Download MSVC compiler/linker & Windows SDK without installing full Visual Studio

MSVC-Portable.md

This downloads standalone 64-bit MSVC compiler, linker & other tools, also headers/libraries from Windows SDK into portable folder, without installing Visual Studio. Has bare minimum components - no UWP/Store/WindowsRT stuff, just files & tools for 64-bit native desktop app development.

Run python.exe msvc_portable.py and it will download output into MSVC folder. By default it will download latest available MSVC & Windows SDK.

You can list available versions with python.exe msvc_portable.py --show-versions and then pass versions you want with --msvc-version and --sdk-version arguments.

To use cl.exe/link.exe from output folder, first run msvcvars.bat - after that PATH/INCLUDE/LIB env variables will be setup to use all the tools as usual. You can also use clang-cl.exe with these includes & libraries.

To use clang-cl.exe without running msvcvars.bat, pass extra /winsysroot MSVC argument (MSVC is folder name where output is stored).

msvc_portable.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3

import io
import os
import sys
import json
import shutil
import hashlib
import zipfile
import tempfile
import argparse
import subprocess
import urllib.request
from pathlib import Path

OUTPUT = Path("MSVC") # output folder

# other architectures may work or may not - not really tested
HOST   = "x64" # or x86
TARGET = "x64" # or x86, arm, arm64

MANIFEST_URL = "https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/channel"


def download(url):
  with urllib.request.urlopen(url) as res:
    return res.read()

def download_progress(url, check, name, f):
  data = io.BytesIO()
  with urllib.request.urlopen(url) as res:
    total = int(res.headers["Content-Length"])
    size = 0
    while True:
      block = res.read(1<<20)
      if not block:
        break
      f.write(block)
      data.write(block)
      size += len(block)
      perc = size * 100 // total
      print(f"\r{name} ... {perc}%", end="")
  print()
  data = data.getvalue()
  digest = hashlib.sha256(data).hexdigest()
  if check.lower() != digest:
    exit(f"Hash mismatch for f{pkg}")
  return data

# super crappy msi format parser just to find required .cab files
def get_msi_cabs(msi):
  index = 0
  while True:
    index = msi.find(b".cab", index+4)
    if index < 0:
      return
    yield msi[index-32:index+4].decode("ascii")

def first(items, cond):
  return next(item for item in items if cond(item))
  

### parse command-line arguments

ap = argparse.ArgumentParser()
ap.add_argument("--show-versions", const=True, action="store_const", help="Show available MSVC and Windows SDK versions")
ap.add_argument("--accept-license", const=True, action="store_const", help="Automatically accept license")
ap.add_argument("--msvc-version", help="Get specific MSVC version")
ap.add_argument("--sdk-version", help="Get specific Windows SDK version")
args = ap.parse_args()


### get main manifest

manifest = json.loads(download(MANIFEST_URL))


### download VS manifest

vs = first(manifest["channelItems"], lambda x: x["id"] == "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Manifests.VisualStudio")
payload = vs["payloads"][0]["url"]

vsmanifest = json.loads(download(payload))


### find MSVC & WinSDK versions

packages = {}
for p in vsmanifest["packages"]:
  packages.setdefault(p["id"].lower(), []).append(p)

msvc = {}
sdk = {}

for pid,p in packages.items():
  if pid.startswith("Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.".lower()) and pid.endswith(".x86.x64".lower()):
    pver = ".".join(pid.split(".")[4:6])
    if pver[0].isnumeric():
      msvc[pver] = pid
  elif pid.startswith("Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.Windows10SDK.".lower()) or \
       pid.startswith("Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.Windows11SDK.".lower()):
    pver = pid.split(".")[-1]
    if pver.isnumeric():
      sdk[pver] = pid

if args.show_versions:
  print("MSVC versions:", " ".join(sorted(msvc.keys())))
  print("Windows SDK versions:", " ".join(sorted(sdk.keys())))
  exit(0)

msvc_ver = args.msvc_version or max(sorted(msvc.keys()))
sdk_ver = args.sdk_version or max(sorted(sdk.keys()))

if msvc_ver in msvc:
  msvc_pid = msvc[msvc_ver]
  msvc_ver = ".".join(msvc_pid.split(".")[4:-2])
else:
  exit(f"Unknown MSVC version: f{args.msvc_version}")

if sdk_ver in sdk:
  sdk_pid = sdk[sdk_ver]
else:
  exit(f"Unknown Windows SDK version: f{args.sdk_version}")

print(f"Downloading MSVC v{msvc_ver} and Windows SDK v{sdk_ver}")


