Fix dotnet latest resolution

[sliekens]

Summary

Fix the dotnet feature's latest resolution so it is resolved from the .NET releases index instead of comparing STS and LTS versions lexicographically.

Resolves #1597.

Changes

• resolve latest from release-metadata/releases-index.json
• use the first active entry from the releases index
• read latest-sdk for SDK installs and latest-runtime for runtime installs
• keep explicit versions and lts flowing through the vendored dotnet-install.sh logic
• add jq to the feature install dependencies
• update tests to stop depending on helper-side channel resolution
• remove the deprecated Aspire workload from docs and workload tests

Validation

• devcontainer features test -p . -f dotnet
• sourced the updated helper and verified live resolution returns 10.0.103 for SDK and 10.0.3 for runtime
• shell syntax checks passed for the updated scripts

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Updates the dotnet feature’s latest version resolution to use the official .NET releases index metadata instead of lexicographic STS/LTS comparisons.

Changes:

• Resolve latest from release-metadata/releases-index.json by selecting the first active entry.
• Install jq as a dotnet feature dependency and update helpers/tests accordingly.
• Remove deprecated aspire workload usage from docs and workload tests.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
test/dotnet/scenarios.json	Drops aspire from workload scenario coverage.
test/dotnet/install_dotnet_workloads.sh	Removes assertion for deprecated aspire workload installation.
test/dotnet/install_dotnet_specific_release.sh	Adjusts specific-release test expectation for .NET 10.0.
test/dotnet/install_dotnet_lts.sh	Stops using helper channel-resolution; fetches LTS expected version directly.
test/dotnet/dotnet_helpers.sh	Updates test helper to resolve latest via releases-index.json + jq.
src/dotnet/scripts/dotnet-helpers.sh	Updates feature helper to resolve latest via releases-index.json + jq.
src/dotnet/install.sh	Adds jq to apt dependencies for releases-index parsing.
src/dotnet/README.md	Documents prerelease suffixes and removes aspire from workload example.
src/dotnet/NOTES.md	Removes aspire from workload example.

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[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

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[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

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Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.

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[Kaniska244]

Change looks fine and tests are looking good. Only question is that could we not just have fixed the incorrect string comparison here, instead of rewriting the installation logic?
To be further reviewed by maintainers.

[sliekens]

The original version check was also contributed by me, and I was never fully satisfied with its design. I later discovered the releases index, which would have been a more robust solution from the start.

Given that this is now the second time the version check has broken, I believe it is an appropriate moment to replace the current approach with something more reliable.

The releases-index.json is the authoritative index of all .NET release channels.

Benefits of using the releases index:

• It is better documented: https://github.com/dotnet/core/blob/main/release-notes/schemas/README.md.
• It requires only a single network request instead of two separate calls for the STS and LTS versions.
• It reduces firewall configuration complexity by requiring only one allowed URL, instead of multiple permutations of https://builds.dotnet.microsoft.com/dotnet/**/latest.version. (In addition to what is required by the vendor install script.)