Visit the Microsoft .NET download archive and select the Windows installer for your CPU architecture (usually x64).
To successfully target .NET Core 2.1, your Visual Studio 2017 installation must meet specific version requirements: Visual Studio 2017 version 15.7.
The safest way to acquire the SDK is through the official .NET Core 2.1 download page . net core 2.1 sdk visual studio 2017 download
Essential if you plan to run these applications on IIS (Internet Information Services). Visual Studio 2017 Compatibility
Despite being an out-of-support version as of August 2021, .NET Core 2.1 remains a critical milestone for many enterprise applications. It introduced features like HttpClientFactory , improved Span support, and significant performance boosts over 2.0. Visit the Microsoft
You must have the ".NET Core cross-platform development" workload installed. You can add this by opening the Visual Studio Installer , selecting Modify , and checking the relevant box. Installation Steps
If the framework doesn't appear in your project properties, go to Tools > Options > Projects and Solutions > .NET Core and ensure "Use previews of the .NET Core SDK" is checked (though this was primarily for early 2.1 builds). Why Use .NET Core 2.1? Essential if you plan to run these applications
Open a command prompt and type dotnet --version . It should return a version starting with 2.1 .