Command dotnet ef not found in .NET Core 3

Question

I'm following the docs in order to create an initial migration. When I execute dotnet, I get the help section, meaning that the PATH works properly.

Then I try to execute the command below from the docs in console window:

dotnet ef migrations add InitialCreate

I get the following error:

Could not execute because the specified command or file was not found.
Possible reasons for this include:

• You misspelled a built-in dotnet command.

• You intended to execute a .NET Core program, but dotnet-ef does not exist.

• You intended to run a global tool, but a dotnet-prefixed executable with this name could not be found on the PATH.

• I excluded the first item since I copied the command.

• I excluded the second item because the package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer is installed.

• I excluded the third item because I get the help section when invoking dotnet.

I'm googling the issue but since the version is new, there's not much to go on and/or it's drowning in similar issues from earlier versions.

I tried to forcibly install Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore just in case it needs to be explicitly added. I ran into the error message telling me that the latest version to pick from is 2.2.6 and a downgrade is a no-go. I'm not sure how to install the version compatible with the SQL-package I have on my system already (and even less certain if that's right approach to kill this issue).

Detected package downgrade: Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore from 3.0.0-preview6.19304.10 to 2.2.6. Reference the package directly from the project to select a different version.
Web ->
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer 3.0.0-preview6.19304.10 ->
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Relational 3.0.0-preview6.19304.10 ->
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore (>= 3.0.0-preview6.19304.10)
Web -> Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore (>= 2.2.6)

Answer 1

See the announcement for ASP.NET Core 3 Preview 4, which explains that this tool is no longer built-in and requires an explicit install:

The dotnet ef tool is no longer part of the .NET Core SDK

This change allows us to ship dotnet ef as a regular .NET CLI tool that can be installed as either a global or local tool. For example, to be able to manage migrations or scaffold a DbContext, install dotnet ef as a global tool typing the following command:

dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef

To install a specific version of the tool, use the following command:

dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef --version 3.1.4

The reason for the change is explained in the docs:

Why

This change allows us to distribute and update dotnet ef as a regular .NET CLI tool on NuGet, consistent with the fact that the EF Core 3.0 is also always distributed as a NuGet package.

In addition, you might need to add the following NuGet packages to your project:

• Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer
• Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Design
• Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools

Answer 2

If you are using a Dockerfile for deployments these are the steps you need to take to resolve this issue.

Change your Dockerfile to include the following:

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/core/sdk:3.1 AS build-env
ENV PATH $PATH:/root/.dotnet/tools
RUN dotnet tool install -g dotnet-ef --version 3.1.1

Also change your dotnet ef commands to be dotnet-ef

Answer 3

Global tools can be installed in the default directory or in a specific location. The default directories are:

• Linux/macOS ---> $HOME/.dotnet/tools

• Windows ---> %USERPROFILE%\.dotnet\tools

If you're trying to run a global tool, check that the PATH environment variable on your machine contains the path where you installed the global tool and that the executable is in that path.

Troubleshoot .NET Core tool usage issues

Answer 4

Run PowerShell or a command prompt as administrator and run the below command.

dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef --version 3.1.3

Answer 5

For everyone using .NET Core CLI on MinGW MSYS:

After installing using

dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef

add this line to to the bashrc file (C:\msys64\home\username\ - .bashrc (the location depends on your setup)

export PATH=$PATH:/c/Users/username/.dotnet/tools

Answer 6

I solved this problem by installing dotnet-f tool locally with the following commands.

If you are setting up this repository

dotnet new tool-manifest

dotnet tool install --local dotnet-ef --version 5.0.6

Then use dotnet dotnet-ef instead of dotnet-ef.

Answer 7

The reason is - The dotnet ef tool is no longer part of the .NET Core SDK in ASP.NET Core 3.0.

Solution: Install dotnet ef as a global tool

Steps:

1. Run PowerShell or command prompt as Administrator in the project root
2. Run below command.

For the latest version:

dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef

For a specific version:

dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef --version <<version_number>>

Answer 8

If you're using Snap package dotnet-sdk on Linux, this can be resolved by updating your ~.bashrc file / etc. as follows:

#!/bin/bash
export DOTNET_ROOT=/snap/dotnet-sdk/current
export MSBuildSDKsPath=$DOTNET_ROOT/sdk/$(${DOTNET_ROOT}/dotnet --version)/Sdks
export PATH="${PATH}:${DOTNET_ROOT}"
export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.dotnet/tools"

Answer 9

I was having this problem after I installed the dotnet-ef tool using Ansible with sudo escalated privilege on Ubuntu. I had to add become: no for the Playbook task, and then the dotnet-ef tool became available to the current user.

  - name: install dotnet tool dotnet-ef
    command: dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef --version {{dotnetef_version}}
    become: no

Answer 10

I had the same problem. I resolved it by uninstalling all the versions on my PC and then reinstalling dotnet.

Answer 11

I followed these steps, and it worked fine for me:

1. Add a source:

   dotnet nuget add source --name nuget.org https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json
   

2. Run the installation command line:

   dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef --version 5.0.6
   

Answer 12

Sometimes it may occur due to different users within a system.

So to resolve the problem, you can install the dotnet-ef locally in your solution rather than adding it globally.

Steps to install locally.

1. Create a local manifest file via dotnet new tool-manifest

2. Go to the config folder:

   cd .\.config

3. Install the tool via dotnet tool install dotnet-ef --version versionNumber. It'll be successfully installed and its commands will be accessible within the project.

Answer 13

This will work for me on Visual studio code, in Ubuntu

dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef
dotnet tool restore

After that all the execution are done like

dotnet tool run dotnet-ef

or

dotnet dotnet-ef

Answer 14

For me, the problem was solved after I closed Visual Studio and opened it again.