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@mmozeiko
Last active December 4, 2024 19:45
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Download MSVC compiler/linker & Windows SDK without installing full Visual Studio

This downloads standalone 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 native desktop app development.

Run py.exe portable-msvc.py and it will download output into msvc folder. By default it will download latest available MSVC & Windows SDK - currently v14.40.33807 and v10.0.26100.0.

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

To use cl.exe/link.exe first run setup_TARGET.bat - after that PATH/INCLUDE/LIB env variables will be updated 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 setup.bat, pass extra /winsysroot msvc argument (msvc is folder name where output is stored).

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import io
import os
import sys
import stat
import json
import shutil
import hashlib
import zipfile
import tempfile
import argparse
import subprocess
import urllib.error
import urllib.request
from pathlib import Path
OUTPUT = Path("msvc") # output folder
DOWNLOADS = Path("downloads") # temporary download files
# NOTE: not all host & target architecture combinations are supported
DEFAULT_HOST = "x64"
ALL_HOSTS = "x64 x86 arm64".split()
DEFAULT_TARGET = "x64"
ALL_TARGETS = "x64 x86 arm arm64".split()
MANIFEST_URL = "https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/channel"
MANIFEST_PREVIEW_URL = "https://aka.ms/vs/17/pre/channel"
ssl_context = None
def download(url):
with urllib.request.urlopen(url, context=ssl_context) as res:
return res.read()
total_download = 0
def download_progress(url, check, filename):
fpath = DOWNLOADS / filename
if fpath.exists():
data = fpath.read_bytes()
if hashlib.sha256(data).hexdigest() == check.lower():
print(f"\r{filename} ... OK")
return data
global total_download
with fpath.open("wb") as f:
data = io.BytesIO()
with urllib.request.urlopen(url, context=ssl_context) 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{filename} ... {perc}%", end="")
print()
data = data.getvalue()
digest = hashlib.sha256(data).hexdigest()
if check.lower() != digest:
exit(f"Hash mismatch for f{pkg}")
total_download += len(data)
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 = lambda x: True):
return next((item for item in items if cond(item)), None)
### parse command-line arguments
ap = argparse.ArgumentParser()
ap.add_argument("--show-versions", action="store_true", help="Show available MSVC and Windows SDK versions")
ap.add_argument("--accept-license", action="store_true", 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")
ap.add_argument("--preview", action="store_true", help="Use preview channel for Preview versions")
ap.add_argument("--target", default=DEFAULT_TARGET, help=f"Target architectures, comma separated ({','.join(ALL_TARGETS)})")
ap.add_argument("--host", default=DEFAULT_HOST, help=f"Host architecture", choices=ALL_HOSTS)
args = ap.parse_args()
host = args.host
targets = args.target.split(',')
for target in targets:
if target not in ALL_TARGETS:
exit(f"Unknown {target} target architecture!")
### get main manifest
URL = MANIFEST_PREVIEW_URL if args.preview else MANIFEST_URL
try:
manifest = json.loads(download(URL))
except urllib.error.URLError as err:
import ssl
if isinstance(err.args[0], ssl.SSLCertVerificationError):
# for more info about Python & issues with Windows certificates see https://stackoverflow.com/a/52074591
print("ERROR: ssl certificate verification error")
try:
import certifi
except ModuleNotFoundError:
print("ERROR: please install 'certifi' package to use Mozilla certificates")
print("ERROR: or update your Windows certs, see instructions here: https://woshub.com/updating-trusted-root-certificates-in-windows-10/#h2_3")
exit()
print("NOTE: retrying with certifi certificates")
ssl_context = ssl.create_default_context(cafile=certifi.where())
manifest = json.loads(download(URL))
else:
raise
### download VS manifest
ITEM_NAME = "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Manifests.VisualStudioPreview" if args.preview else "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Manifests.VisualStudio"
vs = first(manifest["channelItems"], lambda x: x["id"] == ITEM_NAME)
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)
DOWNLOADS.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
### download MSVC
msvc_packages = [
f"microsoft.visualcpp.dia.sdk",
f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.crt.headers.base",
f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.crt.source.base",
f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.asan.headers.base",
f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.pgo.headers.base",
]
for target in targets:
msvc_packages += [
f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.tools.host{host}.target{target}.base",
f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.tools.host{host}.target{target}.res.base",
f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.crt.{target}.desktop.base",
f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.crt.{target}.store.base",
f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.premium.tools.host{host}.target{target}.base",
f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.pgo.{target}.base",
]
if target in ["x86", "x64"]:
msvc_packages += [f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.asan.{target}.base"]
redist_suffix = ".onecore.desktop" if target == "arm" else ""
redist_pkg = f"microsoft.vc.{msvc_ver}.crt.redist.{target}{redist_suffix}.base"
if redist_pkg not in packages:
redist_name = f"microsoft.visualcpp.crt.redist.{target}{redist_suffix}"
redist = first(packages[redist_name])
redist_pkg = first(redist["dependencies"], lambda dep: dep.endswith(".base")).lower()
msvc_packages += [redist_pkg]
for pkg in sorted(msvc_packages):
if pkg not in packages:
print(f"\r{pkg} ... !!! MISSING !!!")
continue
p = first(packages[pkg], lambda p: p.get("language") in (None, "en-US"))
for payload in p["payloads"]:
filename = payload["fileName"]
download_progress(payload["url"], payload["sha256"], filename)
with zipfile.ZipFile(DOWNLOADS / filename) 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 = [
f"Windows SDK for Windows Store Apps Tools-x86_en-us.msi",
f"Windows SDK for Windows Store Apps Headers-x86_en-us.msi",
f"Windows SDK for Windows Store Apps Headers OnecoreUap-x86_en-us.msi",
f"Windows SDK for Windows Store Apps Libs-x86_en-us.msi",
f"Universal CRT Headers Libraries and Sources-x86_en-us.msi",
]
for target in ALL_TARGETS:
sdk_packages += [
f"Windows SDK Desktop Headers {target}-x86_en-us.msi",
f"Windows SDK OnecoreUap Headers {target}-x86_en-us.msi",
]
for target in targets:
sdk_packages += [f"Windows SDK Desktop Libs {target}-x86_en-us.msi"]
with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory(dir=DOWNLOADS) as d:
dst = Path(d)
sdk_pkg = packages[sdk_pid][0]
sdk_pkg = packages[first(sdk_pkg["dependencies"]).lower()][0]
msi = []
cabs = []
# download msi files
for pkg in sorted(sdk_packages):
payload = first(sdk_pkg["payloads"], lambda p: p["fileName"] == f"Installers\\{pkg}")
if payload is None:
continue
msi.append(DOWNLOADS / pkg)
