Skip to content
dv

global.json

global.json is .NET’s own way to choose an SDK, read by the dotnet host, Visual Studio, Rider and CI images. dv reads it the same way and writes it with dv pin; there is no other version file.

{
  "sdk": {
    "version": "10.0.100",
    "rollForward": "latestFeature",
    "allowPrerelease": false
  }
}

Finding it

Section titled “Finding it”

The host reads the nearest global.json, walking up from the current directory. A nearer file without sdk.version still ends the search — it does not defer to a parent’s pin — and dv behaves the same.

rollForward

Section titled “rollForward”

An SDK version is major.minor.patch, where the hundreds digit of the patch is the feature band: 10.0.402 is patch 2 of the 10.0.4xx band. Policies are written in those terms. Every candidate must be at least sdk.version.

Policy Accepts Picks
disable exactly sdk.version that
patch (the default) the same feature band sdk.version if installed, else the newest patch in the band
latestPatch the same feature band the newest patch
feature the same major.minor the lowest band, then its newest patch
latestFeature the same major.minor the newest
minor the same major the lowest minor and band, then its newest patch
latestMinor the same major the newest
major anything newer the lowest major, minor and band, then its newest patch
latestMajor anything newer the newest

The non-latest policies prefer the lowest matching band — closest to what was asked for — and the newest patch within it. This is how the host’s resolver behaves; it is not what the policy names suggest, and dv follows the resolver.

allowPrerelease defaults to true, and a prerelease sdk.version always allows prereleases whatever the file says.

What dv pin writes

Section titled “What dv pin writes”
You run sdk.version rollForward Meaning
dv pin 10.0.402 10.0.402 disable exactly this SDK
dv pin 10.0.4xx 10.0.400 latestPatch any patch in the 10.0.400 band
dv pin 10.0 10.0.100 latestFeature any 10.0 SDK
dv pin 10 10.0.100 latestMinor any 10.x SDK
dv pin lts the newest installed LTS major latestMinor that major

dv pin latest is refused: without a pin, dv already uses the newest SDK.

When only a preview of a line is installed — dv pin 11.0 before 11 ships — the pin is written from the preview’s version, because a preview sorts below its line’s first release and 11.0.100 would exclude it.

Pinning keeps everything else in the file — msbuild-sdks, test, other sdk keys — and its key order. Comments, which global.json allows, cannot survive a rewrite; dv pin says so when it drops one. Pinning in a directory below another global.json creates a new file that shadows the parent’s, and dv pin says that too.

What dv does not read

Section titled “What dv does not read”
  • sdk.paths — custom SDK search directories. The host honors them and may find an SDK there instead of the one dv resolved; dv doctor warns.
  • Project files. <TargetFramework> decides what a project compiles for, not which SDK builds it, and the host does not read it to choose an SDK.