Running the Linux Subsystem from Visual Studio's Post-Build Command Line - visual-studio

I am trying to run the Windows 10 Linux Subsystem from Visual Studio 2015's Post-Build Command Line. That is, I have a command, whose output will be piped to bash, for example xyz | bash. bash should in turn start the Windows 10 Linux Subsystem and execute the command.
This works perfectly when running the command from the regular CMD.exe Command Line or .bat files. However, when running this from the Visual Studio 2015 Post-, Pre-Build- or Pre-Link-Event Command Line directly, via a call cmd /C call or an external .bat file as proxy, this fails with error code 255 and prints something like "Command 'bash' not found.". When trying to use the complete path to the bash.exe this fails, too.
How can I run bash from Visual Studio's Command Line?
Sidenote: I am trying to run this on a C/C++ Project.


I faced this problem too when using bash from my 32-bit C++ application.
The thing is that bash is 64-bit only – when you try to use it from a 32-bit app, your call to C:\Windows\System32\bash.exe gets redirected to C:\Windows\SysWOW64\bash.exe which does not exist.
To bypass the redirect you have to use C:\Windows\Sysnative\bash.exe when calling bash from a 32-bit app. I actually made a batch (.bat) proxy that I added to the PATH to make things easier. 🙂
bash.bat:
#echo off
if exist "C:\Windows\Sysnative\bash.exe" (
C:\Windows\Sysnative\bash.exe %*
) else (
C:\Windows\System32\bash.exe %*
)

Related

How to use native windows commands in VsCode`?

I have installed a command prompt shell in Visual Code and I have a compiler that I usually run from the windows cmd. I'm wondering how can I make the windows commands (and my own) that works in cmd run in the Visual Code Command prompt?

Configuring cl CMD compiling Windows

I have already read on MSDN.com that to enable command line compilation through the cl command you have to run the vcvarsall.bat file. I have run this file in CMD and compiled code using the cl command. The issue is that after I leave the CMD and reopen it, I no longer have the ability to use cl and have to rerun vcvarsall.bat every time I reopen CMD. Is there any way to avoid having to do this? Thanks.

Just create a shortcut on your desktop that calls
cmd /k "%VS140COMNTOOLS%\vsvars32.bat"
Adapt the environment variable and batch file name to fit your installed VS version number. In the example above, this will work with Visual Studio 2015.

How can I run a batch script in 'Deployment Tools Command Prompt' (to make WinPE iso)?

I want to run a batch script inside of the deployment tools command prompt (part of the Windows AIK) to create a WinPE iso. I went through the steps to prep the media and created a script to navigate to the right directory and then run the oscdimg.exe tool.
The problem is that it runs in a normal command prompt, not the deployment tools command prompt. Is it possible to write a script that will run in the deployment tools command prompt instead of the regular command prompt?
My basic script:
#echo off
#echo Running OSCDIMG to create a WinPE amd64 iso in f:\OtherItems\view_stores\WinPE7\winpe.iso
f:
cd \OtherItems\view_stores\WinPE7
oscdimg.exe -n -bf:\OtherItems\view_stores\WinPE7\etfsboot.com f:\OtherItems\view_stores\WinPE7\ISO f:\OtherItems\view_stores\WinPE7\winpe.iso
#echo **********************************************************************
#echo Done.
#echo
pause

If you look at the Properties of 'Deployment Tools Command Prompt' the target is:
C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /k "C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\pesetenv.cmd"
So it's not a separate program, it's a batch run in the regular cmd prompt.
You can take the content of "pesetenv.cmd" and use it as a prefix to your batch:
Now the Deployment Tools commands should work as expected.
EDIT:
Scratch the above, I don't know why I thought that was doing something. Adding the full path to oscdimg.exe and imagex.exe is what works for me.
C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\x86\oscdimg.exe -n -bf:\OtherItems\view_stores\WinPE7\etfsboot.com f:\OtherItems\view_stores\WinPE7\ISO f:\OtherItems\view_stores\WinPE7\winpe.iso

Command line does not execute my parameters

I have created a batch file to run an application automatically but it seems my CMD does not run it. I typed this (using notepad as an example):
CMD /C "C:\notepad2\notepad2.exe"
If I run this from Windows Vista it worked. But running this from Windows Server 2008 (64-bit) it just doesn't work. I even try using that line from the Run menu but no go.
What do I do? My aim is to run a scheduled task that runs the batch file every now and then.

