What does "Re-download packages from the NuGet server" do?

Could you please put my mind at rest and explain what does “Re-download packages from the NuGet server” do and how does it work?

I’ve had a look around and couldn’t find any clear explanation. My understanding is that if the option is not selected then Octopus will use the old packages on the tentacle server, otherwise it will re-download the package from specified package repo to tentacle server. And I’m guessing when deploying to a tentacle server for the very fist time and option is not selected it will still upload the packages?

Hi,

Thanks for reaching out. Before pushing the packages to the Tentacles, the Octopus server downloads the packages to a packageCache folder. If you do not have the box checked, Octopus will check in that folder, and if it finds that the package is already there, it will use the copy in the cache folder. If you have the box checked Octopus download the package from the NuGet feed whether it exists or not in the packageCache folder.

The log output for both scenarios might also help you understanding this:

With the box checked

16:02:41   Info     |     Acquiring packages
16:02:41   Info     |     Making a list of packages to download
16:02:41   Info     |     Downloading NuGet package TaskTracker.Database 1.0.0.1 from feed: 'C:\Packages\TaskTracker'
16:02:41   Verbose  |     Downloaded packages will be stored in: C:\Octopus\OctopusServer\PackageCache\feeds-tasktracker
16:02:41   Verbose  |     Finding package (attempt 1 of 5)
16:02:41   Verbose  |     Found package TaskTracker.Database version 1.0.0.1
16:02:41   Verbose  |     Downloading to: C:\Octopus\OctopusServer\PackageCache\feeds-tasktracker\TaskTracker.Database.1.0.0.1_853B659C2FE7FB4893FFB25E3AEDFF50.nupkg

With the box unchecked

16:06:23   Info     |     Acquiring packages
16:06:23   Info     |     Making a list of packages to download
16:06:23   Verbose  |     Checking package cache for package TaskTracker.Database 1.0.0.1
16:06:23   Verbose  |     Package TaskTracker.Database version 1.0.0.1 was found in cache. No need to download. Using file: C:\Octopus\OctopusServer\PackageCache\feeds-tasktracker\TaskTracker.Database.1.0.0.1_853B659C2FE7FB4893FFB25E3AEDFF50.nupkg

Thanks,

Dalmiro

I can’t find this checkbox. My packages are always one version behind, since it’s just finding anything in the cache and deploying that. Has this setting moved in 3.1.5?

Hi Mark,
As you can see in the screenshot below the checkbox should be visible under options when you go to the deployment page, click Advanced.
That behind said the packages shouldn’t be one version behind if you have created a new release with the latest package version. When you create and deploy a new release it should always pull down the new version if it does not yet exist, even if an older version is already present.
Rob