/2024-Winget-Setup-Guide-Windows-10-LTSC

A step-by-step guide for setting up Winget (Windows Package Manager) on Windows 10 LTSC 2021 without relying on the Microsoft Store, along with prerequisites and dependencies. Make software management on your Windows system efficient and hassle-free.

Primary LanguagePowerShell

Setting up Winget (Windows Package Manager) on Windows 10 LTSC 2021 without Microsoft Store

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Prerequisites
  3. Installation of dependencies
  4. Instalation of Winget

Introduction

Winget, short for Windows Package Manager, is a command-line tool introduced by Microsoft to simplify the installation, removal, and management of software packages on Windows systems. It made its debut with Windows 10, starting with version 2004. Winget offers several benefits, including streamlined software installation, automatic updates, and scriptability, making it a powerful tool for developers and users alike. In this guide, we'll walk you through setting up Winget on Windows 10 LTSC 2021 without relying on the Microsoft Store, so you can take full advantage of its capabilities.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, ensure that you have the following prerequisites:

  1. PowerShell as Administrator: You'll need PowerShell in administrator mode to execute some of the commands in this guide.

  2. Execution Policy Setting: To run certain PowerShell commands like Add-AppxPackage without encountering execution policy restrictions, your PowerShell execution policy should be set to "RemoteSigned" or "Unrestricted." To check your current execution policy, open PowerShell as an administrator and run the following command:

    Get-ExecutionPolicy

To set the execution policy to "RemoteSigned," run:

 Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

Or, if necessary, to set it to "Unrestricted," use:

 Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted

Installation of dependencies

Before installing Winget, please ensure that the following dependencies are installed on your system:

1.VC++ v14 Desktop Framework: This framework includes the Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Libraries (VCLibs) for 64-bit Windows desktop applications.

  • If your system architecture is 64-bit, install the framework using the following command:

     Add-AppxPackage "https://aka.ms/Microsoft.VCLibs.x64.14.00.Desktop.appx"

  • If your system architecture is 32-bit, install the framework using the following command:

    Add-AppxPackage "https://aka.ms/Microsoft.VCLibs.x86.14.00.Desktop.appx"
  1. Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.8: Before installation, you'll need to download the Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.8 package via PowerShell
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://www.nuget.org/api/v2/package/Microsoft.UI.Xaml/2.8.6" -OutFile "microsoft.ui.xaml.2.8.6.zip"

  • After downloading the package as a zip archive, extract it:

    Expand-Archive .\microsoft.ui.xaml.2.8.6.zip

  • Based on your system architecture, install the package from the corresponding directory.

  • For 64-bit architecture, install from this directory:

     Add-AppPackage .\microsoft.ui.xaml.2.8.6\tools\AppX\x64\Release\Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.8.appx

  • For 32-bit architecture, install from this directory:

    Add-AppPackage .\microsoft.ui.xaml.2.8.6\tools\AppX\x86\Release\Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.8.appx

With these dependencies correctly installed you can proceed to install Winget.

Instalation of Winget

To get the latest version of Winget as of March 2024, which is version 1.7.10661 released in March 2024, follow these steps:

  1. Open your web browser and go to the following URL: Winget Latest Releases

  2. On the GitHub page, scroll down to find the latest release. Look for the version "1.7.10661" or a newer version if available.

  3. In the Assets section of the release, you should see a file with the extension ".msixbundle" at the bottom of the page.

  4. Download the ".msixbundle" file and license file. The file that contains the Winget package in MSIXBundle format and the file that contains the licesne is in XML format.

  5. Once the download is complete, navigate to the folder where the ".msixbundle" and ".xml" file are downloaded.

  6. Open PowerShell in administrator mode by searching for "PowerShell" in the Start menu, right-clicking on "Windows PowerShell," and selecting "Run as administrator."

  7. In the PowerShell window, execute the following command to install Winget using the downloaded MSIXBundle:

    Add-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online -PackagePath "PATH TO MSIXBUNDLE" -LicensePath "PATH TO XML" -Verbose

  8. Verify that the installation succeeded by running winget in PowerShell. If no errors occur then you're done!