Moving from xUnit v2 to v3

Question

Moving from xUnit v2 to v3

G S 0

Hi,

According to <link removed>

Does after moving from xUnit v2 to v3 successfully, do I need to assign (SignAssembly) the new exe(xunit v3) and the clients the referenced (project referenced) to it ?

again or it is not connected ?

Thanks,

1 answer

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Answer 1

Gade Harika (INFOSYS LIMITED) 2,590 Microsoft External Staff

Thanks for reaching out.

When moving from xUnit v2 to v3, test projects change from class libraries to standalone executables. This architectural change is independent of strong‑name signing. You only need to set SignAssembly for the xUnit v3 test executable if your solution already relies on strong‑named assemblies or enforces strong‑name validation; otherwise, no additional signing is required just because of the v2 → v3 migration. Referenced (client) projects are not automatically affected by this change and do not need to be re‑signed unless your existing strong‑name policy requires it. [xunit.net]

Let me know if you need any further help with this. I will be happy to assist. If you find this helpful, Kindly mark the provided solution as "Accept Answer", so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

G S 0

I want clarification, this is my .csproj of Tests project.

Before upgrade , i had SignAssembly as shown below**:** do I need to make it again.

If yes how?

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
	 <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net10.0</TargetFramework>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
    <IsPackable>false</IsPackable>
    <SignAssembly>True</SignAssembly>
    <AssemblyOriginatorKeyFile>D:\MyProject.snk</AssemblyOriginatorKeyFile>
  </PropertyGroup>

Gade Harika (INFOSYS LIMITED) 2,590 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2026-02-16T12:29:51.82+00:00
Thanks for reaching out.
In xUnit v3, the test project output changes from a class library (DLL) to a standalone executable (EXE). However, strong‑name signing behavior does not change because of this.

Since your test project already had SignAssembly enabled before the upgrade, you should simply keep the same settings after moving to xUnit v3.

What you need to do

Keep <SignAssembly>true</SignAssembly>

Keep <AssemblyOriginatorKeyFile> pointing to the same .snk file

No re‑signing or extra steps are required

Your current .csproj is already correct:

XML

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

<PropertyGroup>

<OutputType>Exe</OutputType>

<TargetFramework>net10.0</TargetFramework>

Show more lines

Important points

The move from xUnit v2 → v3 does not force signing

You only sign the test EXE because your solution already requires it

Referenced (client) projects do not need to be re‑signed unless your existing strong‑name policy requires consistency

Summary

If you were signing before → keep signing

If you were not signing before → no need to add it

The xUnit v3 EXE output is **not a special case.

**Let me know if you need any further help with this. I will be happy to assist. If you find this helpful, Kindly mark the provided solution as "Accept Answer", so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.
Gade Harika (INFOSYS LIMITED) 2,590 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2026-02-18T11:43:25.2566667+00:00

Hope you’re doing well. We’re following up on this thread to check if the issue is still occurring or has been resolved. If it has been resolved, kindly mark the answer as accepted. We will proceed with thread closure by Feb 20th.
Gade Harika (INFOSYS LIMITED) 2,590 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2026-02-20T07:10:41.56+00:00

We haven’t received any further updates or follow-up on this case, so we’ll proceed with closing it at this time. If you require additional assistance or have new information to share, please feel free to raise new thread, we’re happy to support you further needed.

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Moving from xUnit v2 to v3

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