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  3. Advanced Installation using NuGet

IronPDF Advanced Installation

As of IronPdf Release v2022.1 and above, users have some advanced tools to install IronPdf for specific platforms.

Instead of installing the IronPDF NuGet Package, we can search nuget for other IronPDF packages specific to our use case. the API remains the same, but they deploy differently.

Interestingly, even if we load a specific package such as IronPdf.Linux for a Linux optimized deployment, you can still develop for it on your normal OS such as Windows with Visual Studio!

IronPdf NuGet Package

Most commonly used. Configured to get you up and running in Visual Studio as quickly as possible. Suitable for most projects.

PM > Install-Package IronPdf

  • Contains IronPdf.Slim. (see below)
  • Contains Windows-specific dependencies for Chrome (default) renderer
  • Default package which will download Windows-specific dependencies at runtime
  • Defaults to Chrome renderer
  • Supports ALL platforms, but Windows platform will work without any additional downloads
  • Useful for Windows users or default users.
  • OK TO USE ON ALL PLATFORMS

IronPdf.Slim NuGet Package

Ideal for smallest disk footprint or applications which may be distributed to many different operating system targets. The precise Chromium / WebKit rendering engine for your application will be downloaded on demand at runtime on the target machine.

PM > Install-Package IronPdf.Slim

  • ALL other packages reference this package
  • Contains the actual IronPdf.dll
  • Does NOT include Windows, Linux, or macOS specific dependencies
  • Windows, Linux, or macOS dependencies will be downloaded at run-time
  • Defaults to Chrome renderer on all platforms unless otherwise specified
  • Useful for cross-platform solutions which want to download platform-specific dependencies at run-time
  • Supports ALL platforms, but platform-specific dependencies will be downloaded the first time the program is run
  • Requires internet access and disk access at runtime if used stand-alone.
  • Useful for highly portable applications where the target platform is unknown

IronPdf.Linux NuGet Package

Ideal for Linux deployments. Designed with the cloud in mind. Works very well for AWS & Lambda, Azure Functions and WebApps in Linux mode.

PM > Install-Package IronPdf.Linux

  • Contains IronPdf.Slim
  • Contain Linux-specific dependencies for Chrome (default) renderer
  • Defaults to Chrome renderer
  • Supports ALL platforms, but Linux platform will work without any additional downloads
  • Useful for Linux power-users, specifically docker and cloud users

IronPdf.macOs & IronPdf.macOs.ARM NuGet Packages

NuGet Packages available for specific deployments for Mac Compatibility

PM > Install-Package IronPdf.MacOs PM > Install-Package IronPdf.MacOsARM

  • Contains IronPdf.Slim
  • Contains Mac-specific dependencies for Chrome (default) renderer
  • Defaults to Chrome renderer
  • Useful for macOS developers

IronPdf.Classic NuGet Package

Useful for Legacy customers using IronPDF before August 2021 who wish their existing HtmlToPdf rendering to go unchanged. Uses our 2020-2021 WebKit renderer.

PM > Install-Package IronPdf.Classic

  • Contains IronPdf.Slim and IronPdf.Native.WebKit.*
  • Contains Windows, Linux, and Mac dependencies for the (legacy) WebKit "HTML to PDF" renderer
  • Will use legacy WebKit renderer by default