linq2db.cli

LINQ to DB CLI tools

NOTE: This is not a library you could reference from your project, but command line utility, installed using dotnet tool command (see installation notes).

See this page for more detailed help.

• Installation
  • Choosing 32-bit vs 64-bit (Windows)
• Use
  • Usage Examples
    • Generate SQLite database model in current folder
    • Generate SQLite database model using response file

Installation

Requires .NET 8 or higher.

Install as global tool:

dotnet tool install -g linq2db.cli

Update:

dotnet tool update -g linq2db.cli

General information on .NET Tools could be found here

Choosing 32-bit vs 64-bit (Windows)

The tool ships as per-RID packages (win-x64, win-x86, win-arm64, plus Linux + macOS variants). A bare dotnet tool install -g linq2db.cli picks one based on your SDK architecture (usually x64).

The following providers REQUIRE a 32-bit process — install the win-x86 variant if you use any of them:

• Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB (legacy Access .mdb databases — Jet is 32-bit-only)
• Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0 / .16.0 when matching 32-bit Microsoft Office is installed (provider bitness must match Office bitness)
• SQL Server Compact Edition — driver must match process bitness
• SAP HANA — driver must match process bitness; the HANA ODBC driver ships under different names for x86 vs x64, and the native dotnet client is also bitness-specific

Install the x86 variant explicitly:

dotnet tool install -g linq2db.cli --arch x86

A single tool ID can only have one architecture installed under -g; reinstalling replaces. To keep both x86 and x64 available, install each to a separate path and manage PATH order yourself:

dotnet tool install linq2db.cli --tool-path %USERPROFILE%\tools\x64 --arch x64
dotnet tool install linq2db.cli --tool-path %USERPROFILE%\tools\x86 --arch x86

Use

To invoke tool use dotnet-linq2db <PARAMETERS> or dotnet linq2db <PARAMETERS> command.

Available commands:

• dotnet linq2db help: prints general help
• dotnet linq2db help scaffold: prints help for scaffold command
• dotnet linq2db scaffold <options>: performs database model scaffolding
• dotnet linq2db template [-o template_path]: creates base T4 template file for scaffolding customization code

For list of available options, use dotnet linq2db help scaffold command.

Usage Examples

Generate SQLite database model in current folder

This command uses minimal set of options, required for scaffolding (database provider and connection string) and generates database model classes in current folder.

dotnet linq2db scaffold -p SQLite -c "Data Source=c:\Databases\MyDatabase.sqlite"

Generate SQLite database model using response file

This command demonstrates use of configuration file with scaffold options combined with command line options.

dotnet linq2db scaffold -i database.json -c "Data Source=c:\Databases\MyDatabase.sqlite"

database.json file:

{
    "general": {
        "provider": "SQLite",
        "connection": "Data Source=c:\\Databases\\TestDatabase.sqlite",
        "output": "c:\\MyProject\\DbModel",
        "overwrite": true
    }
}

Here you can see that connection string passed using both command line and json config file. In such cases option passed in command line takes precedence.

Scaffold configs (response files) are convenient in many ways:

• you can store scaffolding options for your project in source control and share with other developers
• with many options it is hard to work with command line
• some options not available from CLI or hard to use due to CLI nature (e.g. various issues with escaping of parameters)