Install the .NET SDK or the .NET Runtime on Debian

This article describes how to install .NET on Debian. When a Debian version falls out of support, .NET is no longer supported with that version. However, these instructions may help you to get .NET running on those versions, even though it isn't supported.

Install the SDK (which includes the runtime) if you want to develop .NET apps. Or, if you only need to run apps, install the Runtime. If you're installing the Runtime, we suggest you install the ASP.NET Core Runtime as it includes both .NET and ASP.NET Core runtimes.

Use the dotnet --list-sdks and dotnet --list-runtimes commands to see which versions are installed. For more information, see How to check that .NET is already installed.

Important

Using a package manager to install .NET from the Microsoft package feed only supports the x64 architecture. Other architectures, such as Arm, aren't supported by the Microsoft package feed.

For more information on installing .NET without a package manager, see one of the following articles:

• Use the install-dotnet script to install .NET.
• Manually install .NET.

Supported distributions

The following table is a list of currently supported .NET releases and the versions of Debian they're supported on. These versions remain supported until either the version of .NET reaches end-of-support or the version of Debian reaches end-of-life.

Debian	.NET
12	9, 8, 6
11	8, 6

Important

.NET 9 is currently in preview.

The following versions of .NET are ❌ no longer supported:

• .NET 7
• .NET 6 (Starting November 12, 2024)
• .NET 5
• .NET Core 3.1
• .NET Core 3.0
• .NET Core 2.2
• .NET Core 2.1
• .NET Core 2.0

Install preview versions

Preview and release candidate versions of .NET aren't available in package repositories. You can install previews and release candidates of .NET in one of the following ways:

• Scripted install with install-dotnet.sh
• Manual binary extraction

Remove preview versions

When using a package manager to manage your installation of .NET, you may run into a conflict if you've previously installed a preview release. The package manager may interpret the non-preview release as an earlier version of .NET. To install the non-preview release, first uninstall the preview versions. For more information about uninstalling .NET, see How to remove the .NET Runtime and SDK.

Debian 12

Installing with APT can be done with a few commands. Before you install .NET, run the following commands to add the Microsoft package signing key to your list of trusted keys and add the package repository.

Open a terminal and run the following commands:

wget https://packages.microsoft.com/config/debian/12/packages-microsoft-prod.deb -O packages-microsoft-prod.deb
sudo dpkg -i packages-microsoft-prod.deb
rm packages-microsoft-prod.deb

Install the SDK

The .NET SDK allows you to develop apps with .NET. If you install the .NET SDK, you don't need to install the corresponding runtime. To install the .NET SDK, run the following commands:

sudo apt-get update && \
  sudo apt-get install -y dotnet-sdk-8.0

To learn how to use the .NET CLI, see .NET CLI overview.

Install the runtime

The ASP.NET Core Runtime allows you to run apps that were made with .NET that didn't provide the runtime. The following commands install the ASP.NET Core Runtime, which is the most compatible runtime for .NET. In your terminal, run the following commands:

sudo apt-get update && \
  sudo apt-get install -y aspnetcore-runtime-8.0

As an alternative to the ASP.NET Core Runtime, you can install the .NET Runtime, which doesn't include ASP.NET Core support: replace aspnetcore-runtime-8.0 in the previous command with dotnet-runtime-8.0:

sudo apt-get install -y dotnet-runtime-8.0

To learn how to use the .NET CLI, see .NET CLI overview.

Debian 11

Installing with APT can be done with a few commands. Before you install .NET, run the following commands to add the Microsoft package signing key to your list of trusted keys and add the package repository.

Open a terminal and run the following commands:

wget https://packages.microsoft.com/config/debian/11/packages-microsoft-prod.deb -O packages-microsoft-prod.deb
sudo dpkg -i packages-microsoft-prod.deb
rm packages-microsoft-prod.deb

Install the SDK

The .NET SDK allows you to develop apps with .NET. If you install the .NET SDK, you don't need to install the corresponding runtime. To install the .NET SDK, run the following commands:

sudo apt-get update && \
  sudo apt-get install -y dotnet-sdk-8.0

To learn how to use the .NET CLI, see .NET CLI overview.

