dotnet ef6 (Migrations commands on projects without Visual Studio)

[bricelam]

In EF Core, we introduced dotnet ef which enabled Migrations commands (Add-Migration, Update-Database, etc.) outside of Visual Studio and on other platforms like macOS and Linux.

As part of #231, we introduced the underlying ef6 command which is cross-platform but works directly with assemblies instead of project files (csproj, vbproj, etc). For example, the equivalent of Update-Database would be...

dotnet exec \
  --depsfile ./bin/Debug/netcoreapp3.0/MyApp.deps.json \
  --runtimeconfig ./bin/Debug/netcoreapp3.0/MyApp.runtimeconfig.json \
  ~/.nuget/packages/entityframework/6.3.0/tools/netcoreapp3.0/any/ef6.dll \
  --assembly ./bin/Debug/netcoreapp3.0/MyApp.dll \
  database update

Obviously, this isn't very user friendly compared to a simple dotnet ef6 database update, but it is possible. You can also get the exact command to run by adding -Verbose to the PMC commands since they are also backed by this same underlying command.

Is this enough or should we introduce dotnet ef6? How many EF6 projects will be developed without using Visual Studio?

[bricelam]

@mrahhal created a dotnet ef6 command a while ago. It may also just work with 6.3.0...

[mrahhal]

I do continue to support dotnet ef6 now but it has fallen a bit behind on sdk compatibility (it still works with the latest versions though, it's just that I haven't reviewed it for new sdk versions in a long time). I'm willing to contribute on this if it means integrating the tool in the built in experience of 6.3.

And to add my own experience, we use the cli commands everywhere even though we mainly develop in VS. Also from what I've seen most people prefer to use it instead of any other alternative.

[marchy]

We absolutely need migrations working from the command line (ie: dotnet ef6) but @bricelam please don't count on this 'just working' without the team's official support

@mrahhal has been fantastic at supporting it, but we've had troubles multiple times, on multiple machines and on multiple OSes (Mac + Win) to get it to work with different .NET versions (link). It has actually stalled us from upgrading to ASP.NET Core 2.2 and some of the more recent .NET Core versions, and have been stuck on ASP.NET Core 2.1.0 and .NET Core 2.1.503 for months, because we can't keep burning dev resources to try to troubleshoot basic database migration needs.

@mrahhal we do owe you a further investigation once we can get back to another consideration of a .NET version upgrade – likely some time after the official 3.0 support this autumn.

[mrahhal]

@marchy I agree. I did what worked for me, but there are edge cases (I try to fix them whenever I find one, but seems like there are some that I can't even reproduce).

As I said in my earlier comment: "I'm willing to contribute on this if it means integrating the tool in the built in experience of 6.3." Meaning getting full support, I would love for this to get that by the team. It most likely will just work in the most basic setup when 6.3 comes out, but it'll be far from dependable in its current state. (Of course, even if that means the team working on a new tool from scratch, I'll be happy just getting a robust cli tool for EF6 😅 )

[bricelam]

@marchy I think you misread the description. A cross-platform command-line experience will work in 6.3.0 without this.

[marchy]

@bricelam and is this going to be as human-friendly as dotnet ef6 database update?

The ticket description above seems to indicate this isn't the case (ie: you'll need tooling to generate this command rather than being able to invoke it as a user from the command line sanely)

[bricelam]

@mrahhal If you're interested, the work is mostly just copying the dotnet-ef project and replacing core with 6. 😉

Otherwise, I'm sure I'll get around to it soon. Just maybe not for the 6.3.0 release; since I also have some EF Core 3.0.0 work on my plate which ships at the same time.

[bricelam]

@marchy Per the description:

Obviously, this isn't very user friendly compared to a simple dotnet ef6 database update

[bricelam]

@marchy Are you developing without Visual Studio? The Update-Database command (and friends) will work with .NET Core 3.0 projects in 6.3.0. So you really only need dotnet ef6 if you don't use VS.

[bricelam]

Ah, you just said you use Rider. They have first-class UI for EF6 Migrations. I suspect they'll update it for 6.3.0.

[marchy]

We are indeed (Rider). When you say only need dotnet ef6 are you referring to @mrahhal's Migrator.EF6 library or the upcoming officially supported one? I guess that's what keeps confusing the thread.

Much looking forward to trying this out in the next preview – and will provide feedback on our success.
Thanks @bricelam!

[bricelam]

Ah, sorry. When I say dotnet ef6, I mean a Microsoft-published-and-supported version.