StuartDaniells commented 3 days ago

At https://github.com/bcpierce00/unison/wiki/CI-Binary-instructions#installing-binaries-built-by-the-ci-process Noticed a todo for Windows based installation:

Have a solution tried on my Windows 11 machine (using WSL).

gdt commented 3 days ago

(Please quote text as text, not images.)

You opened an issue, but I am not following. I am unclear on WSL; I don't think we intend to require that.

Do you have proposed text? If so, please provide it (as text of course).

StuartDaniells commented 3 days ago

Unison File Synchronizer Installation on Windows Using CI Binaries

This guide explains how to install Unison File Synchronizer on Windows using CI binaries. Since Unison's CI binaries are typically provided for Linux/macOS, the steps involve using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) to facilitate the installation.

Step 1: Download CI Binaries

Visit the Releases Page
- Go to the Unison GitHub Releases page to find the latest CI binaries.
Select the Latest CI Binary
- Look for a file ending with .tar.gz or .zip. If there is no Windows binary available, download the Linux binary to be used in WSL.

Step 2: Install WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux)

To run Unison binaries built for Linux on Windows, you need to install WSL:

Enable WSL on Windows
- Open PowerShell as Administrator.
- Run the following command to enable WSL:
```
wsl --install
```
- If WSL is not enabled, restart your computer after running the command.
Install a Linux Distribution
- Install a Linux distribution from the Microsoft Store. Ubuntu is recommended.

Step 3: Install and Set Up Unison in WSL

Open the WSL Terminal
- Launch the installed Linux distribution (e.g., Ubuntu) from the Start Menu.
Download and Extract CI Binaries
- Use wget or curl to download the Unison CI binaries:
```
wget https://github.com/bcpierce00/unison/releases/download/<release>/unison-v<version>-linux64.tar.gz
```
  Replace <release> and <version> with the appropriate values.
Extract the Archive
- Extract the downloaded .tar.gz file:
```
tar -xzf unison-v<version>-linux64.tar.gz
```
Move the Unison Executable to a Standard Location
- Move the Unison binary to /usr/local/bin:
```
sudo mv unison /usr/local/bin/
```
Make the Binary Executable
- Ensure the binary is executable:
```
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/unison
```

Step 4: Synchronize Files Between Windows and WSL

Access Windows Files from WSL
- You can access your Windows files directly from WSL via the /mnt directory (e.g., C: is available at /mnt/c).
Create a Profile to Sync Files
- Create a Unison profile in the .unison directory within your home directory:
```
mkdir -p ~/.unison
nano ~/.unison/default.prf
```
- Example content for the profile:
```
root = /mnt/c/Users/<YourUsername>/Folder1
root = /mnt/c/Users/<YourUsername>/Folder2
```
Run Unison in WSL
- Run the synchronization with:
```
unison default
```

Additional Notes

Since you are using WSL, file paths must be in WSL format (e.g., /mnt/c/...) to access Windows files.
Ensure that the Linux version of Unison matches the version running on the remote machine if synchronizing across different machines to avoid protocol mismatch errors.

This setup allows us to use Unison's Linux binaries through WSL to synchronize files on your Windows system, utilizing CI binaries.