Install the runtime

The ASP.NET Core Runtime allows you to run apps that were made with .NET that didn't provide the runtime. The following commands install the ASP.NET Core Runtime, which is the most compatible runtime for .NET. In your terminal, run the following commands:

sudo apt-get update && \
  sudo apt-get install -y aspnetcore-runtime-8.0

As an alternative to the ASP.NET Core Runtime, you can install the .NET Runtime, which doesn't include ASP.NET Core support: replace aspnetcore-runtime-8.0 in the previous command with dotnet-runtime-8.0:

sudo apt-get install -y dotnet-runtime-8.0

To learn how to use the .NET CLI, see .NET CLI overview.

Debian 10

Installing with APT can be done with a few commands. Before you install .NET, run the following commands to add the Microsoft package signing key to your list of trusted keys and add the package repository.

Open a terminal and run the following commands:

wget https://packages.microsoft.com/config/debian/10/packages-microsoft-prod.deb -O packages-microsoft-prod.deb
sudo dpkg -i packages-microsoft-prod.deb
rm packages-microsoft-prod.deb

Install the SDK

The .NET SDK allows you to develop apps with .NET. If you install the .NET SDK, you don't need to install the corresponding runtime. To install the .NET SDK, run the following commands:

sudo apt-get update && \
  sudo apt-get install -y dotnet-sdk-7.0

To learn how to use the .NET CLI, see .NET CLI overview.

Install the runtime

The ASP.NET Core Runtime allows you to run apps that were made with .NET that didn't provide the runtime. The following commands install the ASP.NET Core Runtime, which is the most compatible runtime for .NET. In your terminal, run the following commands:

sudo apt-get update && \
  sudo apt-get install -y aspnetcore-runtime-7.0

As an alternative to the ASP.NET Core Runtime, you can install the .NET Runtime, which doesn't include ASP.NET Core support: replace aspnetcore-runtime-7.0 in the previous command with dotnet-runtime-7.0:

sudo apt-get install -y dotnet-runtime-7.0

To learn how to use the .NET CLI, see .NET CLI overview.

How to install other versions

All versions of .NET are available for download at https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet, but require manual installation. You can try to use the package manager to install a different version of .NET. However, the requested version might not be available.

The packages added to package manager feeds are named in a hackable format, for example: {product}-{type}-{version}.

• product
  The type of .NET product to install. Valid options are:

  • dotnet
  • aspnetcore

• type
  Chooses the SDK or the runtime. Valid options are:

  • sdk (only available for the dotnet product)
  • runtime

• version
  The version of the SDK or runtime to install. Valid options are any released version, such as:

  • 8.0
  • 6.0
  • 3.1
  • 2.1

  It's possible the SDK/runtime you're trying to download isn't available for your Linux distribution. For a list of supported distributions, see Install .NET on Linux.

Examples

• Install the ASP.NET Core 8.0 runtime: aspnetcore-runtime-8.0
• Install the .NET Core 2.1 runtime: dotnet-runtime-2.1
• Install the .NET 5 SDK: dotnet-sdk-5.0
• Install the .NET Core 3.1 SDK: dotnet-sdk-3.1

Note

Some package might not be available on your Linux distribution.

Package missing

If the package-version combination doesn't work, it's not available. For example, there isn't an ASP.NET Core SDK. The SDK components for ASP.NET Core are included with the .NET SDK. The value aspnetcore-sdk-8.0 is incorrect and should be dotnet-sdk-8.0. For a list of Linux distributions supported by .NET, see .NET dependencies and requirements.

Use APT to update .NET

When a new patch release is available for .NET, you can simply upgrade it through APT with the following commands:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

If you've upgraded your Linux distribution since installing .NET, you may need to reconfigure the Microsoft package repository. Run the installation instructions for your current distribution version to upgrade to the appropriate package repository for .NET updates.

Troubleshooting

This section provides information on common errors you may get while using APT to install .NET.

