These instruction assume you want to install the cygwin basic library on your windows computer.
I will explain the basic steps to doing your first installation of a base system. You can perform this installation either from the internet of from the CD available.
Lets assume you want to do an installation from the internet. Later I will describe the differences using the CD.
Now you need to select what to install. You can change what you view by clicking on the view button to select Category . Initially I would simply select the following packages:
When you finish selecting click Next to continue.
OR if you are feeling like you want finer control of what to install, click the view button to select Full. Here is the list of packages I recommend you start with.
When you finish selecting click Next to continue.
For those of you curious as to what all these package names mean, take a look at Cygwin Package List, for brief descriptions.
At this point the installation should show you how it is progressing with the download. There is nothing to do until it finishes downloading the files. Go have a cup of coffie and relax, this will take a while, even if you have a fast connection.
At this point I will assume you have downloaded the Cygwin application to a local directory. I will assume that you have the files saved in a directory named c:\download\cygwin . I will assume that you want to install the cygwin distribution into the directory c:\cygwin . If you wish to use different directories, just substitute your directories for the ones specified here. If you have one of the CD’s you will use that as the source directory.
For this installation you do not need to be connected to the internet. So if you are still connect to the internet, you can hang up now.
Now you need to select what to install. You can change what you view by clicking on the view button to select Category . Initially I would simply select the following packages: NOTE: yes this just like the step above. But this time you will be installing the packages not just downloading them.
When you finish selecting click Next to continue.
OR if you are feeling like you want finer control of what to install, click the view button to select Full. Here is the list of packages I recommend you start with. W
When you finish selecting click Next to continue.
You are done. You should find an icon like this on your screen. You double click it to start the shell.
Enjoy your new environment, it will give you a powerful command line upon which to start you learning process. I highly recommend Rute User’s Tutorial and Exposition as a good tutorial for learning about Linux.
Written by John F. Moore
Last Revised: Wed Oct 18 11:01:34 EDT 2017