Question about dotnet restore and package caching with NUGET_PACKAGES variable

[Chakrygin]

I tried to use NUGET_PACKAGES env variable to cache nuget packages in my CI (GitLab)

I used the command like: NUGET_PACKAGES=/cache/nuget dotnet restore MySolution.sln

When I used it multiple times locally then I got something like:

  Determining projects to restore...
  All projects are up-to-date for restore.

But in my CI I got something like:

  Determining projects to restore...
  Restored /builds/myproject/src/<...>.csproj (in 862 ms).
  Restored /builds/myproject/src/<...>.csproj (in 860 ms).
  Restored /builds/myproject/src/<...>.csproj (in 2 ms).
  Restored /builds/myproject/src/<...>.csproj (in 1 ms).
  Restored /builds/myproject/src/<...>.csproj (in 848 ms).
  Restored /builds/myproject/src/<...>.csproj (in 2 ms).
  Restored /builds/myproject/src/<...>.csproj (in 12 ms).
  ...

Package restoring is very fast, so obviously the cache is in use. But why does package restoring give different output?

[Chakrygin]

I got it.

dotnet restore also creates files inside obj folders for projects.
They restored even nuget packages cached