Build OmniEdge for Windows

OmniEdge v2.x is built with Rust and Tauri. This guide covers building both the CLI and Desktop applications on Windows.

Supported Versions

• Windows 10 (1809+)
• Windows 11
• Windows Server 2019, 2022

Prerequisites

Install Visual Studio Build Tools

Download and install Visual Studio Build Tools:

1. Run the installer
2. Select "Desktop development with C++" workload
3. Ensure these components are selected:
   • MSVC v143 (or latest)
   • Windows 10/11 SDK
   • C++ CMake tools

Install Rust Toolchain

# Download and run rustup-init.exe from https://rustup.rs
# Or use winget:
winget install Rustlang.Rustup

# After installation, open a new terminal and verify:
rustc --version  # Should be 1.70+
cargo --version

Install Node.js (for Desktop)

# Using winget
winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS

# Or download from https://nodejs.org
# Verify:
node --version  # Should be 18+
npm --version

Build CLI

Clone and Build

git clone https://github.com/omniedgeio/omniedge.git
cd omniedge

# Build CLI in release mode
cargo build --release -p omni-cli

# Binary location
dir target\release\omniedge.exe

Install CLI

# Create directory and add to PATH
mkdir C:\omniedge
copy target\release\omniedge.exe C:\omniedge\

# Add to PATH (run as Administrator)
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", $env:Path + ";C:\omniedge", "Machine")

# Verify (open new terminal)
omniedge --version

Build Helper Service

cargo build --release -p omni-helper

# Copy helper
copy target\release\omni-helper.exe C:\omniedge\

Build Desktop Application

Build Desktop

cd apps\desktop

# Install npm dependencies
npm install

# Build Tauri app (creates .msi and .exe installers)
npm run tauri build

Build Output

Installers are created in apps\desktop\src-tauri\target\release\bundle\:

Install Desktop

# MSI installer (recommended)
msiexec /i apps\desktop\src-tauri\target\release\bundle\msi\OmniEdge_*.msi

# Or run NSIS installer
apps\desktop\src-tauri\target\release\bundle\nsis\OmniEdge_*-setup.exe

Development Mode

CLI Development

# Run CLI in debug mode
cargo run -p omni-cli -- --help

# Run with arguments
cargo run -p omni-cli -- status

Desktop Development

cd apps\desktop

# Start development server with hot reload
npm run tauri dev

Testing

# Run all tests
cargo test

# Run specific crate tests
cargo test -p omni-cli

Code Signing (Optional)

For production builds, you should sign the executables:

Sign with signtool

# Sign the executable
signtool sign /tr http://timestamp.digicert.com /td sha256 /fd sha256 /a target\release\omniedge.exe

Configure Tauri for Signing

Edit apps/desktop/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json:

{
  "bundle": {
    "windows": {
      "certificateThumbprint": "YOUR_CERT_THUMBPRINT",
      "timestampUrl": "http://timestamp.digicert.com"
    }
  }
}

Troubleshooting

MSVC Not Found

If you see "linker link.exe not found", ensure Visual Studio Build Tools are installed with the C++ workload.

WebView2 Missing

Tauri requires Microsoft Edge WebView2. It's included with Windows 11 and recent Windows 10 updates. If missing:

# Download WebView2 Runtime
winget install Microsoft.EdgeWebView2Runtime

Administrator Privileges

The helper service requires Administrator privileges for TUN interface management:

# Run as Administrator
Start-Process powershell -Verb RunAs -ArgumentList "omniedge start"

Windows Firewall

On first run, Windows may prompt to allow OmniEdge through the firewall. Click "Allow" to enable network access.

Build Without Desktop

If you only need the CLI and don't want to install Node.js:

# Build only CLI
cargo build --release -p omni-cli

# Build CLI and helper
cargo build --release -p omni-cli -p omni-helper

If you have more questions, feel free to discuss.