Use global.json to restrict .NET SDK use #3797

paulmedynski · 2025-11-21T15:22:35Z

Description

Added global.json to restrict our SDK to the single supported version, currently 10.0.
Using global.json to install .NET SDKs everywhere except when we may need ARM64.
Consolidated all installation of .NET SDKs and Runtimes into a pipeline template step.
Removed unnecessary installation of .NET SDKs and Runtimes where they aren't needed.

Testing

PR, CI, and Official pipelines will validate.

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR introduces global.json to standardize the .NET SDK version (9.0.0) across the project and migrates pipeline files to use UseDotNet@2 with useGlobalJson: true instead of hardcoded version numbers or the ensure-dotnet-version.yml template. The changes simplify SDK installation, remove unnecessary runtime installations in build-only scenarios, and reduce redundant .NET Framework test targets in the stress tests.

Key changes:

Added global.json specifying .NET 9.0 SDK with rollForward: "feature" policy
Updated 6 pipeline files to use UseDotNet@2 with useGlobalJson: true
Removed installation of .NET 8.x runtime in build-only scenarios where tests aren't run
Reduced stress test .NET Framework targets from 6 versions to just net462

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 8 out of 8 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
global.json	New file specifying .NET 9.0.0 SDK requirement with feature rollforward and no prerelease versions
eng/pipelines/steps/compound-build-akv-step.yml	Migrated from hardcoded SDK/runtime installation to global.json; removed unnecessary .NET 8.x runtime
eng/pipelines/stages/stress-tests-ci-stage.yml	Reduced .NET Framework test targets from 6 versions to just net462
eng/pipelines/jobs/stress-tests-ci-job.yml	Updated to use global.json for SDK installation and changed .NET 8 runtime from '8.x' to '8.0'
eng/pipelines/dotnet-sqlclient-ci-core.yml	Added net9.0 to x86 test target frameworks with explanatory comments
eng/pipelines/common/templates/steps/build-all-configurations-signed-dlls-step.yml	Migrated to global.json; removed unnecessary .NET 8.x runtime installation
eng/pipelines/common/templates/jobs/ci-run-tests-job.yml	Simplified x86 SDK/runtime installation using global.json and added .NET 8.0 runtime for tests
eng/pipelines/common/templates/jobs/ci-code-coverage-job.yml	Replaced ensure-dotnet-version template with UseDotNet@2 using global.json

global.json

eng/pipelines/common/templates/jobs/ci-run-tests-job.yml

eng/pipelines/jobs/stress-tests-ci-job.yml

paulmedynski

Commentary for reviewers.

paulmedynski · 2025-11-21T15:23:27Z

eng/pipelines/common/templates/jobs/ci-code-coverage-job.yml

-        parameters:
-            packageType: 'sdk'
-            version: '10.0'
+      # Install whichever .NET SDKs are specified in our global.json.


Code coverage only runs on Windows x64, so we don't need the special ensure-dotnet.version template here.

eng/pipelines/common/templates/jobs/ci-run-tests-job.yml

paulmedynski · 2025-11-21T15:26:28Z

eng/pipelines/common/templates/steps/build-all-configurations-signed-dlls-step.yml

-    packageType: sdk
-    version: '9.x'
-
- task: UseDotNet@2


We don't need a .NET 8 runtime to build things. We would only need it to run tests, which doesn't happen as part of this pipeline tree.

paulmedynski · 2025-11-21T15:27:20Z

eng/pipelines/steps/compound-build-akv-step.yml

-          packageType: 'sdk'
-          version: '9.x'
-
-    - task: UseDotNet@2


We don't need a .NET 8 runtime to build things. We would only need it to run tests, which doesn't happen as part of this pipeline tree.

global.json

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 8 out of 8 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

Comments suppressed due to low confidence (1)

eng/pipelines/jobs/stress-tests-ci-job.yml:146

With the stress tests now targeting net9.0 (as specified in netTestRuntimes parameter which defaults to [net8.0, net9.0]), the .NET 9.0 runtime should also be installed. Consider adding:

# Install the .NET 9.0 runtime to run tests that target it.
- task: UseDotNet@2
  displayName: Install .NET 9.0 Runtime
  inputs:
    packageType: runtime
    version: 9.x

  # Install the .NET 8.0 runtime to run tests that target it.
  - task: UseDotNet@2
    displayName: Install .NET 8.0 Runtime
    inputs:
      packageType: runtime
      version: 8.x

eng/pipelines/common/templates/jobs/ci-run-tests-job.yml

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 11 out of 11 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

eng/pipelines/common/templates/jobs/ci-run-tests-job.yml

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 12 out of 12 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

eng/pipelines/stages/stress-tests-ci-stage.yml

eng/pipelines/common/templates/steps/ci-project-build-step.yml

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 12 out of 12 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

eng/pipelines/common/templates/jobs/ci-code-coverage-job.yml

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 13 out of 13 changed files in this pull request and generated 16 comments.

