This documentation is now out of date. As of the 1.0.0-rc2 release, ASP.NET Core uses the .NET CLI. For more information on the CLI visit https://dotnet.github.io/docs/core-concepts/core-sdk/index.html

One of the goals of our current development efforts is to create a great command line experience. Part of that are the following:

DNX command

The dnx command is your entry point to the runtime. To run an application you can use dnx <path to project.json> <command to run> to build you can use dnu build, and all other commands that are about taking your application and running it. If you use dnvm install or dnvm upgrade then a dnx is on your path and you can use it wherever you need to.

DNVM - .NET Version Manager

The version manager, dnvm, is the command used to get the runtime and manage multiple versions of it being on the machine at the same time. With it you can upgrade to the latest version and switch between versions as required.

DNU - DNX Utility

DNU is the command that provides various utilities that you would use to interact with your application. It's main usage is to restore packages, install packages, packing your application for deployment, etc. Anything to do with using packages or packaging your application. But it also provides functionality such build. Build is used when packing your application as well. DNU consumes the same libraries as NuGet.exe, so it can do the same things that NuGet.exe would do in a non-dnx application type.