windows - Documentation for Ruby 4.0
Description: windows: Windows Ruby supports a few native build platforms for Windows. Build using Microsoft Visual C++ compiler with vcruntimeXXX.
Keywords: ruby,documentation,windows

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# Windows

Ruby supports a few native build platforms for Windows.

- mswin: Build using Microsoft Visual C++ compiler with vcruntimeXXX.dll

- mingw-msvcrt: Build using compiler for Mingw with msvcrtXX.dll

- mingw-ucrt: Build using compiler for Mingw with Windows Universal CRT

## Building Ruby using Mingw with UCRT

The easiest build environment is just a standard RubyInstaller-Devkit installation and git-for-windows. You might like to use VSCode as an editor.

### Build examples

Ruby core development can be done either in Windows `cmd` like:

    ridk install
    ridk enable ucrt64

    pacman -S --needed %MINGW_PACKAGE_PREFIX%-openssl %MINGW_PACKAGE_PREFIX%-libyaml %MINGW_PACKAGE_PREFIX%-libffi

    mkdir c:\work\ruby
    cd /d c:\work\ruby

    git clone https://github.com/ruby/ruby src

    sh ./src/autogen.sh

    mkdir build
    cd build
    sh ../src/configure -C --disable-install-doc
    make

or in MSYS2 `bash` like:

    ridk install
    ridk enable ucrt64
    bash

    pacman -S --needed $MINGW_PACKAGE_PREFIX-openssl $MINGW_PACKAGE_PREFIX-libyaml $MINGW_PACKAGE_PREFIX-libffi

    mkdir /c/work/ruby
    cd /c/work/ruby

    git clone https://github.com/ruby/ruby src

    ./src/autogen.sh
    cd build
    ../src/configure -C --disable-install-doc
    make

If you have other MSYS2 environment via other package manager like `scoop`, you need to specify `$MINGW_PACKAGE_PREFIX` is `mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64`. And you need to add `--with-opt-dir` option to `configure` command like:

    sh ../../ruby/configure -C --disable-install-doc --with-opt-dir=C:\Users\username\scoop\apps\msys2\current\ucrt64

## Building Ruby using Visual C++

### Requirement

1. Windows 10/Windows Server 2016 or later.

2. Visual C++ 14.0 (2015) or later.

   Note if you want to build x64 version, use native compiler for x64.

   The minimum requirement is here: * VC++/MSVC on VS 2017/2019/2022 version build tools. * Windows 10/11 SDK

   You can install Visual Studio Build Tools with `winget`. `win32\install-buildtools.cmd` is a batch file to install the minimum requirements excluding the IDE etc.

3. Please set environment variable `INCLUDE`, `LIB`, `PATH` to run required commands properly from the command line. These are set properly by `vsdevcmd.bat` or `vcvarall*.bat` usually. You can run the following command to set them in your command line.

   To native build:

       cmd /k win32\vssetup.cmd

   To cross build arm64 binary:

       cmd /k win32\vssetup.cmd -arch=arm64

   To cross build x64 binary:

       cmd /k win32\vssetup.cmd -arch=x64

   This batch file is a wrapper of `vsdevcmd.bat` and options are passed to it as-is. `win32\vssetup.cmd -help` for other command line options.

   Note building ruby requires following commands.

   - `nmake`

   - `cl`

   - `ml`

   - `lib`

   - `dumpbin`

4. If you want to build from GIT source, following commands are required.

   - `git`

   - `ruby` 3.1 or later

   You can use scoop to install them like:

       scoop install git ruby

   The windows version of `git` configured with `autocrlf` is `true`. The Ruby test suite may fail with `autocrlf` set to `true`. You can set it to `false` like:

       git config --global core.autocrlf false

5. You need to install required libraries using vcpkg on directory of ruby repository like:

       vcpkg --triplet x64-windows install

6. Enable Command Extension of your command line. It's the default behavior of `cmd.exe`. If you want to enable it explicitly, run `cmd.exe` with `/E:ON` option.

### How to compile and install

1. Execute `win32\configure.bat` on your build directory. You can specify the target platform as an argument. For example, run `configure --target=i686-mswin32`. You can also specify the install directory. For example, run `configure --prefix=<install_directory>`. Default of the install directory is `/usr` .

2. If you want to append to the executable and DLL file names, specify `--program-prefix` and `--program-suffix`, like `win32\configure.bat --program-suffix=-$(MAJOR)$(MINOR)`.

   Also, the `--install-name` and `--so-name` options specify the exact base names of the executable and DLL files, respectively, like `win32\configure.bat --install-name=$(RUBY_BASE_NAME)-$(MAJOR)$(MINOR)`.

   By default, the name for the executable without a console window is generated from the RUBY_INSTALL_NAME specified as above by replacing `ruby` with `rubyw`. If you want to make it different more, modify RUBYW_INSTALL_NAME directly in the Makefile.

3. You need specify vcpkg directory to use `--with-opt-dir` option like `win32\configure.bat --with-opt-dir=C:/vcpkg_installed/x64-windows`

4. Run `nmake up` if you are building from GIT source.

5. Run `nmake`

6. Run `nmake prepare-vcpkg` with administrator privilege if you need to copy vcpkg installed libraries like `libssl-3-x64.dll` to the build directory.

7. Run `nmake check`

8. Run `nmake install`

### Build examples

- Build on the ruby source directory.

      ruby source directory:  C:\ruby
      build directory:        C:\ruby
      install directory:      C:\usr\local

      C:
      cd \ruby
      win32\configure --prefix=/usr/local
      nmake
      nmake check
      nmake install

- Build on the relative directory from the ruby source directory.

      ruby source directory:  C:\ruby
      build directory:        C:\ruby\mswin32
      install directory:      C:\usr\local

      C:
      cd \ruby
      mkdir mswin32
      cd mswin32
      ..\win32\configure --prefix=/usr/local
      nmake
      nmake check
      nmake install

- Build on the different drive.

      ruby source directory:  C:\src\ruby
      build directory:        D:\build\ruby
      install directory:      C:\usr\local

      D:
      cd D:\build\ruby
      C:\src\ruby\win32\configure --prefix=/usr/local
      nmake
      nmake check
      nmake install DESTDIR=C:

- Build x64 version (requires native x64 VC++ compiler)

      ruby source directory:  C:\ruby
      build directory:        C:\ruby
      install directory:      C:\usr\local

      C:
      cd \ruby
      win32\configure --prefix=/usr/local --target=x64-mswin64
      nmake
      nmake check
      nmake install

### Bugs

You can NOT use a path name that contains any white space characters as the ruby source directory, this restriction comes from the behavior of `!INCLUDE` directives of `NMAKE`.

You can build ruby in any directory including the source directory, except `win32` directory in the source directory. This is restriction originating in the path search method of `NMAKE`.

### Dependency management

Ruby uses vcpkg to manage dependencies on mswin platform.

You can update and install it under the build directory like:

    nmake update-vcpkg # Update baseline version of vcpkg
    nmake install-vcpkg # Install vcpkg from build directory

## Icons

Any icon files(`*.ico`) in the build directory, directories specified with icondirs make variable and `win32` directory under the ruby source directory will be included in DLL or executable files, according to their base names.

    $(RUBY_INSTALL_NAME).ico or ruby.ico   --> $(RUBY_INSTALL_NAME).exe
    $(RUBYW_INSTALL_NAME).ico or rubyw.ico --> $(RUBYW_INSTALL_NAME).exe
    the others                             --> $(RUBY_SO_NAME).dll

Although no icons are distributed with the ruby source, you can use anything you like. You will be able to find many images by search engines. For example, followings are made from Ruby logo kit:

- Small favicon in the official site

- vit-ruby.ico or icon itself