From: "Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget" <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
To: git@vger.kernel.org
Cc: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>,
Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
Subject: [PATCH 12/12] mingw: allow `git.exe` to be used instead of the "Git wrapper"
Date: Wed, 05 Aug 2026 14:26:38 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <f822133191c9cca40477fb1bdd5d1416c9fe66c1.1785939999.git.gitgitgadget@gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <pull.2195.git.1785939999.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
From: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
Git for Windows wants to add `git.exe` to the users' `PATH`, without
cluttering the latter with unnecessary executables such as `wish.exe`.
To that end, it invented the concept of its "Git wrapper", i.e. a tiny
executable located in `C:\Program Files\Git\cmd\git.exe` (originally a
CMD script) whose sole purpose is to set up a couple of environment
variables and then spawn the _actual_ `git.exe` (which nowadays lives in
`C:\Program Files\Git\mingw64\bin\git.exe` for 64-bit, and the obvious
equivalent for 32-bit installations).
Currently, the following environment variables are set unless already
initialized:
- `MSYSTEM`, to make sure that the MSYS2 Bash and the MSYS2 Perl
interpreter behave as expected, and
- `PLINK_PROTOCOL`, to force PuTTY's `plink.exe` to use the SSH
protocol instead of Telnet,
- `PATH`, to make sure that the `bin` folder in the user's home
directory, as well as the `/mingw64/bin` and the `/usr/bin`
directories are included. The trick here is that the `/mingw64/bin/`
and `/usr/bin/` directories are relative to the top-level installation
directory of Git for Windows (which the included Bash interprets as
`/`, i.e. as the MSYS pseudo root directory).
Using the absence of `MSYSTEM` as a tell-tale, we can detect in
`git.exe` whether these environment variables have been initialized
properly. Therefore we can call `C:\Program Files\Git\mingw64\bin\git`
in-place after this change, without having to call Git through the Git
wrapper.
Obviously, above-mentioned directories must be _prepended_ to the `PATH`
variable, otherwise we risk picking up executables from unrelated Git
installations. We do that by constructing the new `PATH` value from
scratch, appending `$HOME/bin` (if `HOME` is set), then the MSYS2 system
directories, and then appending the original `PATH`.
Side note: this modification of the `PATH` variable is independent of
the modification necessary to reach the executables and scripts in
`/mingw64/libexec/git-core/`, i.e. the `GIT_EXEC_PATH`. That
modification is still performed by Git, elsewhere, long after making the
changes described above.
While we _still_ cannot simply hard-link `mingw64\bin\git.exe` to `cmd`
(because the former depends on a couple of `.dll` files that are only in
`mingw64\bin`, i.e. calling `...\cmd\git.exe` would fail to load due to
missing dependencies), at least we can now avoid that extra process of
running the Git wrapper (which then has to wait for the spawned
`git.exe` to finish) by calling `...\mingw64\bin\git.exe` directly, via
its absolute path.
Testing this is in Git's test suite tricky: we set up a "new" MSYS
pseudo-root and copy the `git.exe` file into the appropriate location,
then verify that `MSYSTEM` is set properly, and also that the `PATH` is
modified so that scripts can be found in `$HOME/bin`, `/mingw64/bin/`
and `/usr/bin/`.
