git-annex now does Windows!

* First, [install Git for Windows](http://git-scm.com/downloads)

  Important: **Get the 32 bit version not the 64 bit version.**  
  If you installed the 64 bit version of git, then parts of git-annex will
  still run, however, some features, including tools like rsync, will
  not work.

* Then, [install git-annex](https://downloads.kitenet.net/git-annex/windows/current/)

This port is now in reasonably good shape for command-line use of
git-annex. The assistant and webapp are also usable. There are some known
problems and parts that don't work. See [[todo/windows_support]] for
current status.

To verify that the build of git-annex works in your Windows system, you are
encouraged to run the test suite before using git-annex on real data. After
installation, run `git annex test`. There will be a lot of output; the
important thing is that it should end with "All tests passed".

## autobuilds

An hourly autobuild is also available, thanks to Yury V. Zaytsev and
Dartmouth College.

* [download](https://downloads.kitenet.net/git-annex/autobuild/windows/)

## building it yourself

To build git-annex from source on Windows, you need to install
[Git for Windows](http://git-scm.com/downloads), and
[Stack](http://haskellstack.org/).

You also need to install rsync for windows.
It needs to be linked with the same MINGW32 libraries that come with Git
for Windows. One way is to download it from
<https://downloads.kitenet.net/git-annex/windows/assets/>.
Put it somewhere in PATH.

Then open Git Bash, [[clone git-annex|download]], and in git-annex's source
tree, run "stack build --stack-yaml stack-windows.yaml" to download and
build all dependencies and git-annex. "stack install --stack-yaml
stack-windows.yaml" will install git-annex.

(To build the git-annex installer, you also need to install the NullSoft
installer system. The script `standalone/windows/build.sh` is
used to make the builds linked to above.)