I installed EF with NuGet and the project's dependencies folder shows warning that EF may not be compatible. Which package do I install to use EF from the standard library?
I installed this EF:
Here is the assembly used in another project of the solution:
That's because you added the package for EF 6.2, which only targets the Full framework. It won't work on the .NET Core Runtime.
You need to use Entity Framework Core. This is was fully rewritten to target .NET Standard and fix many of the problems people had with the older Entity Framework.
Since it targets .NET Standard, it can be used in all runtimes - .NET Core, Full framework and UWP projects. Its new features make it a great choice for the Full framework as well. For example, EF Core 2.2 added spatial types support, by using the open source NetTopologySuite package. Even EF 6.2 never had spatial type support.
Entity Framework Core is broken into various packages which enables you to add only the drivers/features you need to your project. Even the SQL Server provider is available as a separate package. A list of providers is available here
Luckily, each provider brings in all other required dependencies so all you need to do is include a provider to bring in all other required packages as transitive dependencies. That means, they don't appear as dependencies in Visual Studio or the csproj file. No more 50 package references that we don't know what to do about!
For SQL Server, you need to include Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer, eg with
dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer
You need to add Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools if you want to use database migration commands. If not, just don't add the package. You can always add it later.
Do add Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Analyzers. It's a Roslyn analyzer that checks for common EF Core errors, especially when you use the RawSql method. It's way too easy to get this wrong.
Consider adding Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.InMemory in your test projects. It's a simple in-memory provider that can be used to test EF code without connecting to a database as shown here
Which package do I install to use EF from the standard library?
Just as Panagiotis pointed out, you should use Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore instead of EntityFramework.
If you download those two packages from nuget.org, EntityFramework, Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore, then open it with NuGet Package Explorer(You can get it from Microsoft Store.):
So, if you want to use EF from the standard library, you should install the nuget package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.
Hope this helps.