### agree to license

tools = first(manifest["channelItems"], lambda x: x["id"] == "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Product.BuildTools")
resource = first(tools["localizedResources"], lambda x: x["language"] == "en-us")
license = resource["license"]

if not args.accept_license:
  accept = input(f"Do you accept Visual Studio license at {license} [Y/N] ? ")
  if not accept or accept[0].lower() != "y":
    exit(0)

OUTPUT.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
total_download = 0

### download MSVC

msvc_packages = [
  # MSVC binaries
  f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.tools.host{HOST}.target{TARGET}.base",
  f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.tools.host{HOST}.target{TARGET}.res.base",
  # MSVC headers
  f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.crt.headers.base",
  # MSVC libs
  f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.crt.{TARGET}.desktop.base",
  f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.crt.{TARGET}.store.base",
  # MSVC runtime source
  f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.crt.source.base",
  # ASAN
  f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.asan.headers.base",
  f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.asan.{TARGET}.base",
  # MSVC redist
  #f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.crt.redist.x64.base",
]

for pkg in msvc_packages:
  p = first(packages[pkg], lambda p: p.get("language") in (None, "en-US"))
  for payload in p["payloads"]:
    with tempfile.TemporaryFile() as f:
      data = download_progress(payload["url"], payload["sha256"], pkg, f)
      total_download += len(data)
      with zipfile.ZipFile(f) as z:
        for name in z.namelist():
          if name.startswith("Contents/"):
            out = OUTPUT / Path(name).relative_to("Contents")
            out.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
            out.write_bytes(z.read(name))


### download Windows SDK

sdk_packages = [
  # Windows SDK tools (like rc.exe & mt.exe)
  f"Windows SDK for Windows Store Apps Tools-x86_en-us.msi",
  # Windows SDK headers
  f"Windows SDK for Windows Store Apps Headers-x86_en-us.msi",
  f"Windows SDK Desktop Headers x86-x86_en-us.msi",
  # Windows SDK libs
  f"Windows SDK for Windows Store Apps Libs-x86_en-us.msi",
  f"Windows SDK Desktop Libs {TARGET}-x86_en-us.msi",
  # CRT headers & libs
  f"Universal CRT Headers Libraries and Sources-x86_en-us.msi",
  # CRT redist
  #"Universal CRT Redistributable-x86_en-us.msi",
]

with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as d:
  dst = Path(d)

  sdk_pkg = packages[sdk_pid][0]
  sdk_pkg = packages[first(sdk_pkg["dependencies"], lambda x: True).lower()][0]

  msi = []
  cabs = []

  # download msi files
  for pkg in sdk_packages:
    payload = first(sdk_pkg["payloads"], lambda p: p["fileName"] == f"Installers\\{pkg}")
    msi.append(dst / pkg)
    with open(dst / pkg, "wb") as f:
      data = download_progress(payload["url"], payload["sha256"], pkg, f)
      total_download += len(data)
      cabs += list(get_msi_cabs(data))

  # download .cab files
  for pkg in cabs:
    payload = first(sdk_pkg["payloads"], lambda p: p["fileName"] == f"Installers\\{pkg}")
    with open(dst / pkg, "wb") as f:
      download_progress(payload["url"], payload["sha256"], pkg, f)

  print("Unpacking msi files...")

  # run msi installers
  for m in msi:
    subprocess.check_call(["msiexec.exe", "/a", m, "/quiet", "/qn", f"TARGETDIR={OUTPUT.resolve()}"])


### versions

msvcv = list((OUTPUT / "VC/Tools/MSVC").glob("*"))[0].name
sdkv = list((OUTPUT / "Windows Kits/10/bin").glob("*"))[0].name


# place debug CRT runtime files into MSVC folder (not what real Visual Studio installer does... but is reasonable)

dst = OUTPUT / "VC/Tools/MSVC" / msvcv / f"bin/Host{HOST}/{TARGET}"

with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as d:
  d = Path(d)
  pkg = "microsoft.visualcpp.runtimedebug.14"
  dbg = first(packages[pkg], lambda p: p["chip"] == HOST)
  for payload in dbg["payloads"]:
    name = payload["fileName"]
    with open(d / name, "wb") as f:
      data = download_progress(payload["url"], payload["sha256"], f"{pkg}/{name}", f)
      total_download += len(data)
  msi = d / first(dbg["payloads"], lambda p: p["fileName"].endswith(".msi"))["fileName"]

  with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory(dir=OUTPUT) as d2:
    subprocess.check_call(["msiexec.exe", "/a", str(msi), "/quiet", "/qn", f"TARGETDIR={d2}"])
    for f in first(Path(d2).glob("System*"), lambda x: True).iterdir():
      f.replace(dst / f.name)

