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MSBuild Version Properties Cheatsheet
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msbuild_version_properties_cheatsheet.md
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MSBuild Version Properties Cheatsheet
natemcmaster
September 18, 2019

Based on Stack Overflow question/answer, Building projects with MSBuild 15 and Microsoft.NET.Sdk allows users to specify half a dozen version properties. What is the difference between each of these and what is the right way to use them?

VersionPrefix

  • Format: major.minor.patch
  • Examples: 14.2.4, 0.1.0, 99.99.99
  • Meaning: The normal part of the semver version number. This is used to determine the beginning of the Version value.
  • Default: 1.0.0

VersionSuffix

  • Format: [0-9A-Za-z-.]* (arbitrary string)
  • Examples: alpha, beta, build0123, rc4-build201701, rc.1, rc-1
  • Meaning: The pre-release label of the version number. Used to determine the ending of a Version value.
  • Default: (empty)

Version

  • Format: major.minor.patch[-prerelease]
  • Examples: 5.3.9-beta, 0.0.1-alpha-01, 0.0.1-alpha.1, 2.0.0
  • Meaning: This property is the most commonly used property in user projects. Other version properties look to this value as a default. It is also used to generate the value of System.Reflection.AssemblyInformationalVersionAttribute. The prerelease value is optional.
  • Default: VersionPrefix if VersionSuffix is empty. VersionPrefix-VersionSuffix if VersionSuffix is not empty.

NOTE: setting Version explicitly will override any VersionPrefix or VersionSuffix settings.

Also, this typically follows SemVer rules.

PackageVersion

  • Format: major.minor.patch[-prerelease]
  • Meaning: Used to generate the package version when producing a NuGet package from an MSBuild project.
  • Default: matches Version

AssemblyVersion

FileVersion

  • Format: major.minor.patch.buildnumber
  • Examples: 1.0.0.43952, 0.1.0.0
  • Meaning: Used to generate the value of System.Reflection.AssemblyFileVersionAttribute. This is not required to match AssemblyVersion. It is common to add a build number to this version.
  • Default: matches AssemblyVersion

InformationalVersion

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