• Description
• Features
• Installation
• Usage
• Update
• Customization
• FAQ
• License

ConCygSys is a tool that installs portable Cygwin Unix-like environment and connects to portable ConEmu console emulator. All required software in one folder. Now also with WSLtty support!

This is an independent fork of amazing cygwin-portable-installer project. At first minimally modified for sysadmin purposes, later on filled with improvements and new features.

• Downloads and installs the latest Cygwin and makes it fully portable, so you can:
  • move it to a different directory at any time
  • duplicate it by copying its folder
  • rename the folder
  • run from USB or network drive
  • use it in folders with spaces
• Downloads and installs the latest portable ConEmu
• Only pure base with a couple of config files to make the installtion portable, no hacks with Cygwin/ConEmu code
• The installer is flexible, you can customize the installation process per your requirements
• Being portable, the script can also upgrade itself and its components
• Windows 7+ supported

Disable antivirus software on your PC during installation. Why it is recommended

• Download the latest ConCygSys release, extract the archive and go to the extracted folder

Optional: Edit ConCygSys-installer to customize the installation per your requirements

• Launch ConCygSys-installer

If Windows complains with a Windows protected your PC popup, you may need to click Run anyway to proceed with the installation.

• Once the installation is finished, you can run Cygwin via one of the following launchers:
  • CygWin-Cmd to run Cygwin in standard Windows console
  • CygWin-ConEmu to run Cygwin via ConEmu - multitab quake-style console (RECOMMENDED)
  • CygWin-MinTTY to run Cygwin via Mintty terminal emulator - fully xterm-compatible, but without multitab and quake-style support
  • CygWin-WSLtty to run WSL via Mintty terminal emulator

You can try the launchers one-by-one to find the most suitable option

Default behaviour of Cygwin console:

• Select by Left Click and release - copy
• Right click - paste

Shortcuts if using Cygwin via ConEmu console:

• Ctrl+` - open/hide console (quake style)
• Double click on Tab - rename a tab
• Double click on Tab Panel - open a new tab
• Win+X - open a new tab with standard Windows console

ConCygSys consists of:

• CygWin: Unix-like environment itself
• ConEmu: multitab console you open this Unix-like environment from
• ConCygSys core: configuration files and settings keeping the installation portable

Use update launcher in the root of your ConCygSys directory to update the installation.

You will be able either to update Cygwin only or to perform a full update: Cygwin + ConCygSys core. ConEmu is already set to check its updates on startup and can update itself independently.

If you cannot find update launcher, this means that you are updating one of the earliest stable/beta releases, therefore you need to perfrom the update manually:

• Download ConCygSys-installer.cmd from this link (right click > save link as) to existing ConCygSys directory
• Launch ConCygSys-installer

Open ConCygSys-installer with text editor on your PC before installation to get a control over the installation process. Available options will be in SCRIPT SETTINGS section. All settings are accompanied with description. Preview

If you have existing ConCygSys installation and would like to add/remove some components during next update, edit :installoptions section of update launcher.

• What is the path to Windows drives when I'm in Cygwin console?

/mnt/DRIVE

BTW, different Windows files are symlinked in Cygwin environment. For instance, /etc/hosts file in Cygwin is linked to %WINDIR%\System32\drivers\etc\hosts. If you go to /proc/registry folder, you will see Windows registry structure. Many Windows programs can be executed from Cygwin as well, for instance:

ipconfig /flushdns - to flush your local DNS cache

• How to change default task for new tab in ConEmu?

ConEmu settings>> Startup>> Tasks>> choose a desired task>> tick "Default task for new console">> Save settings

• Can I change Cygwin username after installation?

No problem, just edit CYGWIN_USERNAME= line in :cygwinsettings section of update launcher in your ConCygSys directory. Restart Cygwin.

• Сan I install a package from command line?

If you've chosen to install apt-cyg (enabled by default in installer), you can istall packages from command line, for instance:

apt-cyg install nano

More info about apt-cyg usage | Available packages

• I cannot find a desired package in Cygwin repository, what should I do?

This can happen. Fortunately, the packages can still be built from source. install <package> cygwin search query will give you the right answer in most cases. Below are some examples for the reference:

MTR

ipmitool

• Can I try beta version?

No problem. There is beta tree

• Download ConCygSys-installer.cmd from this link (right click > save link as) to existing ConCygSys directory
• Launch ConCygSys-installer

• Where can I report an issue or get a support?

Here

• How to check ConCygSys version?

The version can be found at the beginning of:

• README.txt file
• any launcher file

All files are released under the Apache License 2.0.