| name | update-os-packages |
| description | Audit and update os-packages.json files in dotnet/core to ensure Linux distribution package names are correct. Verifies package names against upstream package repositories and fixes mismatches. |
Update OS Packages
Audit and update os-packages.json files in the dotnet/core repository. These files declare the Linux distribution packages required to run .NET on each supported distro release.
When to use
- A new distro version is released (e.g. Ubuntu 26.04, Alpine 3.23) and packages need to be added or verified
- Package names may have changed upstream (e.g.
libicu76 → libicu78)
- Periodic audit to ensure all listed package names are still correct
Prerequisites
The release-notes tool is installed globally. Run release-notes --help to confirm.
Inputs
The user provides:
- dotnet/core path — local path to the dotnet/core repo (e.g.
~/git/core)
- Versions to audit — which .NET versions to check (e.g. "8.0+", "10.0 only"), defaults to all active versions
Process
1. Identify scope
Determine which .NET versions to audit. Active versions are those with os-packages.json files in the release-notes/ directory. Skip versions the user excludes.
For each version, read release-notes/{version}/os-packages.json.
2. Verify package names
Run the release-notes verify os-packages command for each version. The tool checks each package name against upstream distro package feeds and reports mismatches.
3. Cross-reference with supported-os.json
For each version, read release-notes/{version}/supported-os.json and check:
- Every Linux distro+version in
supported-os.json has a matching entry in os-packages.json
- No distro+version in
os-packages.json is absent from supported-os.json (stale entries)
Report gaps to the user. Do not add new distro entries automatically — the user decides whether to add them.
4. Apply fixes
For confirmed mismatches (wrong package names):
- Update the package name in os-packages.json across all affected .NET versions (the same distro release uses the same packages regardless of .NET version)
- Use the
edit tool to make surgical changes
5. Verify and commit
- Validate all modified JSON files parse correctly (use a file-based app to deserialize with
Dotnet.Release.Support types)
- Show the user a summary of changes
- On confirmation, commit with a descriptive message
Key facts
- Package names like
libicu are versioned on Debian/Ubuntu (e.g. libicu76) but not on Fedora/RHEL/SUSE (just libicu)
- OpenSSL on Debian 13+ and Ubuntu 24.04+ uses the
t64 suffix (libssl3t64)
- Alpine uses different package names entirely (
icu-libs, libssl3, krb5)
- The same distro release always has the same packages regardless of .NET version — fixes should be applied across all os-packages.json files