data = download_progress(payload["url"], payload["sha256"], pkg)
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}")
download_progress(payload["url"], payload["sha256"], pkg)
print("Unpacking msi files...")
# run msi installers
for m in msi:
subprocess.check_call(["msiexec.exe", "/a", m, "/quiet", "/qn", f"TARGETDIR={OUTPUT.resolve()}"])
(OUTPUT / m.name).unlink()
### versions
msvcv = first((OUTPUT / "VC/Tools/MSVC").glob("*")).name
sdkv = first((OUTPUT / "Windows Kits/10/bin").glob("*")).name
# place debug CRT runtime files into MSVC bin folder (not what real Visual Studio installer does... but is reasonable)
# NOTE: these are Target architecture, not Host architecture binaries
redist = OUTPUT / "VC/Redist"
if redist.exists():
redistv = first((redist / "MSVC").glob("*")).name
src = redist / "MSVC" / redistv / "debug_nonredist"
for target in targets:
for f in (src / target).glob("**/*.dll"):
dst = OUTPUT / "VC/Tools/MSVC" / msvcv / f"bin/Host{host}" / target
f.replace(dst / f.name)
shutil.rmtree(redist)
# copy msdia140.dll file into MSVC bin folder
# NOTE: this is meant only for development - always Host architecture, even when placed into all Target architecture folders
msdia140dll = {
"x86": "msdia140.dll",
"x64": "amd64/msdia140.dll",
"arm": "arm/msdia140.dll",
"arm64": "arm64/msdia140.dll",
}
dst = OUTPUT / "VC/Tools/MSVC" / msvcv / f"bin/Host{host}"
src = OUTPUT / "DIA%20SDK/bin" / msdia140dll[host]
for target in targets:
shutil.copyfile(src, dst / target / src.name)
shutil.rmtree(OUTPUT / "DIA%20SDK")
### cleanup
shutil.rmtree(OUTPUT / "Common7", ignore_errors=True)
shutil.rmtree(OUTPUT / "VC/Tools/MSVC" / msvcv / "Auxiliary")
for target in targets:
for f in [f"store", "uwp", "enclave", "onecore"]:
shutil.rmtree(OUTPUT / "VC/Tools/MSVC" / msvcv / "lib" / target / f, ignore_errors=True)
shutil.rmtree(OUTPUT / "VC/Tools/MSVC" / msvcv / f"bin/Host{host}" / target / "onecore", ignore_errors=True)
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 not in targets:
shutil.rmtree(OUTPUT / "Windows Kits/10/Lib" / sdkv / "ucrt" / arch, ignore_errors=True)
shutil.rmtree(OUTPUT / "Windows Kits/10/Lib" / sdkv / "um" / arch, ignore_errors=True)
if arch != host:
shutil.rmtree(OUTPUT / "VC/Tools/MSVC" / msvcv / f"bin/Host{arch}", ignore_errors=True)
shutil.rmtree(OUTPUT / "Windows Kits/10/bin" / sdkv / arch, ignore_errors=True)
# executable that is collecting & sending telemetry every time cl/link runs
for target in targets:
(OUTPUT / "VC/Tools/MSVC" / msvcv / f"bin/Host{host}/{target}/vctip.exe").unlink(missing_ok=True)
### setup.bat
for target in targets:
SETUP = fr"""@echo off
set VSCMD_ARG_HOST_ARCH={host}
set VSCMD_ARG_TGT_ARCH={target}
set VCToolsVersion={msvcv}
set WindowsSDKVersion={sdkv}\
set VCToolsInstallDir=%~dp0VC\Tools\MSVC\{msvcv}\
set WindowsSdkBinPath=%~dp0Windows Kits\10\bin\
set PATH=%~dp0VC\Tools\MSVC\{msvcv}\bin\Host{host}\{target};%~dp0Windows Kits\10\bin\{sdkv}\{host};%~dp0Windows Kits\10\bin\{sdkv}\{host}\ucrt;%PATH%
set INCLUDE=%~dp0VC\Tools\MSVC\{msvcv}\include;%~dp0Windows Kits\10\Include\{sdkv}\ucrt;%~dp0Windows Kits\10\Include\{sdkv}\shared;%~dp0Windows Kits\10\Include\{sdkv}\um;%~dp0Windows Kits\10\Include\{sdkv}\winrt;%~dp0Windows Kits\10\Include\{sdkv}\cppwinrt
set LIB=%~dp0VC\Tools\MSVC\{msvcv}\lib\{target};%~dp0Windows Kits\10\Lib\{sdkv}\ucrt\{target};%~dp0Windows Kits\10\Lib\{sdkv}\um\{target}
"""
(OUTPUT / f"setup_{target}.bat").write_text(SETUP)
print(f"Total downloaded: {total_download>>20} MB")
print("Done!")
@Doy-lee
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Doy-lee commented May 13, 2022

