CreatePkgDef utility
Applies to: 
Visual Studio 
Visual Studio for Mac
Note
This article applies to Visual Studio 2017. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual Studio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here
Takes a .dll file for a Visual Studio extension as a parameter and creates a .pkgdef file to accompany the .dll file. The .pkgdef file contains all the information that would otherwise be written to the system registry when the extension is installed.
Note
Most of the project templates that are included in the Visual Studio SDK automatically create .pkgdef files as part of the build process. This document is intended for those who want to create packages manually, or convert existing packages to use .pkgdef deployment.
Syntax
CreatePkgDef /out=<FileName> [/codebase] [/assembly] <AssemblyPath>
Arguments
/out=<FileName>
Required. Sets the name of the .pkgdef output file to <FileName>.
/codebase
Optional. Forces registration with the CodeBase utility.
/assembly
Forces registration with the Assembly utility.
<AssemblyPath>
The path of the .dll file from which you want to generate the .pkgdef.
Remarks
Extension deployment by using .pkgdef files replaces the registry requirements of earlier versions of Visual Studio.
The .pkgdef files must be installed in one of the following locations:
%localappdata%\Microsoft\Visual Studio\15.0\Extensions\
%vsinstalldir%\Common7\IDE\Extensions\
If the installation folder is %localappdata%\Microsoft\Visual Studio\15.0\Extensions\, the extension is recognized by Visual Studio but is disabled by default. The user can enable the extension by using Extensions and Updates.
If the installation folder is %vsinstalldir%\Common7\IDE\Extensions\, the extension is enabled by default.
Note
The Extensions and Updates tool cannot be used to access an extension unless it is installed as part of a VSIX package.