Turn any Sitecore package into a NuGet package

I recently posted this idea on Twitter:

@kevinobee @kayeenl Btw, I was thinking that it shouldn’t be too hard to make a cmd line util that converts #Sitecore packages into #NuGet

— Robin Hermanussen (@knifecore) May 6, 2013

And it didn’t take me that long to actually implement it. Follow these steps to turn any Sitecore package into a NuGet package and share it with the world.

1. Download the CreateSitecoreNuGetPackage.exe file here or build it yourself with the code from GitHub.
2. Put the files “Sitecore.Kernel.dll” and “Sitecore.Zip.dll” in the same folder.
3. Create your package in the Package Manager and export the ZIP file.
4. Run the following command from the command line:
   CreateSitecoreNuGetPackage [PATH_TO_SITECORE_PACKAGE]
5. Use the NuGet Package Explorer to open the generated  .nuspec file and improve the metadata if needed.
6. Publish the package to a repository, like nuget.org.

Now, everyone will be able to install/uninstall your package through NuGet. Remember that you need to install Sitecore Rocks and attach your project before installing the package.

Some links to pages that helped me creating this:

• http://blog.velir.com/index.php/2012/12/04/create-and-deploy-sitecore-modules-with-nuget/
• http://vsplugins.sitecore.net/Sitecore-NuGet.ashx
• http://www.sitecore.net/Community/Technical-Blogs/John-West-Sitecore-Blog/Posts/2011/06/Attach-a-Sitecore-Rocks-Connection-to-a-Visual-Studio-Project.aspx

I will be very interested to hear your feedback, as I haven’t been able to test this very well. If this utility catches on, I might make a version that you can use from the package manager directly.

Happy NuGetting 😛