Unable to find package

Important

Using a package manager to install .NET from the Microsoft package feed only supports the x64 architecture. Other architectures, such as Arm, aren't supported by the Microsoft package feed.

For more information on installing .NET without a package manager, see one of the following articles:

• Use the install-dotnet script to install .NET.
• Manually install .NET.

Unable to locate \ Some packages could not be installed

If you receive an error message similar to Unable to locate package {dotnet-package} or Some packages could not be installed, run the following commands.

There are two placeholders in the following set of commands.

• {dotnet-package}
  This represents the .NET package you're installing, such as aspnetcore-runtime-8.0. This is used in the following sudo apt-get install command.

First, try purging the package list:

sudo dpkg --purge packages-microsoft-prod && sudo dpkg -i packages-microsoft-prod.deb
sudo apt-get update

Then, try to install .NET again. If that doesn't work, you can run a manual install with the following commands:

If you're using Debian 12 or later, try the following commands:

# Get OS version info which adds the $ID and $VERSION_ID variables
source /etc/os-release

# Download the Microsoft keys
sudo apt-get install -y gpg wget
wget https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc
cat microsoft.asc | gpg --dearmor -o microsoft.asc.gpg

# Add the Microsoft repository to the system's sources list
wget https://packages.microsoft.com/config/$ID/$VERSION_ID/prod.list
sudo mv prod.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/microsoft-prod.list

# Move the key to the appropriate place
sudo mv microsoft.asc.gpg $(cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/microsoft-prod.list | grep -oP "(?<=signed-by=).*(?=\])")

# Update packages and install .NET
sudo apt-get update && \
  sudo apt-get install -y {dotnet-package}

If you're using a Debian version prior to 12, try the following commands:

# Define the OS version, name, and codename
source /etc/os-release

# Download the Microsoft keys
sudo apt-get install -y gpg wget
wget https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc
cat microsoft.asc | gpg --dearmor -o microsoft.asc.gpg
sudo mv microsoft.asc.gpg /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/

# Add the Microsoft repository to the system's sources list
wget https://packages.microsoft.com/config/$ID/$VERSION_ID/prod.list
sudo mv prod.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/microsoft-prod.list

# Set ownership
sudo chown root:root /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/microsoft.asc.gpg
sudo chown root:root /etc/apt/sources.list.d/microsoft-prod.list

# Update packages and install .NET
sudo apt-get update && \
  sudo apt-get install -y {dotnet-package}

Failed to fetch

While installing the .NET package, you may see an error similar to Failed to fetch ... File has unexpected size ... Mirror sync in progress?. This error could mean that the package feed for .NET is being upgraded with newer package versions, and that you should try again later. During an upgrade, the package feed shouldn't be unavailable for more than 30 minutes. If you continually receive this error for more than 30 minutes, please file an issue at https://github.com/dotnet/core/issues.

Dependencies

When you install with a package manager, these libraries are installed for you. But, if you manually install .NET or you publish a self-contained app, you'll need to make sure these libraries are installed:

10.x

• libc6
• libgcc1
• libgssapi-krb5-2
• libicu63
• libssl1.1
• libstdc++6
• zlib1g

11.x

• libc6
• libgcc-s1
• libgssapi-krb5-2
• libicu67
• libssl1.1
• libstdc++6
• zlib1g

12.x

• libc6
• libgcc-s1
• libgssapi-krb5-2
• libicu72
• libssl3
• libstdc++6
• zlib1g

Dependencies can be installed with the apt install command. The following snippet demonstrates installing the libc6 library:

sudo apt install libc6

If the .NET app uses the System.Drawing.Common assembly, libgdiplus will also need to be installed. Because System.Drawing.Common is no longer supported on Linux, this only works on .NET 6 and requires setting the System.Drawing.EnableUnixSupport runtime configuration switch.

You can install a recent version of libgdiplus by adding the Mono repository to your system.

Next steps

• .NET CLI overview
• How to enable TAB completion for the .NET CLI
• Tutorial: Create a console application with .NET SDK using Visual Studio Code