How to determine if C# .NET Core is installed?

Determining if C# .NET Core is installed on your system is essential for development and deployment. The dotnet command-line interface (CLI) provides several built-in options to check installation status, versions, and available components. These commands will display environment information if .NET Core is installed, or throw an error if it's not found.

Using dotnet --info

The --info option prints detailed information about the .NET Core installation and machine environment, including the current operating system and commit SHA of the .NET Core version −

dotnet --info

This command provides comprehensive details about your .NET installation, including SDK versions, runtime versions, and system information.

Using dotnet --version

The --version option prints the version of the .NET Core SDK currently in use −

dotnet --version

This is the quickest way to verify if .NET Core SDK is installed and check which version is active.

Using dotnet --list-runtimes

The --list-runtimes option displays all installed .NET Core runtimes. Note that an x86 version of the SDK lists only x86 runtimes, while an x64 version lists only x64 runtimes −

dotnet --list-runtimes

This command helps identify which runtime versions are available for running .NET applications.

Using dotnet --list-sdks

The --list-sdks option prints all installed .NET Core SDKs −

dotnet --list-sdks

This command is useful for development environments where multiple SDK versions might be installed.

Getting Help

The -h or --help option displays a list of available commands and options −

dotnet --help

Command Summary

Conclusion

These dotnet CLI commands provide comprehensive ways to verify .NET Core installation status and gather detailed information about your development environment. Use dotnet --version for quick verification, dotnet --info for detailed information, and the list commands to see all available components.