Preparing the Windows build environment

Currently (Qubes R3) all Windows Tools code is built using Visual Studio 2013 and WDK 8.1. Builder machine should run Windows 7 64-bit (other OS versions weren't tested). Prerequisites take a lot of space so 30-40 GB for HDD is recommended. Builder scripts take care of getting/installing almost all needed prerequisites but some things need to be done by hand:

1. Install Service Pack 1 for Windows 7. Without it Visual Studio won't install.
2. Install Visual Studio 2017 Community [1]. Choose "Desktop development with C++" workload. Deselect all optional components. VS requires .NET Framework 4.5 but I think the setup includes that.
3. Install Windows Driver Kit 10 [2].
4. If you previously installed GPG4Win, please update to the latest version before continuing [3].

If you're starting in a clean OS without Qubes Builder, the get-be powershell script initializes the build environment. Download it from here:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/QubesOS/qubes-builder-windows/master/scripts/get-be.ps1

...and run: powershell -ExecutionPolicy bypass -f get-be.ps1

The script:

• Prepares msys2 environment
• Clones qubes-builder
• Installs GPG4Win and verifies code signatures
• Adds a qubes-msys2 shell shortcut to the start menu and desktop
• Generates a code signing certificate for Windows binaries (necessary for drivers). Use no password for testing.

The first time qubes-msy2 runs, it will perform some initial setup and requires a restart. After restarting msys2, install the following required packages:

pacman -S diffutils git make patchutils

Building Qubes Windows Tools

Before building, prepare the appropriate builder.conf in the root of qubes-builder. Example config is provided as windows-tools.conf. Note particularly the following settings:

• DIST_DOM0, DISTS_VM: win7x64, win10x64, etc.

• VS_PATH: this path should be free of spaces, but there is a trick. You can convert the full path to a "short" DOS-style path using a Windows command prompt or batch file like this:

  for %A in ("C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community") do @echo %~sA
  
  Result: C:\PROGRA~2\MIB055~1\2017\COMMUN~1
  

• WIN_CERT_FILENAME, WIN_CERT_PUBLIC_FILENAME: full paths to qubes-builder\qwt.pfx and qubes-builder\qwt.cer created earlier by get-be.ps1.

From the newly launched msys2 shell run:

• make get-sources

This will download remaining dependencies and required QubesOS repos, verifying their signatures. However, it's necessary to download some additional submodules for vmm-xen-windows-pvdrivers:

cd qubes-src/vmm-xen-windows-pvdrivers
make get-sources
cd ../../

Finally, build the QWT installer:

make qubes

The finished installer will be in qubes-src\installer-qubes-os-windows-tools.

[1] https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/products/visual-studio-community-vs.aspx

[2] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=42273

[3] https://www.gpg4win.org/