I also added
%ROOT%\Windows Kits\10\bin\%SDK_VERSION%\%SDK_ARCH% to the PATH so that rc.exe and friends are available. Having it available makes CMake work out of the box, otherwise it'll fail in the configure step.

So I modified the setup.bat step in the python script to.

set PATH=%MSVC_ROOT%\\bin\\%MSVC_HOST%\\%MSVC_ARCH%;%ROOT%Windows Kits\\10\\bin\\%SDK_VERSION%\\%SDK_ARCH%;%MSVC_ROOT%\\Windows Kits\\10\\bin\\%SDK_VERSION%\\%SDK_ARCH%\\ucrt;%PATH%

@mmozeiko
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Oh, yeah that makes sense. I think I had it there but at some point accidentally deleted it. I'll update code to put it back.

@bogez57
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bogez57 commented Jul 21, 2022

When running the python script on my Windows 10 pro (10.0.19044 build) the process runs for a bit then gets to a point where a Windows Installer window pops up for which I can only select the "OK" button at the bottom. When I do I get this error message:

...........
beb5360d2daaa3167dea7ad16c28f996.cab ... 100%
eca0aa33de85194cd50ed6e0aae0156f.cab ... 100%
f9ff50431335056fb4fbac05b8268204.cab ... 100%
Unpacking msi files...
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Program Files Jason\msvc_compiler_build_tools\portable-msvc.py", line 221, in <module>
    subprocess.check_call(["msiexec.exe", "/a", m, "/quiet", "/qn", f"TARGETDIR={OUTPUT.resolve()}"])
  File "C:\Users\Jason\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python310\lib\subprocess.py", line 369, in check_call
    raise CalledProcessError(retcode, cmd)
subprocess.CalledProcessError: Command '['msiexec.exe', '/a', WindowsPath('C:/Users/Jason/AppData/Local/Temp/tmpwzjvccp7/Windows SDK for Windows Store Apps Tools-x86_en-us.msi'), '/quiet', '/qn', 'TARGETDIR=C:\\Program Files Jason\\msvc_compiler_build_tools\\msvc']' returned non-zero exit status 1639.

@lerno
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lerno commented Oct 10, 2022

Could you clarify the license of this gist @mmozeiko, since someone was bugging me about using a modified version of the above gist (while incorrectly assuming it was written by @Doy-lee: c3lang/c3c#622)

@carlosedubarreto
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When running the python script on my Windows 10 pro (10.0.19044 build) the process runs for a bit then gets to a point where a Windows Installer window pops up for which I can only select the "OK" button at the bottom. When I do I get this error message:

...........
beb5360d2daaa3167dea7ad16c28f996.cab ... 100%
eca0aa33de85194cd50ed6e0aae0156f.cab ... 100%
f9ff50431335056fb4fbac05b8268204.cab ... 100%
Unpacking msi files...
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Program Files Jason\msvc_compiler_build_tools\portable-msvc.py", line 221, in <module>
    subprocess.check_call(["msiexec.exe", "/a", m, "/quiet", "/qn", f"TARGETDIR={OUTPUT.resolve()}"])
  File "C:\Users\Jason\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python310\lib\subprocess.py", line 369, in check_call
    raise CalledProcessError(retcode, cmd)
subprocess.CalledProcessError: Command '['msiexec.exe', '/a', WindowsPath('C:/Users/Jason/AppData/Local/Temp/tmpwzjvccp7/Windows SDK for Windows Store Apps Tools-x86_en-us.msi'), '/quiet', '/qn', 'TARGETDIR=C:\\Program Files Jason\\msvc_compiler_build_tools\\msvc']' returned non-zero exit status 1639.

@bogez57
Remove the space from the folder you are running the python script and it might work.

@cedric-h
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cedric-h commented Nov 21, 2022

should one prefer to use Git Bash rather than cmd.exe, they may source setup.sh in place of running setup.bat from cmd.

ASSUMES msvc is stored at e.g. "C:/Users/ced/msvc" where ced is your username. Adjust first line accordingly.

setup.sh:

export MY_ROOT="${USERPROFILE}/msvc/"

export MSVC_VERSION=14.34.31933
export MSVC_HOST=Hostx64
export MSVC_ARCH=x64
export SDK_VERSION=10.0.22621.0
export SDK_ARCH=x64

export MSVC_ROOT="${MY_ROOT}VC/Tools/MSVC/${MSVC_VERSION}"
export SDK_INCLUDE="${MY_ROOT}Windows Kits/10/Include/${SDK_VERSION}"
export SDK_LIBS="${MY_ROOT}Windows Kits/10/Lib/${SDK_VERSION}"

export VCToolsInstallDir="${MSVC_ROOT}/"
export PATH="${MSVC_ROOT}/bin/${MSVC_HOST}/${MSVC_ARCH};${MY_ROOT}Windows Kits/10/bin/${SDK_VERSION}/${SDK_ARCH};${MY_ROOT}Windows Kits/10/bin/${SDK_VERSION}/${SDK_ARCH}/ucrt;${PATH}"
export INCLUDE="${MSVC_ROOT}/include;${SDK_INCLUDE}/ucrt;${SDK_INCLUDE}/shared;${SDK_INCLUDE}/um;${SDK_INCLUDE}/winrt;${SDK_INCLUDE}/cppwinrt"
export LIB="${MSVC_ROOT}/lib/${MSVC_ARCH};${SDK_LIBS}/ucrt/${SDK_ARCH};${SDK_LIBS}/um/${SDK_ARCH}"

@bogez57
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bogez57 commented Dec 26, 2022