Stupid question, but does the program you're trying to run actually exist on the Server 2k8 machine?
There are no differences in cmd between Vista and Server 2k8 whatsoever.
Besides, why do you need to execute it via cmd? Can't you just run the application directly? Using cmd /c is only necessary for shell built-ins, such as dir or start.
Also remember that there is no NTVDM on 64-bit Windows—you can't run 16-bit programs. I doubt one would still use them nowadays but it may be the only thing I can think of why it doesn't work in 64-bit.

Calling batch files with make and making changes persistent

I'm programming with Visual C++ Express on the command line using makefiles (GNU Make).
For this to work, I have to call the Visual Studio batch file vsvars32.bat to set up the environment. This has to be done everytime I open a new cmd.exe, before using make.
When I try to call the batch file from my makefile, it obviously executes the batch file as
an own process, because the environment is the same afterwards.
So my question: is there a way to execute scripts in cmd.exe like the built-in source command of the Linux/Unix bash? Apart from installing bash on Windows, of course.
Edit after posting my own answer:
The above question is not quite right, it should be like this:
Is it possible to call an environment-changing batch file from within a makefile, so that the changed environment persists for the other programs called in the makefile?
The answer to the original question is yes: you can use the built-in call command of cmd.exe. But since call is a built-in command and not a real program, it doesn't work in a makefile, only if you call a batch file from another batch file.

Answer compiled from the previous answers:
I made a batch file called make.bat which contains the following:
call "%VS90COMNTOOLS%vsvars32.bat"
call make.exe %*
This does the job.
But calling an environment-changing batch file from within a makefile, so that the changed environment persists for the other programs called in the makefile, seems to be impossible.
Edit: After overflowing my PATH variable by repeatedly calling vsvars32.bat, I made the following changes:
if not "%VISUALCVARS%" == "TRUE" (
set VISUALCVARS=TRUE
call "%VS90COMNTOOLS%vsvars32.bat"
)
call make.exe %*

use 'Call':
#echo off
pushd.
call "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\Tools\vsvars3235.bat"
msbuild LinqSupportClassesSDKBuild.csproj /t:rebuild /p:Configuration=Release /nologo /v:q /clp:ErrorsOnly;
popd
this is the cmd file we use to build our linq provider.

At least in my install of Visual Studio (albeit somewhat ancient VS .NET 2003), one of the links in the VS start menu group is to open a cmd.exe instance with the environment already setup. You might find these helpful:
How to Add Visual Studio Command Prompt (VSCP) to your IDE as a tool?
Running the command prompt from visual studio tools menu
Shortcut: Launch Visual Studio Command Prompt from Visual Studio
They are more geared toward launching the command prompt from the IDE, but they do include information on launching it with the appropriate environment as well which you may find helpful for your purposes.

How do you launch your console? If you are just launching 'cmd' then instead, create a shortcut that executes (%comspec% resolves to c:\windows\cmd.exe or whatever is relevent on your system)
%comspec% /k ""C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\VC\vcvarsall.bat"" x86
Obviously, change the path to point to the proper installation folder.
More generally, as the above poster pointed out, if a .cmd file needs to process another .cmd file rather than launch it as a seperate process, use the 'call' batch command.

Wrap GNU make in a script (mmake.bat). Put the script in the path somewhere.
The script itself should run the vsvars32.bat and then make, like this
vsvars32.bat
make %*
As far as I remember, invoking a script from another script like this is done within the same shell (similar to Bash "." command).

I have found three solutions to this problem:
1) If the environment variables being set by the batch file are static (that is, they are always the same values), set those values for your entire user profile. Right-click on My Computer, click Properties-->Advanced-->Environment Variables. Add the variables from the batch file to the User Variables or System Variables section (User variables are only visible by you, System variables are visible by all users of that computer).
2) Write a wrapper batch file that calls the environment setup script then calls the Makefile.
3) Instead of using the SET command to set environment variables in the batch file, use the SETX command (requires the Windows Resource Kit). SETX is similar to SET, except it makes its changes to the master environment in the registry and will take effect in all command prompts launched in the future (but not the current one).

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