git-annex/ install/ Windows

git-annex now does Windows!

- First, install Git for Windows

- Then, install git-annex:

  - Windows 10 download

This port is now in reasonably good shape for command-line use of git-annex. The assistant and webapp are also usable. There are some known problems and parts that don't work. See windows support for current status.

## autobuilds

An autobuild is also available, thanks to the Datalad project.

- Windows 10 download (build logs)

## download security

All the download links above use https for security. For added security, see verifying downloads.

## building it yourself

To build git-annex from source on Windows, you need to install Git for Windows, and Stack.

Then open Git Bash, clone git-annex, and in git-annex's source tree, run "stack build" to download and build all dependencies and git-annex. "stack install" will install git-annex.

(To build the git-annex installer, you also need to install the NullSoft installer system, see Build/NullSoftInstaller.hs for details.)

comment 9

@michael.fsp autobuilder was down. There's a build now for the most recent release.

Comment by joey — Tue Jul 22 18:11:47 2025
windows installer has not been updated to version 7.20191218

Just to let you know that the windows installer is still at version 7.20191115

Thanks for the awesome work!

Comment by michael.fsp — Tue Jul 22 18:11:47 2025
hourly windows autobuild seems to have stopped running
The hourly windows autobuild seems to be several days old?
Comment by Ilya_Shlyakhter — Tue Jul 22 18:11:47 2025
error when building on windows

Building on Windows gives this error:

[[!format sh """ Extracting ghc-8.6.5.tar

Everything is Ok

Size: 1773445120 Compressed: 280280296 Extracting ghc-8.6.5.tar... Extracted total of 9780 files from ghc-8.6.5.tar C:\Users\ilya\AppData\Local\Programs\stack\x86_64-windows\ghc-8.6.5-tmp6568\ghc-8.6.5: renamePath:MoveFileEx "C:\Users\ilya\AppData\Local\Programs\stack\x86_64-windows\ghc-8.6.5-tmp6568\ghc-8.6.5\" "C:\Users\ilya\AppData\Local\Programs\stack\x86_64-windows\ghc-8.6.5\": permission denied (Access is denied.)

"""]]

Running Git Bash with Administrator privileges does not seem to help. Anyone else run into this / know how to fix it? Thanks!

Comment by Ilya_Shlyakhter — Tue Jul 22 18:11:47 2025
comment 5

rsync is still used for some things, the rsync special remote and communication with servers using older versions of git-annex.

Comment by joey — Tue Jul 22 18:11:47 2025
comment 4
Is 64-bit still a problem now that git-annex has switched over from rsync to its own transport?
Comment by grawity — Tue Jul 22 18:11:47 2025
comment 3

@eren, some of the programs included with git-annex need to use libraries from Git for Windows. In particular, I think you'll find that rsync doesn't work if you use the 64 bit Git for Windows.

Comment by joey — Tue Jul 22 18:11:47 2025
Re: Compatibility with recent version of Git for Windows

To install git-annex next to 64bit git on Windows:

Start cmd.exe with administrator privileges and run mklink /J "C:\Program Files (x86)\Git" "C:\Program Files\Git" to add a sym-link. Install git-annex.

Comment by eren.m.dursun — Tue Jul 22 18:11:47 2025
re: comment 17

I've corrected that path.

(Please don't use this page to report issues with the windows build. Open bug reports.)

Comment by joey — Tue Jul 22 18:11:47 2025
comment 17
I'm using the git-annex from the CI build... Even though it appears to be an x64 build, it appears to put the docs in /mingw32 instead of /mingw64 preventing the docs from being located.
Comment by arelius — Tue Jul 22 18:11:47 2025
comment 16

FWIW -- there is now CI for git-annex on linux (debian-based), osx, and Windows on https://github.com/datalad/datalad-extensions/ which builds git-annex installer, tests git-annex, and then tests datalad against it in a few scenarios. ATM it runs on cron, so not for each git-annex commit. We will see if we need/want more frequent builds. Artifacts (re)distribution will eventually be established on http://datasets.datalad.org/datalad/packages/ but we aren't there yet.

Comment by yarikoptic — Tue Jul 22 18:11:47 2025
build a CI/CD chain for git-annex

would this be:
* possible?
* desired?
* appreciated?

If yes, how and where? Ideas?

Comment by nix.zahlen — Tue Jul 22 18:11:47 2025
where and how to submit Windows autobuild related issues?

see
- http://git-annex.branchable.com/news/version_8.20201007/#comment-cc425c38dbd1e3e6ee308bf2d9de1fd1
- http://git-annex.branchable.com/bugs/windows_dosn39t_build_again63 33/#comment-90263bc0689187fb5df4d44ce668c08c (bug moved to "done"?!? but there is still no updated Windows installer available...)

Comment by nix.zahlen — Tue Jul 22 18:11:47 2025
permissions fixed

If you had filed a bug report about this permissions problem, I would have fixed it immediately. Instead I had to read all comments on the web site before I noticed it weeks later.

This build is being maintained, but you have to file bug reports when there are problems with it.

Comment by joey — Tue Jul 22 18:11:47 2025
It is really a pitty that the Windows port / version is unmaintained
Is there maybe a how-to somewhere which describes how we could compile the source on Windows to have more recent versions?!
Comment by nix.zahlen — Tue Jul 22 18:11:47 2025
Autobuild permissions
It looks like the windows autobuild is updating based on the timestamps and the build-version contents (8.20200720.2-gd9ae6ab0b), but permission is denied on the exe file (https://downloads.kitenet.net/git-annex/autobuild/windows/git-annex-installer.exe).
Comment by mreiden — Tue Jul 22 18:11:47 2025
windows installer has not been updated
the windows installer is "8.20200331-gb11931a4a"
Comment by nix.zahlen — Tue Jul 22 18:11:47 2025
Compatibility with recent version of Git for Windows
Git for Windows now has a 64 bit version. Thus, the installation path must be adjusted accordingly. This page should note that git annex must be installed in the same folder as git itself.
Comment by jpfeifer — Tue Jul 22 18:11:47 2025
Comments on this page are closed.