Manual Cygwin Installation without using Setup.exe

Question

I am having issues with finding all of the necessary files to actually install Cygwin correctly when not using the premade setup utility. The reason behind this is the fact that my company computer blocks the usage of the .exe, and won't give me clearance to install it, (they say it isn't needed for the job) but expects me to perform certain tasks that Cygwin would make much simpler.

So my question is thus; is there somewhere/someone that would have a list of packages that I would need to manually install from one of the mirrors to make Cygwin run correctly?

Finger

install a unix based OS... or you could just get a new computer – Hinrichs

It's not my own computer, it's a work computer that's extremely locked down, I have *nix installed and Cygwin installed on all of my home computers. >.> It's not locked down there obviously. – Finger

Answer 1

Well,

This is a new answer to an old question, but it might be helpful for someone...

Just run the installer with -B switch, for example:

setup-x86_64.exe -B

You should install it then on a path where you have rights.

Tresa

Thaks @AsemRadhwi, the cool thing is that the info is right on the cygwin website: cygwin.com/faq/faq.html#faq.setup.cli And it worked fine, but as mentioned in the post, you need to have rights on the install path... – Tresa

Answer 2

If you don't need the full POSIX compatibility (which I'm guessing you don't, if the Unix subsystem isn't required for your job), I'd generally suggest you go with Mingw rather than Cygwin.

Sadly, Mingw also has an installer these days. It probably also requires admin (try it and see). However, you can download the individual components you need if you want to do it that way. That shouldn't require admin, so it would probably get you exactly what you want.

Mingw is also more corporate-friendly from a licensing standpoint, as its compiler doesn't render code built with it GPL like Cygwin's does.

Generally the rule is:

• If you want to use Unixy tools to help with your native Windows development, you want Mingw.
• If want to port a full (POSIX) Unix program to windows, you want Cygwin (and perhaps a support deal with Red Hat to get around the licensing problem).

Quinze

It's an ugly world we live in where an Assistant Sys. Admin can't use any .exe's to install jack and or sh**. Working on going for a core download on MinGW, seems like an extremely viable route, stay tuned! – Finger

@Jeff Langemeier - Understand completely. Our IT folks recently took away our access to SourceForge. Keeping our developers from that site is pretty much insane, considering we actually deliver some downloads from there (Mingw stuff, boost, etc.) to our own customers. We can no longer get (or even check for) updates. – Quinze

Well, now I at least have some development capabilities, I'll have to remember to grab MinGW in the future, much simpler to handle commandline installation than Cygwin was being. – Finger

Answer 3

There's a writeup on getting Cygwin [to work] on portable storage devices.

Boiling it down, you'd have to do this on a machine that does give you .exe/admin access to write to a 'stick, then run from the stick at work.

On the off-chance that super-lockdown-site allows you to run USB devices.

Dare

Answer 4

Use the GNUWIN32 utilities instead. http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/

That way you can choose only the .exe installs that you need, and it will be much easier to justify specific utilities than a humongous system install. If you hunt around on the site you can find the files directory where you can download a single utility, and if you get the -bin.zip version, then you can extract just the needed .exe file which would be even easier to justify and would not require your IT people to test an untrusted install package.

Alfi

Note: maybe it is a better choice to use 64-bit things in 2016. – Underling

Answer 5

Stupid draconian rules or no, I would not recommend trying to thwart your employers rules. Try working to improve the situation or find another one.

But technically speaking if you can get a complete Cygwin install somewhere, you can copy the entire cygwin folder enmasse. There are a few things that you will want to change similarly to how I configured my cygwin installation to run from a thumb drive. I actually installed on my HD, copied it to the thumbdrive and then changed the batch file and a few other things to make it work. Here are the details: http://fadedbluesky.com/2011/portable-cygwin/

Rois

Answer 6

You could try installing it on another machine outside of work. After installing, copy the installed product's tree and Registry keys and environment settings to a CD or flash drive. Then you would have a DIY installation that you can copy and import settings manually. The installer doesn't do a whole lot else.

Don't count on job security if you're bypassing IT mandates after being explicitly told no, though. Getting an exception to the rule by submitting proper documentation through the proper process is usually the way to go.

You'll also have to hope that they aren't blocking the Cygwin programs and any Registry edits as well. It's not hard to find this sort of thing on a machine, either.

Weeks