Rust Setup on Windows (using WSL)

In general, UNIX-based operating systems—like macOS or Linux—provide a better development environment for developing Stability client. Most of developers worked have their enviroment setup in either MacOS or Linux, making much more easy to find support material in these enviroment than in Windows-based ones.

However, if your local computer uses Microsoft Windows instead of a UNIX-based operating system, you can configure it with additional software to make it a suitable development environment for developing Stability's client. To prepare a development environment on a computer running Microsoft Windows, you can use Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) to emulate a UNIX operating environment.

Before you begin

Before installing on Microsoft Windows, verify the following basic requirements:

• You have a computer running a supported version of the Microsoft Windows operating system.
• You must be running Microsoft Windows 10, version 2004 or later, or Microsoft Windows 11 to install Windows Subsystem for Linux on a computer with the Windows desktop operating system.
• You must be running Microsoft Windows Server 2019, or later, to install Windows Subsystem for Linux on a computer with the Windows server operating system.
• You have good internet connection and access to a shell terminal on your local computer.

Set up Windows Subsystem for Linux

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) enables you to emulate a Linux environment on a computer that uses the Windows operating system.

By using Windows Subsystem for Linux, create identical development enviroments to UNIX-based ones avoiding to configure a virtual machine image or a dual-boot operating system.

To prepare a development environment using Windows Subsystem for Linux:

1. Check your Windows version and build number to see if Windows Subsystem for Linux is enabled by default.

   If you have Microsoft Windows 10, version 2004 (Build 19041 and higher), or Microsoft Windows 11, Windows Subsystem for Linux is available by default and you can continue to the next step.

   If you have an older version of Microsoft Windows installed, see WSL manual installation steps for older versions. If you are installing on an older version of Microsoft Windows, you can download and install WLS 2 if your computer has Windows 10, version 1903 or higher.

2. Select Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt from the Start menu, right-click, then Run as administrator.

3. In the PowerShell or Command Prompt terminal, run the following command:

   wsl --install

   This command enables the required WSL 2 components that are part of the Windows operating system, downloads the latest Linux kernel, and installs the Ubuntu Linux distribution by default.

   If you want to review the other Linux distributions available, run the following command:

   wsl --list --online

4. After the distribution is downloaded, close the terminal.

5. Click the Start menu, select Shut down or sign out, then click Restart to restart the computer.

   Restarting the computer is required to start the installation of the Linux distribution. It can take a few minutes for the installation to complete after you restart.

   For more information about setting up WSL as a development environment, see Set up a WSL development environment.

Install required packages and Rust

To install the Rust toolchain on WSL:

1. Click the Start menu, then select Ubuntu.

2. Type a UNIX user name to create user account.

3. Type a password for your UNIX user, then retype the password to confirm it.

4. Download the latest updates for the Ubuntu distribution using the Ubuntu Advanced Packaging Tool (apt) by running the following command:

   sudo apt update

5. Add the required packages for the Ubuntu distribution by running the following command:

   sudo apt install --assume-yes git clang curl libssl-dev llvm libudev-dev make protobuf-compiler

6. Download the rustup installation program and use it to install Rust for the Ubuntu distribution by running the following command:

   curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

7. Follow the prompts displayed to proceed with a default installation.

8. Update your current shell to include Cargo by running the following command:

   source ~/.cargo/env

9. Verify your installation by running the following command:

   rustc --version

10. Configure the Rust toolchain to use the latest stable version as the default toolchain by running the following commands:

    rustup default stable
    rustup update

11. Add the nightly version of the toolchain and the nightly WebAssembly (wasm) target to your development environment by running the following commands:

    rustup update nightly
    rustup target add wasm32-unknown-unknown --toolchain nightly

12. Verify the configuration of your development environment by running the following command:

    rustup show
    rustup +nightly show

    The command displays output similar to the following:

    # rustup show
    
    active toolchain
    ----------------
    
    stable-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu (default)
    rustc 1.61.0 (fe5b13d68 2022-05-18)
    
    # rustup +nightly show
    
    active toolchain
    ----------------
    
    nightly-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu (overridden by +toolchain on the command line)
    rustc 1.63.0-nightly (e71440575 2022-06-02)

Check installation

After having the rust toolchain installed, now you can start developing Stability's blockchain client.

Build Stability's node with:

cargo build