On my laptop, I noticed the script does not execute "Windows SDK Desktop Headers x86-x86_en-us.msi" which seems to leave out headers like windowsx.h. On my desktop top everything gets downloaded. This is the log from the laptop:

Downloading MSVC v14.34.17.4 and Windows SDK v22621
Do you accept Visual Studio license at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=2179911 [Y/N] ? y
microsoft.vc.14.34.17.4.tools.hostx64.targetx64.base ... 100%
microsoft.vc.14.34.17.4.tools.hostx64.targetx64.res.base ... 100%
microsoft.vc.14.34.17.4.crt.headers.base ... 100%
microsoft.vc.14.34.17.4.crt.x64.desktop.base ... 100%
microsoft.vc.14.34.17.4.crt.x64.store.base ... 100%
microsoft.vc.14.34.17.4.crt.source.base ... 100%
microsoft.vc.14.34.17.4.asan.headers.base ... 100%
microsoft.vc.14.34.17.4.asan.x64.base ... 100%
Windows SDK for Windows Store Apps Tools-x86_en-us.msi ... 100%
Windows SDK for Windows Store Apps Headers-x86_en-us.msi ... 100%
Windows SDK for Windows Store Apps Libs-x86_en-us.msi ... 100%
Windows SDK Desktop Libs x64-x86_en-us.msi ... 100%
Universal CRT Headers Libraries and Sources-x86_en-us.msi ... 100%
15bc5316e373960d82abc253bceaa25d.cab ... 100%
2630bae9681db6a9f6722366f47d055c.cab ... 100%
26ea25236f12b23db661acf268a70cfa.cab ... 100%
2a30b5d1115d515c6ddd8cd6b5173835.cab ... 100%
4a4c678668584fc994ead5b99ccf7f03.cab ... 100%
61d57a7a82309cd161a854a6f4619e52.cab ... 100%
68de71e3e2fb9941ee5b7c77500c0508.cab ... 100%
69661e20556b3ca9456b946c2c881ddd.cab ... 100%
b82881a61b7477bd4eb5de2cd5037fe2.cab ... 100%
dcfb1aa345e349091a44e86ce1766566.cab ... 100%
e072b3b3d3164e26b63338dce51862a7.cab ... 100%
e3d1b35aecfccda1b4af6fe5988ac4be.cab ... 100%
766c0ffd568bbb31bf7fb6793383e24a.cab ... 100%
8125ee239710f33ea485965f76fae646.cab ... 100%
c0aa6d435b0851bf34365aadabd0c20f.cab ... 100%
c1c7e442409c0adbf81ae43aa0e4351f.cab ... 100%
05047a45609f311645eebcac2739fc4c.cab ... 100%
0b2a4987421d95d0cb37640889aa9e9b.cab ... 100%
13d68b8a7b6678a368e2d13ff4027521.cab ... 100%
463ad1b0783ebda908fd6c16a4abfe93.cab ... 100%
5a22e5cde814b041749fb271547f4dd5.cab ... 100%
ba60f891debd633ae9c26e1372703e3c.cab ... 100%
e10768bb6e9d0ea730280336b697da66.cab ... 100%
f9b24c8280986c0683fbceca5326d806.cab ... 100%
58314d0646d7e1a25e97c902166c3155.cab ... 100%
16ab2ea2187acffa6435e334796c8c89.cab ... 100%
2868a02217691d527e42fe0520627bfa.cab ... 100%
6ee7bbee8435130a869cf971694fd9e2.cab ... 100%
78fa3c824c2c48bd4a49ab5969adaaf7.cab ... 100%
7afc7b670accd8e3cc94cfffd516f5cb.cab ... 100%
80dcdb79b8a5960a384abe5a217a7e3a.cab ... 100%
96076045170fe5db6d5dcf14b6f6688e.cab ... 100%
a1e2a83aa8a71c48c742eeaff6e71928.cab ... 100%
b2f03f34ff83ec013b9e45c7cd8e8a73.cab ... 100%
beb5360d2daaa3167dea7ad16c28f996.cab ... 100%
eca0aa33de85194cd50ed6e0aae0156f.cab ... 100%
f9ff50431335056fb4fbac05b8268204.cab ... 100%
Unpacking msi files...
microsoft.visualcpp.runtimedebug.14 ... 100%
Total downloaded: 191 MB
Done!

