ASP.NET Core 2 migration error. No executable found matching command "dotnet-ef"

Question

When I want to add a migration to my project I got the following error:

dotnet : No executable found matching command "dotnet-ef"

For resolving this I add the following package but I still get the same error.

Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Design(2.0.0)
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools.DotNet(2.0.0)

I found some solution but these are based on .net-core-1 and in .net-core-2 we don't have project.json file.

update:

Here is my .csproj file:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
<PropertyGroup>
<TargetFramework>netcoreapp2.0</TargetFramework>
</PropertyGroup>

<ItemGroup>
<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting" Version="2.0.0" />
<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore" Version="2.0.0" />
<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Design" Version="2.0.0" />
<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.InMemory" Version="2.0.0" />
<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools" Version="2.0.0" />
<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer" Version="2.0.0" />
<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Json" Version="2.0.0" />
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
    <DotNetCliToolReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools.DotNet" Version="2.0.0" />
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration">
      <HintPath>C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk\NuGetFallbackFolder\microsoft.extensions.configuration\2.0.0\lib\netstandard2.0\Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.dll</HintPath>
   </Reference>
</ItemGroup>

</Project>

Just make sure to run dotnet restore and invoke `dotnet ef` in the directory where above csproj file is present — Smit, Sep 12 '17 at 23:20
Possible duplicate of [No executable found matching command "dotnet-ef"](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/37276882/no-executable-found-matching-command-dotnet-ef) — Michael Freidgeim, Oct 20 '18 at 08:10

Kirk Larkin · Answer 1 · 2017-09-05T08:38:28.113

12

In order to get dotnet ef to work, you need to add a DotNetCliToolReference element to the .csproj, as follows:

<DotNetCliToolReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools.DotNet" Version="2.0.0" />

This needs to live inside an ItemGroup, something like:

<ItemGroup>
    <DotNetCliToolReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools.DotNet" Version="2.0.0" />
</ItemGroup>

You'll also need to make sure you run dotnet ef from the same location as the .csproj file.

edited Sep 05 '17 at 08:38

answered Sep 05 '17 at 08:31

Kirk Larkin

60,745
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162

1

I have two `.csproj` file in `obj` folder, `CoreSample.Model.csproj.nuget.g.props` and `CoreSample.Model.csproj.nuget.g.targets`. I add `..` in both of them but I still got same error. – mohammad Sep 05 '17 at 08:53
1

You can just right-click on the project and select `Edit XXX.csproj`, which will allow you to make the changes within Visual Studio. – Kirk Larkin Sep 05 '17 at 09:07

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 12 '17 at 00:00

3

Link to thread

Above worked for me after many hrs trying many other thread answers. Simply cd'ing to folder containing csproj file in package console manager was all it took. dotnet ef commands all work fine then.

answered Oct 12 '17 at 00:00

Bob Mack

123
1
8

Thanks MS for the frustratingly UNHELPFUL error messages - unacceptable for something like wrong folder.....sheesh. – Jester Mar 27 '18 at 16:55

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 22 '18 at 22:40

I know some of you will come to this question for the [No executable found matching command “dotnet-”] part of the title. In my case it was:

No executable found matching command “dotnet-My”

And.... it turns out my app name was "My App". Make sure your assembly name has no spaces in it. I changed it to "MyApp" and it loaded correctly.

ASP.NET Core 2 migration error. No executable found matching command "dotnet-ef"

3 Answers3