Commands

A version is written 10, 10.0, 10.0.4xx, 10.0.402 (or a preview such as 11.0.100-rc.2.26504.105), latest or lts. Lines prefer releases and fall back to previews when nothing else matches.

Versions

dv install <version>	install an SDK (--force reinstalls)
dv install	install what the nearest global.json asks for
dv uninstall <version>	remove an installed SDK, and stop tracking it
dv update	install the newest SDK each tracked requirement accepts, remove what nothing needs
dv update --dry-run	…show what would change, and change nothing
dv update --no-prune	…install updates, keep every SDK already installed
dv list	installed SDKs, the active one marked with its source
dv list --remote	what can be installed, beside what is — newest 2 per feature band
dv list --remote --all	…including end-of-life channels and every patch
dv list --remote --refresh	…checking for new releases now rather than using metadata cached in the last 10 minutes
dv list --remote --cached	…from cached metadata only, however old, never touching the network

dv sdk install, dv sdk uninstall and dv sdk list are the same commands, for symmetry with dv runtime and for anyone used to dotnetup’s spelling.

Older patches stay installable by exact version whether or not the listing shows them. The trimming is cosmetic, because an exact pin gets committed.

Runtimes

dv runtime install <component@version>	install a runtime without an SDK: 8.0, aspnetcore@8.0, windowsdesktop@10
dv runtime uninstall <component@version>	remove one, and stop tracking it
dv runtime list	runtimes installed on their own, and those that came with SDKs
dv runtime list --remote	…and what can be installed (--all for end-of-life channels)

See runtimes.

Choosing

dv pin <version>	write global.json in the current directory
dv default [<version>]	show or set the SDK used when nothing pins one
dv resolve	print the SDK version that would be used here
dv resolve --source	…and what chose it
dv resolve --pinned-only	print nothing unless global.json or the environment pins one

Running

dv which [command]	the binary that would run here, and nothing else
dv run <command> …	run a command under the resolved SDK
dv exec <command> …	alias of run

run looks in the resolved SDK’s install root first (dotnet, dnx), then among global tools, then on PATH. Whatever it runs gets DOTNET_ROOT set to the resolved root. A command from outside the root also gets the root first on PATH and DV_DOTNET_VERSION set, so the tool and anything it starts agree on one SDK.

Setup

dv init <shell>	PATH and DOTNET_ROOT setup — zsh, bash, sh, fish, powershell
dv init <shell> --hook	…plus the optional cd-time switch
dv rehash	rebuild the shims and install roots
dv doctor	check the installation, exit non-zero on a real problem

Maintenance

dv cache status	what the download cache holds
dv cache prune	remove archives no installed SDK came from
dv cache clear	remove every cached archive, and the release metadata cache
dv self update	replace this binary with the newest published build

Environment

DV_DOTNET_VERSION	override resolution entirely
DV_HOME	where dv keeps state
DV_RELEASES_URL	where to read the .NET release index — for a mirror
DV_PLATFORM	override the detected runtime identifier

Layout

Everything lives in one directory — $XDG_DATA_HOME/dv, else ~/.local/share/dv, or %LOCALAPPDATA%\dv on Windows — and every file dv writes is plain text you can read and grep:

~/.local/share/dv/
  versions/10.0.402/      SDK archives, extracted exactly as published
  runtimes/aspnetcore-8.0.12/   runtime archives, the same way
  roots/10.0.402/         install root: this SDK, every runtime (hard links)
  dotnet/                 install root holding everything — DOTNET_ROOT
  shims/dotnet            real files on PATH
  cache/                  downloaded archives
  cache/metadata/         Microsoft's release metadata, cached
  tracked.json            what was asked for — what `dv update` moves forward
  config.toml             default version, release index location