Windows 10 is getting a new tool, winget. It is a package manager that allows bulk installing apps and dev tools required for building a developer environment in a new or existing Windows installation, in a minimal amount of time.
Windows Package Manager Preview is launching today. Developers can start using to set up a developer environment using command-line.
The idea behind this winget tool is to save developer's time. Instead of clicking buttons in setup wizards for each of the app and package required for building a project, the developer can create a script that does all the job.
Features
winget exposes the following commands and options for the preview.
- install Installs the given application
- show Shows info about an application
- source Manage sources of applications
- search Find and show basic info of apps
- hash Helper to hash installer files
- validate Validates a manifest file
- --help Provides command line help
- --info Provides addition data, helpful for troubleshooting
- --version Provides the version of the client
Package Repository
The script will download all the required tools from a repository created for winget, and then install them without users' interaction.
The new repository is intended to be a trusted source for developer tools and packages. The project is open-source, but Microsoft will monitor the submissions.
Windows Terminal 1.0, which is also released today, considered to be a good companion for Windows Package Manager.
Links to checkout:
How to install Winget
The client requires Windows 10 1709 (build 16299) or later at this time.
Microsoft Store [Recommended]
The client is distributed within the App Installer package. While this package is pre-installed on Windows, the client will not be made generally available during the Preview period. In order to get automatic updates from the Microsoft Store that contain the client, one must do one of the following:
- Install a Windows 10 Insider build
- Join the Preview flight ring by signing up
Manually Update
The same Microsoft Store package will be made available via the Releases page. Note that installing this package will give you the WinGet client, but it will not enable automatic updates from the Microsoft Store.
You may need to install the Desktop Bridge VC++ v14 Redistributable Package and the associated Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00.UWPDesktop package. This should only be necessary on older builds of Windows if you get an error about missing framework packages.
Build your own
You can also build the client yourself. While the client should be perfectly functional, Microsoft is not ready to provide full support for clients running outside of the official distribution mechanisms yet. Feel free to file an Issue, but know that it may get lower prioritization.
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