Setting up Rust On Windows

Quick guide to setting up Rust on Windows.

Installing

rust up - download x86_64-pc-windows-msvc from Other Rust Installation Methods
vs build tools - rust up will automatically download the 2019 version for you, select and install Desktop Development with C++, the link is also available here.
vs code - download link
vs code extensions - Better Toml, CodeLLDB and Rust Analyzer

Project Config

workspace

In vs code, click file -> save workspace as, and save to your project's directory. eg c:\Projects\hello\workspace.code-workspace.

compile using tasks (optional)

Create a tasks.json for your project (eg c:\Projects\hello\.vscode\tasks.json).

{
	"version": "2.0.0",
	"tasks": [
		{
			"type": "cargo",
			"command": "build",
			"problemMatcher": [
				"$rustc"
			],
			"group": {
				"kind": "build",
				"isDefault": true
			},
			"label": "rust: cargo build",
			"presentation": {
				"reveal": "silent",
				"revealProblems": "onProblem",
				"close": true,
				"clear": true 
			}
		}
	]
}

Run with shortcut Ctrl + Shift + B.

Using launch (optional)

Create launch.json. eg c:\Projects\hello\.vscode\launch.json.

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [

        {
            "name": "Debug",
            "type": "lldb",
            "request": "launch",
            "program": "cargo",
            "args": ["run"],
            "stopAtEntry": false,
            "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
            "environment": [],
            "externalConsole": true,
            "env" : {
            }
        },
        
        {
            "name": "Release",
            "type": "lldb",
            "request": "launch",
            "program": "cargo",
            "args": [
                "run", "--release"
            ],
            "stopAtEntry": false,
            "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
            "environment": [],
            "externalConsole": true
        }
    ]
}

Run by pressing the F5 key.

You can also choose between debug and release modes by clicking on the Run and Debug sidebar menu or using the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+D.

Global Config (optional)

Instead of storing launch in the project, you store it in the global settings file. eg %APPDATA%\code\user\settings.json or if you're using the portable version c:\vscode\data\user-data\User\settings.json.

{

    "launch": {
        "configurations": [

            {
                "name": "Debug",
                "type": "lldb",
                "request": "launch",
                "program": "cargo",
                "args": ["run"],
                "stopAtEntry": false,
                "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
                "environment": [],
                "externalConsole": true,
                "env" : {
                }
            },
            
            {
                "name": "Release",
                "type": "lldb",
                "request": "launch",
                "program": "cargo",
                "args": [
                    "run", "--release"
                ],
                "stopAtEntry": false,
                "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
                "environment": [],
                "externalConsole": true
            }
        ]
    },
    
    "security.workspace.trust.untrustedFiles": "open",
    "editor.accessibilitySupport": "off",
    "debug.allowBreakpointsEverywhere": true,
    "task.quickOpen.detail": false,
    "task.quickOpen.skip": true,
    "task.quickOpen.history": 1,
    "terminal.integrated.showExitAlert": false,
    "debug.terminal.clearBeforeReusing": true,
    "terminal.integrated.confirmOnKill": "never"
}

Misc

VS Build Tools 2022

Haven't tried it with rustup, but the link is available here.

Moving RustUp and Cargo to a different directory

By default it is installed in %USERPROFILE%\.cargo and %USERPROFILE%\.rustup. You can move it to a more convient location by adding/modifying the windows environment variables:

CARGO_HOME (eg set to c:\programs\cargo)
RUSTUP_HOME (eg set to c:\programs\rustup)
PATH (eg add c:\programs\cargo\bin)

Portable VS Code

By downloading the Zip version, it can be made portable by creating a folder called data inside its directory.

Creating a VS Build Tools Offline Installer

vs_buildtools.exe --layout d:\localVScache --includeRecommended --lang en-US --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.VCTools

More information:

Breakpoints

I could only get breakpoints working by going to the main function in my project and clicking the "Debug" text button above it.

Modifying external crates

If you have an issue with an external crate library, you can find its source from somewhere in .cargo\library\ and copy it else where and modify it.

Then in your cargo.toml file add something like:

[patch.crates-io]
gilrs-core = { path = "../crates/gilrs-core-0.3.1" }

Updating Rust and Cargo

rustup update

ahillss / setting-up-rust-on-windows