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Set up Windows dev environment with MSYS2

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valtron edited this page Mar 22, 2016 · 30 revisions

MSYS2

Note: $VARS refer to strings you should substitute yourself. E.g. $DEV -> D:/dev

  1. Download from http://msys2.github.io
  2. Install into $DEV/msys64
  3. Run $DEV/msys2_shell.bat
  4. Run update-core
  5. Close the shell; reopen it
  6. Run pacman -Su

Pacman

pacman is the package manager bundled with msys. Use it to install useful things like gcc, flex, bison, git. The commands are pretty cryptic, so use the Pacman/Rosetta.

Set up $PATH

  • Open "Environment Variables > System Variables > Path"
  • At the end, add $DEV/msys64/usr/bin

Set up $HOME

By default, msys will use $DEV/msys64/home as your home folder. If you want to use your existing home folder, set a $HOME env variable:

  • Under "Environment Variables > User variables", add HOME -> (path to your home folder)

(Using C:\Users\%USERNAME% didn't work for me.)

Also, SSH insists on using MSYS' /home, but you can get around that by adding this line to /etc/fstab:

C:/Users /home ntfs binary,noacl,auto 1 1

Git

  1. Open an msys shell
  2. Run pacman -S git
  3. If you want to use git gui/gitk,
    1. Run pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-tk
    2. Add $DEV/msys64/mingw64/bin to $PATH
    3. gitk should work now, but you might get this problem with git gui
    4. To fix, add env var GIT_GUI_LIB_DIR -> $DEV/msys64/usr/share/git-gui/lib

MSYS shell

$DEV/msys64/*_shell.bat open up $DEV/msys64/usr/bin/mintty.exe, which has problems with the Python installed by the official Python installers. If you prefer, you can use $DEV/msys64/usr/bin/bash.exe by making a shortcut to it (on your desktop, for example).

To customize:

  1. (right-click shortcut) > Properties
  2. Change "Shortcut > Start in:" to be the directory you want it to open to, e.g. %HOME%/Desktop
  3. Fiddle with settings in Options, Font, Layout, and Colors

Environment Variables

Environment variables in windows are under:

  • (right-click start) > System > Advanced System Settings > Advanced > Environment Variables...

You can also set env vars in your .bash_profile/.bashrc.

Right-click Context Menu Entries

git-bash has a special --cd option to set the directory on startup, which regular bash doesn't. To get around that, create $DEV/bash.bat:

@echo off
if not "z%1" == "z" cd "%1"
"$DEV/msys64/usr/bin/bash.exe"

Next, create a regedit file (*.reg):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\Background\shell\bash]
@="Bash"
"Icon"="C:\\Windows\\System32\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe"
"Position"="Bottom"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\Background\shell\bash\command]
@="d:\\dev\\bash.bat"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\shell\bash]
@="Bash"
"Icon"="C:\\Windows\\System32\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe"
"Position"="Bottom"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\shell\bash\command]
@="d:\\dev\\bash.bat \"%1\""

Note the paths have to be Windows-style, with escaped (double) backslashes, and that the "Background" entry's command should not contain %1. Feel free to change the "Icon" and "Position" properties. Execute the regedit file and you're done.

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