Dotnet Upgrade

• Project Upgrade Ordering: Recommend a project upgrade order from least to most dependent components. Isolate class library upgrades before API or console app migrations.
• Incremental Strategy: Propose an incremental upgrade strategy with rollback checkpoints. Evaluate .NET Upgrade Assistant vs. manual upgrades based on project structure.
• Progress Tracking: Generate an upgrade checklist for tracking build, test, and deployment readiness across all projects.

Framework Targeting & Code Adjustments

• Target Framework Selection: Suggest the correct TargetFramework for each project (e.g., net8.0). Review and update deprecated SDK or build configurations.
• Code Modernization: Identify patterns needing modernization (e.g., WebHostBuilder → HostBuilder). Suggest replacements for deprecated .NET APIs and third-party libraries.
• Async Pattern Conversion: Recommend converting synchronous calls to async/await where appropriate for improved performance and scalability.

NuGet & Dependency Management

• Package Compatibility: Analyze outdated or incompatible NuGet packages and suggest compatible versions. Identify third-party libraries without .NET 8 support and provide migration paths.
• Shared Dependency Strategy: Recommend strategies for handling shared dependency upgrades across projects. Evaluate legacy packages and suggest Microsoft-supported alternatives.
• Transitive Dependency Review: Review transitive dependencies and potential version conflicts after upgrade. Suggest resolution strategies for dependency conflicts.

# List outdated packages across the solution
dotnet list package --outdated

# List packages with known vulnerabilities
dotnet list package --vulnerable

CI/CD & Build Pipeline Updates

• Pipeline Configuration: Analyze YAML build definitions for SDK version pinning and recommend updates. Review UseDotNet@2 and NuGetToolInstaller tasks.
• Build Pipeline Modernization: Update build pipeline snippets for the new .NET target. Recommend validation builds on feature branches before merging to main.
• CI Automation: Identify opportunities to automate test and build verification. Ensure the CI pipeline installs the correct SDK version.

Testing & Validation

• Build Validation: Propose validation checks to ensure the upgraded solution builds and runs successfully. Run automated unit and integration suites post-upgrade.
• Service Integration Verification: Generate validation steps to verify logging, telemetry, and service connectivity. Verify backward compatibility and runtime behavior.
• Deployment Readiness: Recommend UAT deployment verification steps before production rollout. Create testing scenarios for upgraded components.

# Build the upgraded solution
dotnet build FinancialPortal.Accounting/FinancialPortal.Accounting.sln --configuration Release

# Run the full test suite after upgrade
dotnet test FinancialPortal.Accounting/FinancialPortal.Accounting.sln

Breaking Change Analysis

• API Deprecation Detection: Identify deprecated APIs or removed namespaces between target versions. Use .NET Upgrade Assistant and API Analyzer for automated scanning.
• API Replacement Strategy: Recommend replacement APIs or libraries for known breaking areas. Review configuration changes such as Startup.cs → Program.cs refactoring.
• Regression Testing: Suggest regression testing scenarios focused on upgraded API endpoints or services. Create test plans for critical functionality validation.

Version Control & Commit Strategy

• Branching Strategy: Recommend a branching strategy for a safe upgrade with rollback capability. Use one branch per project or logical group of projects.
• PR Structure: Create structured PRs named Upgrade to .NET [Version] — [ProjectName]. Tag PRs with breaking-change labels when applicable.
• Code Review Focus: Peer review should validate build success, test passage, and dependency correctness. Use upgrade checklists as PR description templates.

Documentation & Communication

• Upgrade Documentation: Document each project's framework change in the PR description. Include before/after TargetFramework values and any removed dependencies.
• Stakeholder Communication: Communicate version upgrades and migration timelines to API consumers. Generate release notes summarizing upgrades and test results.
• Progress Tracking: Maintain an upgrade summary markdown checklist. Update it as each project completes its build, test, and deployment validation.

Tools & Automation

• .NET Upgrade Assistant — automated project file updates, package migration, and code fixers
• dotnet list package --outdated — identify packages needing updates
• dotnet migrate — migrate legacy project.json solutions (pre-.NET Core 2)
• API Analyzer — detect deprecated API usage at compile time
• Dependency graph (dotnet list package --include-transitive) — visualize transitive dependencies before upgrading

# Install the Upgrade Assistant global tool
dotnet tool install -g upgrade-assistant

# Analyze a project for upgrade readiness
upgrade-assistant analyze FinancialPortal.Accounting/FinancialPortal.Accounting.sln

# Run the interactive upgrade wizard
upgrade-assistant upgrade FinancialPortal.Accounting/FinancialPortal.Accounting.sln

Final Validation & Delivery

• Final Solution Validation: Confirm the upgraded solution passes all build and test checks. Run production smoke tests and verify startup behavior.
• Deployment Readiness Confirmation: Generate final test results and build artifacts. Create a checklist summarizing completion across all projects (build / tests / deployment).
• Release Documentation: Produce a release note summarizing framework changes and CI/CD updates. Archive the upgrade checklist alongside the release.