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Containers default to use the 'latest' tag

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The default image tag used for .NET SDK-built containers changed from the value of the Version of the project to the value latest.

Previous behavior

Previously, the image was built with a tag value of $(Version), which enabled changing the tag based on the same value that the rest of the .NET ecosystem uses.

New behavior

Starting in .NET 8, the generated image has the latest tag in all cases.

Version introduced

.NET 8 Preview 6

Type of change

This change is a behavioral change.

Reason for change

This change aligns the default containerization experience with the developer experiences for other container tooling like the Docker CLI. It also makes the development inner-loop of repeated container publishes easier to use with tools like Docker Compose, because the version remains stable.

Explicitly set the version if you need it. The easiest way is to set the ContainerImageTag property on the command line to an explicit version, for example, /p:ContainerImageTag=1.2.3. But you can also programmatically set the value as you would any other MSBuild property. In a project file, you can continue to use the $(Version) property by adding the ContainerImageTag property:

<PropertyGroup>
  <ContainerImageTag>$(Version)</ContainerImageTag>
</PropertyGroup>

Affected APIs

None.