@mmozeiko
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Did you use latest code? Few months ago I updated it to have correct name for Desktop Headers msi file. If the latest code does not work, then you'll need to check what's in packages dict to understand why this msi name is not found there. Either print packages dict, or use debugger to check it on line 163.

@bogez57
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bogez57 commented Dec 26, 2022

Ahhh, sorry. Ya, I didn't even realize there was an update right after I downloaded it initially. I just copy and pasted the latest code and it seems to be working.

@ApexSim
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ApexSim commented Feb 9, 2023

Good Job! and, how to setup for vcpkg to use the download MSVC compiler?

@mmozeiko
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mmozeiko commented Feb 9, 2023

You'll need to figure out that yourself. I have no idea how vcpkg works, I do not use it.

@properchopsticks
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hi, i made a change to line 221, apparently when running OUTPUT.resolve() at some point it adds quotes around the whole f"" argument and it makes it looks something like "TARGETDIR=C:\my\path with spaces\" instead of TARGETDIR="C:\my\path with spaces\" which causes subprocess.CalledProcessError.

the line that worked for me was:
subprocess.check_call(f"msiexec.exe /a \"{m}\" /quiet /qn TARGETDIR=\"{OUTPUT.resolve()}\"")

also awesome script, it's so convenient to finally have a portable msvc compiler.

@nmsobri
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nmsobri commented Apr 18, 2023

why i got Windows Sdk not found when i tried to run hello world program? I thought running the bat file will set the env vars

@AlisterH
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I was hoping that using this I could install modules with python pip that compile stuff from source. But attempting to do so still produces this:

      error: Microsoft Visual C++ 14.0 or greater is required. Get it with "Microsoft C++ Build Tools": https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/visual-cpp-build-tools/

Is there something else that will make it work? Perhaps this is really the same issue as @nmsobri is experiencing...?

@mmozeiko
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@AlisterH Try setting set DISTUTILS_USE_SDK=1 environment variable before running pip. By default python setuptools tries to use vswhere.exe & registry information & hardcoded vcvarsall.bat bat file to find where Visual Studio is installed. But that env variable should override all of it, and simply expect cl.exe & link.exe & others be available on PATH (which is done by my setup.bat file).

See more info here: https://docs.python.org/3/distutils/apiref.html#module-distutils.msvccompiler

@AlisterH
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Great, thanks!

@Un1q32
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Un1q32 commented May 26, 2023

clang cant run the linker

clang version 16.0.4
Target: x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
Thread model: posix
InstalledDir: C:\Users\Joey\scoop\apps\llvm\current\bin
 "link.exe" -out:a.exe -defaultlib:libcmt -defaultlib:oldnames "-libpath:C:\\Users\\Joey\\scoop\\apps\\llvm\\current\\lib\\clang\\16\\lib\\windows" -nologo hello.obj
clang: error: unable to execute command: program not executable
clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)

it is in PATH, and cl runs it fine

@mmozeiko
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mmozeiko commented May 26, 2023

What happens when you run link.exe with all those arguments manually?

@Un1q32
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Un1q32 commented May 26, 2023

What happens when you run link.exe with all those arguments manually?

link.exe -out:a.exe -defaultlib:libcmt -defaultlib:oldnames -libpath:C:\Users\Joey\scoop\apps\llvm\current\lib\clang\16\lib\windows -nologo hello.obj
I think this is equivalent, it produces a working executable

@Un1q32
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Un1q32 commented May 26, 2023

doing the wierd clang quote thing works fine too
link.exe -out:a.exe -defaultlib:libcmt -defaultlib:oldnames "-libpath:C:\\Users\\Joey\\scoop\\apps\\llvm\\current\\lib\\clang\\16\\lib\\windows" -nologo hello.obj
only change to the command is renaming a.out to a.exe and not quoting link.exe

@Un1q32
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Un1q32 commented May 26, 2023

Running with -fuse-ld=lld works btw

@mmozeiko
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"program not executable" is a very strange error. I don't think this is related to msvc files. Because if link.exe works when running manually then everything is fine. Instead it is something else with your scoop or clang setup. Like it's trying to execute some different link.exe, maybe you have multiple ones in path, or maybe scoop is doing some modifications to environment for something, I don't know how scoop works.

