Before installing Dotfuscator Professional, verify that your development environment meets the requirements described in this article.
Dotfuscator Professional supports the following installation methods:
- Windows installer
- NuGet package
Requirements vary depending on the installation method and components you use.
These requirements are for the machine where Dotfuscator runs. Dotfuscator can process applications that target other versions and flavors of .NET. For more information, see Supported Frameworks and Development Tools.
Windows Installer Requirements
The Windows Installer requires the following:
| Requirement | Version |
| Operating System | Windows 7 or later |
| Operating System | Windows Server 2008 R2 or later |
| .NET Runtime | .NET Framework 4.7.2 or later |
| .NET SDK | .NET Framework SDK 1.1 or later |
| MSBuild for .NET Framework | 4.0 or later running on .NET Framework 4.7.2 or later |
| Or MSBuild for .NET Core | 16.0 or later, with the .NET 10 SDK installed |
| Or MSBuild for Mono | 16.0 or later, running on Mono 6.0 or later |
Note: MSBuild is not required to run the command line interface or Config Editor.
Tip: Installing Visual Studio satisfies the .NET runtime and .NET SDK requirements.
NuGet Package Requirements
The NuGet Package installation method is supported on macOS and Linux. You can also use it on Windows, but in this case the Windows Installer is recommended.
To install Dotfuscator using the NuGet Package, you need a way to install NuGet packages to a local directory.
You can use:
- The NuGet command-line interface,
nuget.exe - Another NuGet-compatible package management tool
- Any tool capable of extracting ZIP files
The package contains two sets of components, each with separate requirements.
MSBuild Component Requirements
The tools/msbuilddir directory contains Dotfuscator's MSBuild components. Most developers should use these components because they integrate with the normal build process of most .NET projects.
The requirements for these components are:
| Requirement | Version |
| MSBuild for .NET Framework | 4.0 or later running on .NET Framework 4.7.2 or later |
| MSBuild for .NET Core | 16.0 or later with the .NET 10 SDK installed |
| MSBuild for Mono | 16.0 or later running on Mono 6.0 or later |
Command Line Interface Requirements
The tools/programdir/netcore directory contains the .NET version of the Dotfuscator command line interface.
The command line interface requires:
| Requirement | Version |
| .NET SDK | .NET 10 SDK |
Windows-Only Features
The following features require Windows:
- Dotfuscator Config Editor
- .pdb file generation
- Features that require the full .NET Framework SDK
Next Steps
After verifying that your environment meets the requirements: