https://github.com/xpack-dev-tools/windows-build-tools-xpack
A binary distribution of the Windows Build Tools (used by Eclipse Embedded CDT)
https://github.com/xpack-dev-tools/windows-build-tools-xpack
Last synced: over 1 year ago
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A binary distribution of the Windows Build Tools (used by Eclipse Embedded CDT)
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/xpack-dev-tools/windows-build-tools-xpack
- Owner: xpack-dev-tools
- License: mit
- Created: 2015-08-17T18:17:28.000Z (almost 11 years ago)
- Default Branch: xpack
- Last Pushed: 2025-03-23T20:46:13.000Z (over 1 year ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-04-01T05:34:05.034Z (over 1 year ago)
- Language: MDX
- Homepage: http://xpack-dev-tools.github.io/windows-build-tools-xpack/
- Size: 2.54 MB
- Stars: 197
- Watchers: 22
- Forks: 59
- Open Issues: 4
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README-LONG.md
- Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
- Funding: .github/FUNDING.yml
- License: LICENSE
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
[](https://github.com/xpack-dev-tools/windows-build-tools-xpack/blob/xpack/package.json)
[](https://github.com/xpack-dev-tools/windows-build-tools-xpack/releases/)
[](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@xpack-dev-tools/windows-build-tools/)
[](https://github.com/xpack-dev-tools/windows-build-tools-xpack/blob/xpack/LICENSE)
# The xPack Windows Build Tools
A standalone Windows specific package (not a full multi-platform xPack),
customised for the requirements of the Eclipse Embedded CDT managed build
projects; it includes a recent version of **GNU make** and a recent version of
**BusyBox**, which provides a convenient implementation for `sh`/`rm`/`echo`.
In addition to the package meta data, this project also includes
the build scripts.
## Overview
This open source project is hosted on GitHub as
[`xpack-dev-tools/windows-build-tools-xpack`](https://github.com/xpack-dev-tools/windows-build-tools-xpack)
and provides the platform specific binaries for the
[xPack Windows Build Tools](https://xpack.github.io/windows-build-tools/).
The binaries can be installed automatically as **binary xPacks** or manually as
**portable archives**.
## Release schedule
This distribution generally follows the official make, but there
is no commitment of a quick release cycle.
## User info
This section is intended as a shortcut for those who plan
to use the xPack Windows Build Tools binaries. For full details please read the
[xPack Windows Build Tools](https://xpack.github.io/windows-build-tools/) pages.
### Easy install
The easiest way to install Windows Build Tools is using the **binary xPack**, available as
[`@xpack-dev-tools/windows-build-tools`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@xpack-dev-tools/windows-build-tools)
from the [`npmjs.com`](https://www.npmjs.com) registry.
#### Prerequisites
A recent [xpm](https://xpack.github.io/xpm/),
which is a portable [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/) command line application
that complements [npm](https://docs.npmjs.com)
with several extra features specific to
**C/C++ projects**.
It is recommended to install/update to the latest version with:
```sh
npm install --location=global xpm@latest
```
For details please follow the instructions in the
[xPack install](https://xpack.github.io/install/) page.
#### Install
With the `xpm` tool available, installing
the latest version of the package and adding it as
a development dependency for a project is quite easy:
```sh
cd my-project
xpm init # Add a package.json if not already present
xpm install @xpack-dev-tools/windows-build-tools@latest --verbose
ls -l xpacks/.bin
```
This command will:
- install the latest available version,
into the central xPacks store, if not already there
- add symbolic links to the central store
(or `.cmd` forwarders on Windows) into
the local `xpacks/.bin` folder.
The central xPacks store is a platform dependent
location in the home folder;
check the output of the `xpm` command for the actual
folder used on your platform.
This location is configurable via the environment variable
`XPACKS_STORE_FOLDER`; for more details please check the
[xpm folders](https://xpack.github.io/xpm/folders/) page.
For xPacks aware tools, like the **Eclipse Embedded C/C++ plug-ins**,
it is also possible to install Windows Build Tools globally, in the user home folder:
```sh
xpm install --global @xpack-dev-tools/windows-build-tools@latest --verbose
```
Eclipse will automatically
identify binaries installed with
`xpm` and provide a convenient method to manage paths.
After install, the package should create a structure like this (macOS files;
only the first two depth levels are shown):
```console
$ tree -L 2 /Users/ilg/.local/xPacks/@xpack-dev-tools/windows-build-tools/4.4.1-2/.content/
/Users/ilg/.local/xPacks/@xpack-dev-tools/windows-build-tools/4.4.1-2/.content/
├── bin
│ ├── busybox.exe
│ ├── cp.exe
│ ├── echo.exe
│ ├── make.exe
│ ├── mkdir.exe
│ ├── rm.exe
│ └── sh.exe
├── distro-info
│ └── licenses
├── include
│ └── gnumake.h
├── README.md
└── share
├── info
└── man
7 directories, 9 files
```
No other files are installed in any system folders or other locations.
#### Uninstall
To remove the links created by xpm in the current project:
```sh
cd my-project
xpm uninstall @xpack-dev-tools/windows-build-tools
```
To completely remove the package from the central xPack store:
```sh
xpm uninstall --global @xpack-dev-tools/windows-build-tools
```
### Manual install
For all platforms, the **xPack Windows Build Tools**
binaries are released as portable
archives that can be installed in any location.
The archives can be downloaded from the
GitHub [Releases](https://github.com/xpack-dev-tools/windows-build-tools-xpack/releases/)
page.
For more details please read the
[Install](https://xpack.github.io/windows-build-tools/install/) page.
### Versioning
The version strings used by the GNU make project are three number strings
like `4.4.1`; to this string the xPack distribution adds a four number,
but since semver allows only three numbers, all additional ones can
be added only as pre-release strings, separated by a dash,
like `4.4.1-2`. When published as a npm package, the version gets
a fifth number, like `4.4.1-2.1`.
Since adherence of third party packages to semver is not guaranteed,
it is recommended to use semver expressions like `^4.4.1` and `~4.4.1`
with caution, and prefer exact matches, like `4.4.1-2.1`.
## Maintainer info
For maintainer info, please see the
[README-MAINTAINER](https://github.com/xpack-dev-tools/windows-build-tools-xpack/blob/xpack/README-MAINTAINER.md).
## Support
The quick advice for getting support is to use the GitHub
[Discussions](https://github.com/xpack-dev-tools/windows-build-tools-xpack/discussions/).
For more details please read the
[Support](https://xpack.github.io/windows-build-tools/support/) page.
## License
Unless otherwise stated, the content is released under the terms of the
[MIT License](https://opensource.org/licenses/mit/),
with all rights reserved to
[Liviu Ionescu](https://github.com/ilg-ul).
The binary distributions include several open-source components; the
corresponding licenses are available in the installed
`distro-info/licenses` folder.
## Download analytics
- GitHub [gnu-mcu-eclipse/windows-build-tools.git](https://github.com/gnu-mcu-eclipse/windows-build-tools/)
- latest release
[](https://github.com/gnu-mcu-eclipse/windows-build-tools/releases/)
- all releases [](https://github.com/gnu-mcu-eclipse/windows-build-tools/releases/)
- xPack [@gnu-mcu-eclipse/windows-build-tools](https://github.com/gnu-mcu-eclipse/windows-build-tools-xpack/)
- latest release, per month
[](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@gnu-mcu-eclipse/windows-build-tools/)
[](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@gnu-mcu-eclipse/windows-build-tools/)
- all releases [](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@gnu-mcu-eclipse/windows-build-tools/)
- [individual file counters](https://somsubhra.github.io/github-release-stats/?username=gnu-mcu-eclipse&repository=windows-build-tools) (grouped per release)
Credits to [Shields IO](https://shields.io) and [Somsubhra/github-release-stats](https://github.com/Somsubhra/github-release-stats).