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eng/pipelines/common/templates/steps/ensure-dotnet-version.yml

global.json

eng/pipelines/common/templates/steps/ensure-dotnet-version.yml

eng/pipelines/common/templates/jobs/ci-code-coverage-job.yml

eng/pipelines/common/templates/steps/ci-prebuild-step.yml

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 13 out of 13 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

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eng/pipelines/common/templates/steps/ensure-dotnet-version.yml

eng/pipelines/common/templates/jobs/ci-run-tests-job.yml

eng/pipelines/common/templates/steps/ensure-dotnet-version.yml

paulmedynski

Commentary for reviewers.

paulmedynski · 2025-12-05T20:45:00Z

eng/pipelines/steps/install-dotnet-arm64.ps1

Creating a separate PowerShell file for this work has several benefits:

Easy to test locally.

IDE syntax highlighting and intellisense.

Easier to review.

paulmedynski · 2025-12-05T20:46:01Z

eng/pipelines/steps/install-dotnet-arm64.ps1

+  an empty array.
+
+.NOTES
+  Licensed to the .NET Foundation under one or more agreements.


The first line in the file needs to be the comment-based help <# #>, so the license needs to go somewhere else. This was Gemini's suggestion.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 23 out of 23 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.

eng/pipelines/common/templates/steps/pre-build-step.yml

eng/pipelines/steps/install-dotnet-arm64.ps1

eng/pipelines/dotnet-sqlclient-ci-core.yml

eng/pipelines/steps/install-dotnet.yml

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 23 out of 23 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.

…on, currently 9.0. - Using global.json to install .NET SDKs everywhere except when we may need ARM64. - Removed unnecessary installation of .NET SDKs and runtimes where they aren't needed. - Added all target frameworks to the x86 test runs. - Updated documentation related to SDKs. - Removed runtime ARM64 architecture detection in favour of explicit parameters for the test jobs that use ARM64. - Created separate PowerShell script to install .NET for ARM64. - Updated install-dotnet template to handle all cases of .NET SDK and Runtime installation for the pipelines.

- Fixed typo in ARM64 pipeline. - Addressed Copilot suggestions.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 23 out of 23 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 23 out of 23 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

eng/pipelines/stages/stress-tests-ci-stage.yml

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 23 out of 23 changed files in this pull request and generated 5 comments.

eng/pipelines/steps/install-dotnet-arm64.ps1

Copilot · 2025-12-23T14:52:38Z

eng/pipelines/steps/install-dotnet-arm64.ps1

+& "$InstallDir/dotnet-install.ps1" -Verbose:$Debug -DryRun:$DryRun @installParams
+
+#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Install the Runtimes, if any.
+
+foreach ($channel in $Runtimes)
+{
+  Write-Host "Installing .NET Runtime GA channel: $channel"
+
+  $installParams =
+  @{
+    Architecture = "arm64"
+    Channel =      "$channel"
+    InstallDir =   "$InstallDir"
+    Quality =      "GA"
+    Runtime =      "dotnet"
+  }
+
+  if ($Debug)
+  {
+    Write-Host "dotnet-install.ps1 parameters:"
+    Write-Host ($installParams | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 1)
+  }
+
+  & "$InstallDir/dotnet-install.ps1" -Verbose:$Debug -DryRun:$DryRun @installParams
+}


The script doesn't set $ErrorActionPreference or use error handling to ensure that failures in the dotnet-install.ps1 script invocations will propagate and fail the pipeline step. If the SDK or runtime installation fails, the script will continue executing and set the environment variables, potentially leading to subsequent steps using an incomplete or missing installation. Consider adding $ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop' at the beginning of the script or checking $LASTEXITCODE after each dotnet-install.ps1 invocation.

eng/pipelines/steps/install-dotnet.yml

paulmedynski · 2025-12-23T18:16:12Z

/azp run

azure-pipelines · 2025-12-23T18:16:34Z

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Adding support for .NET 10 #3686

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paulmedynski force-pushed the dev/paul/global-json branch from 897a15a to d5ce1f0 Compare December 9, 2025 17:56

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paulmedynski added 2 commits December 22, 2025 13:02

- Updataed to .NET SDK 10.0.101.

928257c

- Fixed typo in ARM64 pipeline. - Addressed Copilot suggestions.

paulmedynski force-pushed the dev/paul/global-json branch from d5ce1f0 to 928257c Compare December 22, 2025 17:14

- Fixed missing 'inputs' section to PowerShell@2 task.

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paulmedynski added 2 commits December 22, 2025 15:50

- Fixed PowerShell true/false parameter literals.

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- Replaced backtick long command with params hash.

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- Creating install dir if it doesn't exist.

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- Fixed swapped arguments to join().

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paulmedynski changed the title ~~[DRAFT] Use global.json to restrict .NET SDK use~~ Use global.json to restrict .NET SDK use Dec 23, 2025

paulmedynski marked this pull request as ready for review December 23, 2025 18:26

paulmedynski requested a review from a team as a code owner December 23, 2025 18:26

Use global.json to restrict .NET SDK use #3797

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Use global.json to restrict .NET SDK use #3797

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paulmedynski commented Nov 21, 2025 •

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