Remove support for .NET 6.0 and 7.0

[jibedoubleve]

Description

When attempting to install version 0.18.0 of GitReleaseManager (as shown in the attached screenshot), the installation fails due to a dependency on .NET 7. However, .NET 7 is not installed on my machine, which is running Windows 11 (24H2). Additionally, .NET 7 has been decommissioned as of May 14, 2024, making it impossible to fulfil this dependency.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Attempt to install GitReleaseManager version 0.18.0 on a machine without .NET 7 installed.
2. Observe the installation failure and the error message citing the missing dependency on .NET 7.

Your Environment

• Version Used: 0.18.0
• Edition Used: .NET 9.0.101
• Operating System and version: Windows 11, 24H2

[Jericho]

On a related note: the build pipeline for GitReleaseManager no longer works because .net7 is not present.

Early on during the build process we get this warning:

========================================
DotNetCore-Restore
========================================
  Determining projects to restore...
Warning: C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk\9.0.102\Sdks\Microsoft.NET.Sdk\targets\Microsoft.NET.EolTargetFrameworks.targets(32,5): warning NETSDK1138: The target framework 'net7.0' is out of support and will not receive security updates in the future. Please refer to https://aka.ms/dotnet-core-support for more information about the support policy. [D:\a\GitReleaseManager\GitReleaseManager\src\GitReleaseManager.Tool\GitReleaseManager.Tool.csproj::TargetFramework=net7.0]

and then later on we get this error:

========================================
DotNetCore-Test
========================================
Executing: C:\Program Files\dotnet\dotnet.exe
Test run for D:\a\GitReleaseManager\GitReleaseManager\src\GitReleaseManager.Core.Tests\bin\Release\net6.0\GitReleaseManager.Core.Tests.dll (.NETCoreApp,Version=v6.0)
Test run for D:\a\GitReleaseManager\GitReleaseManager\src\GitReleaseManager.Core.Tests\bin\Release\net7.0\GitReleaseManager.Core.Tests.dll (.NETCoreApp,Version=v7.0)
VSTest version 17.12.0 (x64)
VSTest version 17.12.0 (x64)


Starting test execution, please wait...
Starting test execution, please wait...
A total of 1 test files matched the specified pattern.
A total of 1 test files matched the specified pattern.
Testhost process for source(s) 'D:\a\GitReleaseManager\GitReleaseManager\src\GitReleaseManager.Core.Tests\bin\Release\net7.0\GitReleaseManager.Core.Tests.dll' exited with error: You must install or update .NET to run this application.
App: D:\a\GitReleaseManager\GitReleaseManager\src\GitReleaseManager.Core.Tests\bin\Release\net7.0\testhost.exe
Architecture: x64
Framework: 'Microsoft.NETCore.App', version '7.0.0' (x64)
.NET location: C:\Program Files\dotnet
The following frameworks were found:
  2.1.30 at [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
  3.1.32 at [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
  5.0.17 at [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
  6.0.5 at [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
  6.0.26 at [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
  6.0.36 at [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
  6.0.37 at [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
  8.0.6 at [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
  8.0.12 at [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
  9.0.1 at [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Learn more:
https://aka.ms/dotnet/app-launch-failed
To install missing framework, download:
https://aka.ms/dotnet-core-applaunch?framework=Microsoft.NETCore.App&framework_version=7.0.0&arch=x64&rid=win-x64&os=win10
. Please check the diagnostic logs for more information.

Test Run Aborted.
  Skipped Should_Throw_Exception_On_Creating_Release_With_Empty_Template [< 1 ms]
  Skipped Should_Throw_Exception_On_Creating_Release_With_Invalid_Template_File_Path [< 1 ms]

Passed!  - Failed:     0, Passed:   192, Skipped:     2, Total:   194, Duration: 1 s - GitReleaseManager.Core.Tests.dll (net6.0)

Workload updates are available. Run `dotnet workload list` for more information.
Committing...
No results, this could be for a number of reasons. The most common reasons are:
    1) missing PDBs for the assemblies that match the filter please review the
    output file and refer to the Usage guide (Usage.rtf) about filters.
    2) the profiler may not be registered correctly, please refer to the Usage
    guide and the -register switch.
An error occurred when executing task 'DotNetCore-Test'.

Examples of failed builds:

• https://github.com/GitTools/GitReleaseManager/actions/runs/13089643218
• https://github.com/GitTools/GitReleaseManager/actions/runs/13089636085
• https://github.com/GitTools/GitReleaseManager/actions/runs/13089582226

@gep13 The decision to target .net7 was made back in the fall of 2023. It's probably time to revisit this decision.

[gep13]

@jibedoubleve thank you for taking the time to raise this issue. I have reclassifed this as an Improvement issue, rather than a Bug issue, since versions of GitReleaseManager < 0.19.0 are not intended to work when .NET 7.0 is not available.

I am currently working on a release of GitReleaseManager, which is bringing with it some long saught after features. Rather than delay that release any further, I am going to ship 0.19.0 as it is now, i.e. targetting .NET 6.0 and 7.0, and then look to do another release quite quickly, to target .NET 8.0 and 9.0.