This addresses https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/issues/2283
Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
---
compat/mingw.c | 65 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
config.mak.uname | 8 ++++--
t/t0060-path-utils.sh | 33 +++++++++++++++++++++-
3 files changed, 103 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index afdc1ef2db..563e6299bc 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -3134,6 +3134,45 @@ int xwcstoutf(char *utf, const wchar_t *wcs, size_t utflen)
return -1;
}
+#ifdef ENSURE_MSYSTEM_IS_SET
+#if !defined(RUNTIME_PREFIX) || !defined(HAVE_WPGMPTR) || !defined(MINGW_PREFIX)
+static size_t append_system_bin_dirs(char *path UNUSED, size_t size UNUSED)
+{
+ return 0;
+}
+#else
+static size_t append_system_bin_dirs(char *path, size_t size)
+{
+ char prefix[32768];
+ const char *slash;
+ size_t len = xwcstoutf(prefix, _wpgmptr, sizeof(prefix)), off = 0;
+
+ if (len == 0 || len >= sizeof(prefix) ||
+ !(slash = find_last_dir_sep(prefix)))
+ return 0;
+ /* strip trailing `git.exe` */
+ len = slash - prefix;
+
+ /* strip trailing `cmd` or `<mingw-prefix>\bin` or `bin` or `libexec\git-core` */
+ if (strip_suffix_mem(prefix, &len, "\\" MINGW_PREFIX "\\libexec\\git-core") ||
+ strip_suffix_mem(prefix, &len, "\\" MINGW_PREFIX "\\bin"))
+ off += xsnprintf(path + off, size - off,
+ "%.*s\\" MINGW_PREFIX "\\bin;", (int)len, prefix);
+ else if (strip_suffix_mem(prefix, &len, "\\cmd") ||
+ strip_suffix_mem(prefix, &len, "\\bin") ||
+ strip_suffix_mem(prefix, &len, "\\libexec\\git-core"))
+ off += xsnprintf(path + off, size - off,
+ "%.*s\\" MINGW_PREFIX "\\bin;", (int)len, prefix);
+ else
+ return 0;
+
+ off += xsnprintf(path + off, size - off,
+ "%.*s\\usr\\bin;", (int)len, prefix);
+ return off;
+}
+#endif
+#endif
+
static void setup_windows_environment(void)
{
char *tmp = getenv("TMPDIR");
@@ -3186,6 +3225,32 @@ static void setup_windows_environment(void)
setenv("HOME", tmp, 1);
}
+ if (!getenv("PLINK_PROTOCOL"))
+ setenv("PLINK_PROTOCOL", "ssh", 0);
+
+#ifdef ENSURE_MSYSTEM_IS_SET
+ if (!(tmp = getenv("MSYSTEM")) || !tmp[0]) {
+ const char *home = getenv("HOME"), *path = getenv("PATH");
+ char buf[32768];
+ size_t off = 0;
+
+ setenv("MSYSTEM", ENSURE_MSYSTEM_IS_SET, 1);
+
+ if (home)
+ off += xsnprintf(buf + off, sizeof(buf) - off,
+ "%s\\bin;", home);
+ off += append_system_bin_dirs(buf + off, sizeof(buf) - off);
+ if (path)
+ off += xsnprintf(buf + off, sizeof(buf) - off,
+ "%s", path);
+ else if (off > 0)
+ buf[off - 1] = '\0';
+ else
+ buf[0] = '\0';
+ setenv("PATH", buf, 1);
+ }
+#endif
+
if (!getenv("LC_ALL") && !getenv("LC_CTYPE") && !getenv("LANG"))
setenv("LC_CTYPE", "C.UTF-8", 1);
}
diff --git a/config.mak.uname b/config.mak.uname
index 2f7d445eb3..0b63be10b7 100644
--- a/config.mak.uname
+++ b/config.mak.uname
@@ -535,7 +535,9 @@ endif
compat/win32/pthread.o compat/win32/syslog.o \
compat/win32/trace2_win32_process_info.o \
compat/win32/dirent.o
- COMPAT_CFLAGS = -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS -DDETECT_MSYS_TTY -DNOGDI -DHAVE_STRING_H -Icompat -Icompat/regex -Icompat/win32 -DSTRIP_EXTENSION=\".exe\"
+ COMPAT_CFLAGS = -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS -DDETECT_MSYS_TTY \
+ -DENSURE_MSYSTEM_IS_SET="\"$(MSYSTEM)\"" -DMINGW_PREFIX="\"$(patsubst /%,%,$(MINGW_PREFIX))\"" \
+ -DNOGDI -DHAVE_STRING_H -Icompat -Icompat/regex -Icompat/win32 -DSTRIP_EXTENSION=\".exe\"
BASIC_LDFLAGS = -IGNORE:4217 -IGNORE:4049 -NOLOGO -ENTRY:wmainCRTStartup -SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE
# invalidcontinue.obj allows Git's source code to close the same file
# handle twice, or to access the osfhandle of an already-closed stdout
@@ -758,7 +760,9 @@ ifeq ($(uname_S),MINGW)
prefix = $(MINGW_PREFIX)
HOST_CPU = $(patsubst %-w64-mingw32,%,$(MINGW_CHOST))
BASIC_LDFLAGS += -Wl,--pic-executable
- COMPAT_CFLAGS += -DDETECT_MSYS_TTY
+ COMPAT_CFLAGS += -DDETECT_MSYS_TTY \
+ -DENSURE_MSYSTEM_IS_SET="\"$(MSYSTEM)\"" \
+ -DMINGW_PREFIX="\"$(patsubst /%,%,$(MINGW_PREFIX))\""
ifeq (MINGW32,$(MSYSTEM))
BASIC_LDFLAGS += -Wl,--large-address-aware
endif
diff --git a/t/t0060-path-utils.sh b/t/t0060-path-utils.sh
