/1.0.14-rc – Colonel Panic Feb 15 '13 at 14:18
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If you just want the latest package, simply leave the `/{packageVersion}` part out. – dirkjot Feb 23 '15 at 14:18
@Muds You'll have to parse the nuspec and download the listed dependences yourself. – Andy Dec 28 '15 at 18:40
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This answer still works, but is outdated. See below: http://stackoverflow.com/a/32681762/2642204 – BartoszKP Jan 04 '16 at 13:48
How to download package dependencies? – Mehdi Dehghani Mar 16 '19 at 08:22

quasoft · Accepted Answer · 2019-11-22T18:16:34.373

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Although building the URL or using tools is still possible, it is not needed anymore.

https://www.nuget.org/ currently has a download link named "Download package", that is available even if you don't have an account on the site.

(at the bottom of the right column).

Example of EntityFramework's detail page: https://www.nuget.org/packages/EntityFramework/: (Updated after comment of kwitee.)

edited Nov 22 '19 at 18:16

answered Sep 20 '15 at 16:37

quasoft

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FYI, you can definitely use 7-zip to extract and it'll handle .nupkg filetype, but since they are just .zip files under the hood, you can also just change the extension to .zip and browse/unzip as needed. – benmccallum Mar 10 '18 at 13:35
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Just be aware that you'll have to download any dependent packages manually if you go this route. – Adam Aug 01 '18 at 17:41
Or else trigger "nuget install" and look for URL used in verbose mode... – Yves Martin Feb 22 '21 at 16:37

score 35 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 14 '20 at 11:05

35

Based on Xavier's answer, I wrote a Google chrome extension NuTake to add links to the Nuget.org package pages.

edited Apr 14 '20 at 11:05

Marcello Miorelli

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answered Feb 20 '13 at 23:34

Colonel Panic

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score 12 · Answer 4 · edited Dec 28 '15 at 18:28

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To obtain the current stable version of the NuGet package use:

https://www.nuget.org/api/v2/package/{packageID}

edited Dec 28 '15 at 18:28

BartoszKP

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answered Sep 04 '13 at 20:58

WorkSmarter

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score 8 · Answer 5 · edited Jun 15 '17 at 10:23

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I haven't tried it yet, but it looks like NuGet Package Explorer should be able to do it:

https://github.com/NuGetPackageExplorer/NuGetPackageExplorer

(or like Colonel Panic says, 7-zip should probably do it)

edited Jun 15 '17 at 10:23

MJ Vakili

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answered Feb 15 '13 at 12:49

Alex KeySmith

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Yes, it works fine. Just use the `"Open from Feed..."` option. – iCollect.it Ltd Jan 11 '16 at 11:08

Mehdi Kashefikia · Answer 6 · 2016-06-15T19:57:46.680

Go to http://www.nuget.org
Search for desired package. For example: Microsoft.Owin.Host.SystemWeb
Download the package by clicking the Download link on the left.
Do step 3 for the dependencies which are not already installed.
Store all downloaded packages in a custom folder. The default is c:\Package source.
Open Nuget Package Manager in Visual Studio and make sure you have an "Available package source" that points to the specified address in step 5; If not, simply add one by providing a custom name and address. Click OK.
At this point you should be able to install the package exactly the same way you would install an online package through the interface. You probably won't be able to install the package using NuGet console.

Semi · Answer 7 · 2021-09-20T07:54:00.907

Don't know if this is what you want, but here it is:

Download nuget.exe (∼6.5MB, no install required) from the official NuGet site: https://www.nuget.org/downloads
In CLI type following to retrieve list of available packages: nuget.exe list -source <source-url-here>
Then download the package by typing this: nuget.exe install <package-name> -source <source-url-here> -OutputDirectory <download-directory>

Contents of the downloaded package are the .nupkg file, .dll files for x86 and x64 as well as .props and .targets files. BTW: .nupkg can be opened as a .zip file.

How to download a Nuget package without nuget.exe or Visual Studio extension?

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