Overview

The Package Builder export tool allows more finite control over the creation of Kentico module installation packages with command-line support for continuous integration environments.

Comprehensive documentation of advanced topics and examples are available through the Package Builder Wiki.

• Command-line Interface
• NuSpec Manifests
• Property Tokens
• Adding Additional Files
• Metadata Overrides
• Alternate Output Directory
• Versioning by Assembly Attribute

Installation

Distributions of Package Builder are available for download from the NuGet Gallery or installed by any supported NuGet client tool. The package must be installed to an existing Kentico website or web application project.

Installing on Kentico 9.0

To install Package Builder for Kentico 9, run the following command in the Package Manager Console

PM> Install-Package Ntara.Kentico-9.0.PackageBuilder

Installing on Kentico 10.0

To install Package Builder for Kentico 10, run the following command in the Package Manager Console

PM> Install-Package Ntara.Kentico-10.0.PackageBuilder

Installing on Kentico 11.0

To install Package Builder for Kentico 11, run the following command in the Package Manager Console

PM> Install-Package Ntara.Kentico-11.0.PackageBuilder

Creating Kentico Modules

It is critical that developers observe Kentico best practices when packaging modules for distribution. These patterns are thoroughly documented by Kentico and available online:

Kentico 9 Resources

• Creating Custom Modules
• Creating a Packageable Module (Recommended)

Kentico 10 Resources

• Creating Custom Modules
• Creating a Packageable Module (Recommended)

Kentico 11 Resources

• Creating Custom Modules
• Creating a Packageable Module (Recommended)

Creating Module Packages

Important: The PackageBuilder.exe application must execute from the bin directory of a valid Kentico CMS installation. This allows the native module export to include all database objects, libraries, and file dependencies related to the specified module instance.

The -module command is the only required command-line argument. The following command will produce a NuGet (.nupkg) package identical to one produced by clicking the Create installation package button.

PackageBuilder.exe -module:Acme.Module

In this example, the package Acme.Module_1.0.0.nupkg will be written to the website CMSSiteUtils\Export directory.

Licensing

Source code is made available under terms of the MIT license.