index 8545cdfab5..56faf5fe73 100755
--- a/t/t0060-path-utils.sh
+++ b/t/t0060-path-utils.sh
@@ -602,7 +602,8 @@ test_expect_success !VALGRIND,RUNTIME_PREFIX,CAN_EXEC_IN_PWD 'RUNTIME_PREFIX wor
echo "echo HERE" | write_script pretend/libexec/git-core/git-here &&
GIT_EXEC_PATH= ./pretend/bin/git here >actual &&
echo HERE >expect &&
- test_cmp expect actual'
+ test_cmp expect actual
+'
test_expect_success !VALGRIND,RUNTIME_PREFIX,CAN_EXEC_IN_PWD '%(prefix)/ works' '
git config yes.path "%(prefix)/yes" &&
@@ -611,4 +612,34 @@ test_expect_success !VALGRIND,RUNTIME_PREFIX,CAN_EXEC_IN_PWD '%(prefix)/ works'
test_cmp expect actual
'
+test_expect_success MINGW,RUNTIME_PREFIX 'MSYSTEM/PATH is adjusted if necessary' '
+ if test -z "$MINGW_PREFIX"
+ then
+ MINGW_PREFIX="/$(echo "${MSYSTEM:-MINGW64}" | tr A-Z a-z)"
+ fi &&
+ mkdir -p "$HOME"/bin pretend"$MINGW_PREFIX"/bin \
+ pretend"$MINGW_PREFIX"/libexec/git-core pretend/usr/bin &&
+ cp "$GIT_EXEC_PATH"/git.exe pretend"$MINGW_PREFIX"/bin/ &&
+ cp "$GIT_EXEC_PATH"/git.exe pretend"$MINGW_PREFIX"/libexec/git-core/ &&
+ # copy the .dll files, if any (happens when building via CMake)
+ if test -n "$(ls "$GIT_EXEC_PATH"/*.dll 2>/dev/null)"
+ then
+ cp "$GIT_EXEC_PATH"/*.dll pretend"$MINGW_PREFIX"/bin/ &&
+ cp "$GIT_EXEC_PATH"/*.dll pretend"$MINGW_PREFIX"/libexec/git-core/
+ fi &&
+ echo "env | grep MSYSTEM=" | write_script "$HOME"/bin/git-test-home &&
+ echo "echo ${MINGW_PREFIX#/}" | write_script pretend"$MINGW_PREFIX"/bin/git-test-bin &&
+ echo "echo usr" | write_script pretend/usr/bin/git-test-bin2 &&
+
+ (
+ MSYSTEM= &&
+ GIT_EXEC_PATH= &&
+ pretend"$MINGW_PREFIX"/libexec/git-core/git.exe test-home >actual &&
+ pretend"$MINGW_PREFIX"/libexec/git-core/git.exe test-bin >>actual &&
+ pretend"$MINGW_PREFIX"/bin/git.exe test-bin2 >>actual
+ ) &&
+ test_write_lines MSYSTEM=$MSYSTEM "${MINGW_PREFIX#/}" usr >expect &&
+ test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
test_done
--
gitgitgadget
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-08-05 14:27 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 17+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-08-05 14:26 [PATCH 00/12] Upstream some more Git for Windows' patches Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-08-05 14:26 ` [PATCH 01/12] mingw: include the Python parts in the build Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-08-05 14:26 ` [PATCH 02/12] mingw: stop hard-coding `CC = gcc` Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-08-05 14:26 ` [PATCH 03/12] mingw: drop the -D_USE_32BIT_TIME_T option Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-08-05 14:26 ` [PATCH 04/12] mingw: only use -Wl,--large-address-aware for 32-bit builds Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-08-05 14:26 ` [PATCH 05/12] mingw: avoid over-specifying `--pic-executable` Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-08-05 14:26 ` [PATCH 06/12] mingw: set the prefix and HOST_CPU as per MSYS2's settings Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-08-05 14:26 ` [PATCH 07/12] mingw: only enable the MSYS2-specific stuff when compiling in MSYS2 Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-08-05 14:26 ` [PATCH 08/12] mingw: rely on MSYS2's metadata instead of hard-coding it Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-08-05 17:29 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-08-06 12:50 ` Johannes Schindelin
2026-08-05 14:26 ` [PATCH 09/12] windows: skip linking `git-<command>` for built-ins Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-08-05 17:12 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-08-05 14:26 ` [PATCH 10/12] mingw: always define `ETC_*` for MSYS2 environments Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-08-05 14:26 ` [PATCH 11/12] mingw: ensure valid CTYPE Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-08-05 14:26 ` Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget [this message]
2026-08-06 17:26 ` [PATCH 12/12] mingw: allow `git.exe` to be used instead of the "Git wrapper" Junio C Hamano
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