# download DIA SDK and put msdia140.dll file into MSVC folder

with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as d:
  d = Path(d)
  pkg = "microsoft.visualc.140.dia.sdk.msi"
  dia = packages[pkg][0]
  for payload in dia["payloads"]:
    name = payload["fileName"]
    with open(d / name, "wb") as f:
      data = download_progress(payload["url"], payload["sha256"], f"{pkg}/{name}", f)
      total_download += len(data)
  msi = d / first(dia["payloads"], lambda p: p["fileName"].endswith(".msi"))["fileName"]

  with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory(dir=OUTPUT) as d2:
    subprocess.check_call(["msiexec.exe", "/a", str(msi), "/quiet", "/qn", f"TARGETDIR={d2}"])

    if HOST == "x86": msdia = "msdia140.dll"
    elif HOST == "x64": msdia = "amd64/msdia140.dll"
    else: exit("unknown")

    src = Path(d2) / "Program Files" / "Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0" / "DIA SDK" / "bin" / msdia
    src.replace(dst / "msdia140.dll")


### cleanup

shutil.rmtree(OUTPUT / "Common7", ignore_errors=True)
for f in ["Auxiliary", f"lib/{TARGET}/store", f"lib/{TARGET}/uwp"]:
  shutil.rmtree(OUTPUT / "VC/Tools/MSVC" / msvcv / f)
for f in OUTPUT.glob("*.msi"):
  f.unlink()
for f in ["Catalogs", "DesignTime", f"bin/{sdkv}/chpe", f"Lib/{sdkv}/ucrt_enclave"]:
  shutil.rmtree(OUTPUT / "Windows Kits/10" / f, ignore_errors=True)
for arch in ["x86", "x64", "arm", "arm64"]:
  if arch != TARGET:
    shutil.rmtree(OUTPUT / "VC/Tools/MSVC" / msvcv / f"bin/Host{arch}", ignore_errors=True)
    shutil.rmtree(OUTPUT / "Windows Kits/10/bin" / sdkv / arch)
    shutil.rmtree(OUTPUT / "Windows Kits/10/Lib" / sdkv / "ucrt" / arch)
    shutil.rmtree(OUTPUT / "Windows Kits/10/Lib" / sdkv / "um" / arch)


### msvcvars.bat

BAT = f"""@echo off

set ROOT=%~dp0

set MSVC_VERSION={msvcv}
set MSVC_HOST=Host{HOST}
set MSVC_ARCH={TARGET}
set SDK_VERSION={sdkv}
set SDK_ARCH={TARGET}

set MSVC_ROOT=%ROOT%VC\\Tools\\MSVC\\%MSVC_VERSION%
set SDK_INCLUDE=%ROOT%Windows Kits\\10\\Include\\%SDK_VERSION%
set SDK_LIBS=%ROOT%Windows Kits\\10\\Lib\\%SDK_VERSION%

set VCToolsInstallDir=%MSVC_ROOT%\\
set PATH=%MSVC_ROOT%\\bin\\%MSVC_HOST%\\%MSVC_ARCH%;%ROOT%Windows Kits\\10\\bin\\%SDK_VERSION%\\%SDK_ARCH%;%ROOT%Windows Kits\\10\\bin\\%SDK_VERSION%\\%SDK_ARCH%\\ucrt;%PATH%
set INCLUDE=%MSVC_ROOT%\\include;%SDK_INCLUDE%\\ucrt;%SDK_INCLUDE%\\shared;%SDK_INCLUDE%\\um;%SDK_INCLUDE%\\winrt;%SDK_INCLUDE%\\cppwinrt
set LIB=%MSVC_ROOT%\\lib\\%MSVC_ARCH%;%SDK_LIBS%\\ucrt\\%SDK_ARCH%;%SDK_LIBS%\\um\\%SDK_ARCH%
"""

(OUTPUT / "msvcvars.bat").write_text(BAT)

print(f"Total downloaded: {total_download>>20} MB")
print("Done!")

these 2 are nice renames :)

portable-msvc.py → msvc_portable.py
setup.bat → msvcvars.bat

https://gist.github.com/Delphier/386097ba36f6399e2e593c59d66d224b/3bf55a1bf8b27793a33cd9b8b1b5faede1ece82b