7.1 How to download and install MSYS2

1. Introduction

Here is a step by step guide to download and install MSYS2.

MSYS2 is a software distro and building platform for Windows. It contains a collection of GNU utilities such as bash, make, gawk and grep to allow building of applications and programs which depend on traditionally Unix tools to be present.

Reference:

• MSYS2 - Getting Started

2. Download and run 'msys2-x86_64_XXXXXXXX.exe'

3. Installation wizard

Start the installation by clicking "Next":

Specify the installation path as "C:\msys64":

Press "Next" until the final page is reached. Check that "Run MSYS2 now" is ticked and click "Finish":

Update the package database and core system packages with:

pacman -Syu

To proceed with installation press the CAPITAL Y key (shift+y) and ENTER.

Close MSYS2:

Run MSYS2 again from Start menu. Update the rest with:

pacman -Su

Install the base development packages (Press Enter when prompted to install all):

pacman -S --needed base-devel

4. Utilities included with UnixShellUtils

The command line utilities are located in:

c:\msys64\usr\bin

These are the files included with UnixShellUtils:

c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\cat.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\cmp.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\cp.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\date.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\diff.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\dos2unix.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\echo.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\file.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\find.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\gawk-5.1.0.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\gawk.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\grep.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\join.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\less.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\ls.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\make.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\mkdir.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\msys-2.0.dll
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\msys-iconv-2.dll
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\msys-intl-8.dll
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\mv.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\printenv.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\printf.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\pwd.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\rm.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\rmdir.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\sed.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\sh.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\sort.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\split.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\srec_cat.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\srec_cmp.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\srec_info.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\touch.exe
c:\UnixShellUtils\usr\bin\unix2dos.exe

c:\UnixShellUtils\etc\profile <- An empty file required by sh.exe    
c:\UnixShellUtils\tmp         <- An empty directory required by sh.exe