@Un1q32
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Un1q32 commented May 26, 2023

program not executable is the same error you get when link.exe isnt in PATH

@Un1q32
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Un1q32 commented May 27, 2023

building and installing from source solved the issue, strangely uninstalling the source build and then installing from scoop makes the scoop version work

@Un1q32
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Un1q32 commented Jul 9, 2023

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\Joey\Downloads\portable-msvc.py", line 83, in <module>
    vsmanifest = json.loads(download(payload))
                            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Users\Joey\Downloads\portable-msvc.py", line 27, in download
    return res.read()
           ^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.11_3.11.1264.0_x64__qbz5n2kfra8p0\Lib\http\client.py", line 482, in read
    s = self._safe_read(self.length)
        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.11_3.11.1264.0_x64__qbz5n2kfra8p0\Lib\http\client.py", line 633, in _safe_read
    raise IncompleteRead(data, amt-len(data))
http.client.IncompleteRead: IncompleteRead(12025853 bytes read, 564488 more expected)

no longer works

@mmozeiko
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mmozeiko commented Jul 9, 2023

That sounds like downloading of file was interrupted. Try running it again. Or get the url and try downloading in your browser to see what happens. Maybe you're running extra firewalls or whatever 3rd party security software, try disabling it.

@Jonny-vb
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Really useful script for getting msvc setup on a fresh windows install (or docker container in my case). Two small inconveniences though:

  • At some point the script renames/moves files from a temp location into the msvc folder, however if the script is running on a mapped volume (and therefore essentially a different drive), you get errors OSError: [WinError 17] The system cannot move the file to a different disk drive. I think this could be solved by using an os move instead of rename function somewhere?
  • The generated setup.bat works well in cmd, but is a pain to use in powershell - would it be possible to create an additional powershell version of this, i.e. using $env:PATH ... instead of set PATH ...

Thanks for providing this script though, I'd been banging my head for a couple of days trying to get msvc working properly in my container before I found this.

@garymmi
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garymmi commented Jul 29, 2023

another issue, cmake cannot get CMAKE_VS_PLATFORM_NAME value

-- CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME: Windows
-- CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR: AMD64
-- CMAKE_VS_PLATFORM_NAME:
-- Use static onnxruntime libraries
-- CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME: Windows
-- CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR: AMD64
-- CMAKE_VS_PLATFORM_NAME:
CMake Error at cmake/onnxruntime-win-x64-static.cmake:11 (message):
This file is for Windows x64 only. Given:
Call Stack (most recent call first):
cmake/onnxruntime.cmake:59 (include)
cmake/onnxruntime.cmake:139 (download_onnxruntime)
CMakeLists.txt:142 (include)

@CrendKing
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Two small inconveniences though

Fixed them in my fork: https://gist.github.com/CrendKing/154abfa33200ef1cda38ddd61f4d414b.

@AndhikaWB
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AndhikaWB commented Sep 12, 2023

This tool inspired me to make BuildToolsInspector because Flutter still doesn't work correctly with this one. It's not finished yet and I kinda give up, but it's pretty customizable in case any of you want to fork it. It tries to mimic the original build tools installer (by searching nested dependencies) rather than looking for specific packages.

EDIT3:

I figured out how vswhere works, but it may need some config files that will be generated automatically if you install VS using the official installer. Technically, we can generate it ourself but it's quite complicated. Steps:

  1. Get the Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Configuration package (download the payload, check from manifest)
  2. Extract the MSI file (e.g. by using Uni Extract 2 or msiexec /a). Move the files/folder to build tools install folder (e.g C:\BuildTools\VisualStudio\Setup)
  3. Register the dll by using this command (use the x86 version even on x64 OS):
    "%SystemRoot%\SysWoW64\regsvr32.exe" "C:\BuildTools\VisualStudio\Setup\x86\Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Configuration.Native.dll"
  4. Create a new reg value CachePath under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\Setup
  5. Set the cache path as C:\BuildTools\VisualStudio\Packages (for reference, the default path is %ProgramData%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\Packages)
  6. Create a new _Instances folder in the Packages folder
  7. Download example instance files from this link (VS build tools 2022). I can't attach zip here, not sure why
  8. Modify some path(s) in state.json to the right path (e.g. from C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\BuildTools to C:\BuildTools)
  9. Check if the portable installation is detected using vswhere

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