Restore my Xamarin project's NuGet and Xamarin-Component dependencies using CLI

Problem:

How do I restore all of my Xamarin project dependencies when neither Visual Studio's "extensions and updates", nor NuGet package manager GUI have the versions my project requires?

Similarly, how do I restore these packages in the command line so Jenkins can automatically build my Xamarin project?

My questions apply to fresh clones of my team's Xamarin project from Git, where the NuGet nor Xamarin component 3rd party dependencies aren't included in the project's repository.

Before you start:

The solution below assumes that you have knowledge of Xamarin, Xamarin components, NuGet, (Jenkins), the command line, and have a valid account for Xamarin. (It was written as a quick reminder. Please refer to the referenced links if more detail is needed.)

One solution:

One solution is to use the nuget.exe and xamarin-component.exe command line tools to restore NuGet and Xamarin component dependencies.

You can get the Xamarin component CLI executable from here: https://components.xamarin.com/submit/ (you'll need to sign in with your Xamarin account, and follow the instructions Microsoft provided)

You can get the NuGet CLI executable from here: https://dist.nuget.org/index.html

When you have these CLI tools installed (or copied to your project's root - not ideal, but helps to troubleshoot), you can then use them or include them in your script as follows:

• navigate to the directory where your solution file is (e.g. YourSolutionName.sln)

• 
  nuget.exe restore
  xamarin-component.exe restore YourSolutionName.sln
  
  

• (first time) enter your Xamarin account credentials (needed for xamarin-component)

At this point, the output should give an indication of all 3rd party dependencies that were successfully restored.

Notes:

This solution was tested to work on a project that has dependencies about a year old (and are no longer available via the Visual Studio GUI). The versions of the tools tested were Visual Studio 2015 (14.0.25431.01 Update 3), Xamarin 4.2.2.11 (with corresponding Xamarin.Android 7.0.2.42 and Xamarin.iOS 10.3.1.8). Additionally, all 3rd party libraries were originally installed using Visual Studio's "Extensions and Updates..." GUI and NuGet package manager's GUI. Your mileage may vary, depending on versions and how your team has setup your Xamarin project.

This solution also depends on Microsoft/Xamarin still providing the CLI tools, as well as the 3rd party dependency versions specified in your project still existing for download.

Nonetheless, hopefully this has at least come in handy or given some new ideas :)

References:

• https://forums.xamarin.com/discussion/19630/restoring-components-in-ci-build-process
• https://developer.xamarin.com/guides/cross-platform/advanced/submitting_components/components_and_nuget/
• https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget/tools/nuget-exe-cli-reference
• https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget/guides/install-nuget
• https://forums.xamarin.com/discussion/17705/command-line-build-and-nuget-packages