How can I run Entity Framework commands outside Package Manager Console?

Question

I'm familiar with using Entity Framework commands in Package Manager Console within Visual Studio eg

Scaffold-DbContext "Server=Blah;Database=Blah;Trusted_Connection=True;" Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer

I'd like to do the same in an external PowerShell script as part of an automation routine. How would I go about importing Entity Framework tools for use outside of Visual Studio?

Answer 1

I suggest you check out this resource as an introduction into using EF Core with existing databases:

http://www.learnentityframeworkcore.com/walkthroughs/existing-database

You can find an example in the middle for using the command line:

 dotnet ef dbcontext scaffold "Server=.\;Database=AdventureWorksLT2012;Trusted_Connection=True;" Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer -o Model

Regarding the -o option:

The -o option (or alternatively --output-dir) specifies the directory where the class files will be generated. If it is omitted, the class files will be generated in the project directory (where the .csproj file is located).