winpty
winpty is a Windows software package providing an interface similar to a Unix
pty-master for communicating with Windows console programs. The package
consists of a library (libwinpty) and a tool for Cygwin and MSYS for running
Windows console programs in a Cygwin/MSYS pty.
The software works by starting the winpty-agent.exe process with a new,
hidden console window, which bridges between the console API and terminal
input/output escape codes. It polls the hidden console's screen buffer for
changes and generates a corresponding stream of output.
The Unix adapter allows running Windows console programs (e.g. CMD, PowerShell,
IronPython, etc.) under mintty or Cygwin's sshd with
properly-functioning input (e.g. arrow and function keys) and output (e.g. line
buffering). The library could be also useful for writing a non-Cygwin SSH
server.
Supported Windows versions
winpty runs on Windows XP through Windows 10, including server versions. It
can be compiled into either 32-bit or 64-bit binaries.
Cygwin/MSYS adapter (winpty.exe)
Prerequisites
You need the following to build winpty:
- A Cygwin or MSYS installation
- GNU make
- A MinGW g++ toolchain capable of compiling C++11 code to build
winpty.dll
andwinpty-agent.exe - A g++ toolchain targeting Cygwin or MSYS to build
winpty.exe
Winpty requires two g++ toolchains as it is split into two parts. The
winpty.dll and winpty-agent.exe binaries interface with the native
Windows command prompt window so they are compiled with the native MinGW
toolchain. The winpty.exe binary interfaces with the MSYS/Cygwin terminal so
it is compiled with the MSYS/Cygwin toolchain.
MinGW appears to be split into two distributions -- MinGW (creates 32-bit
binaries) and MinGW-w64 (creates both 32-bit and 64-bit binaries). Either
one is generally acceptable.
Cygwin packages
The default g++ compiler for Cygwin targets Cygwin itself, but Cygwin also
packages MinGW-w64 compilers. As of this writing, the necessary packages are:
- Either
mingw64-i686-gcc-g++ormingw64-x86_64-gcc-g++. Select the
appropriate compiler for your CPU architecture. gcc-g++make
As of this writing (2016-01-23), only the MinGW-w64 compiler is acceptable.
The MinGW compiler (e.g. from the mingw-gcc-g++ package) is no longer
maintained and is too buggy.
MSYS packages
For the original MSYS, use the mingw-get tool (MinGW Installation Manager),
and select at least these components:
mingw-developer-toolkitmingw32-basemingw32-gcc-g++msys-basemsys-system-builder
When running ./configure, make sure that mingw32-g++ is in your
PATH. It will be in the C:\MinGW\bin directory.
MSYS2 packages
For MSYS2, use pacman and install at least these packages:
msys/gccmingw32/mingw-w64-i686-gccormingw64/mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc. Select
the appropriate compiler for your CPU architecture.make
MSYS2 provides three start menu shortcuts for starting MSYS2:
- MinGW-w64 Win32 Shell
- MinGW-w64 Win64 Shell
- MSYS2 Shell
To build winpty, use the MinGW-w64 {Win32,Win64} shortcut of the architecture
matching MSYS2. These shortcuts will put the g++ compiler from the
{mingw32,mingw64}/mingw-w64-{i686,x86_64}-gcc packages into the PATH.
Alternatively, instead of installing mingw32/mingw-w64-i686-gcc or
mingw64/mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc, install the mingw-w64-cross-gcc and
mingw-w64-cross-crt-git packages. These packages install cross-compilers
into /opt/bin, and then any of the three shortcuts will work.
Building the Unix adapter
In the project directory, run ./configure, then make, then make install.
By default, winpty is installed into /usr/local. Pass PREFIX=<path> to
make install to override this default.
Using the Unix adapter
To run a Windows console program in mintty or Cygwin sshd, prepend
winpty to the command-line:
$ winpty powershell
Windows PowerShell
Copyright (C) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
PS C:\rprichard\proj\winpty> 10 + 20
30
PS C:\rprichard\proj\winpty> exit
Embedding winpty / MSVC compilation
See src/include/winpty.h for the prototypes of functions exported by
winpty.dll.
Only the winpty.exe binary uses Cygwin; all the other binaries work without
it and can be compiled with either MinGW or MSVC. To compile using MSVC,
download gyp and run gyp -I configurations.gypi in the src subdirectory.
This will generate a winpty.sln and associated project files. See the
src/winpty.gyp and src/configurations.gypi files for notes on dealing with
MSVC versions and different architectures.
Compiling winpty with MSVC currently requires MSVC 2013 or newer.
Debugging winpty
winpty comes with a tool for collecting timestamped debugging output. To use
it:
- Run
winpty-debugserver.exeon the same computer as winpty. - Set the
WINPTY_DEBUGenvironment variable totracefor the
winpty.exeprocess and/or the process usinglibwinpty.dll.
winpty also recognizes a WINPTY_SHOW_CONSOLE environment variable. Set it
to 1 to prevent winpty from hiding the console window.
Copyright
This project is distributed under the MIT license (see the LICENSE file in
the project root).
By submitting a pull request for this project, you agree to license your
contribution under the MIT license to this project.