Running builds on Windows

AppVeyor BYOC allows connecting an existing Windows computer (your workstation, cloud VM or the server in your LAN) and running builds directly on the host operating system.

• Requirements
• Assisted setup
• Manual setup
  • Add new build cloud
  • Add new build worker image
  • Install AppVeyor Host Agent
  • Changing Host Agent authorization token

Requirements

• Supported operating system:
  • Windows 10 Version 1607 x64 and later
  • Windows Server 2012 R2 SP1 x64 and later
  • Windows 8.1 x64
  • Windows 7 SP1 x64
• Computer must be connected to the internet;
• Git, Mercurial or Subversion depending on the repository of your choice.

Assisted setup

Following cloud configuration wizard is the fastest and the easiest way to configure Windows computer to run your builds. At the end of the wizard you’ll be given a few commands that you run on the target computer to get it up and running in AppVeyor.

In AppVeyor web portal:

• Select Self-hosted jobs in the top menu;
• Click Add cloud to start “Add your own cloud” wizard;
• Choose Your computer, Windows and click Next;
• Follow the instructions. Connect-AppVeyorToComputer cmdlet (source) will configure a new cloud, install AppVeyor Host Agent on the computer and connect it to the cloud.
• Click Finish to return to BYOC page and make sure the status of created cloud is Active meaning Host Agent was able to connect to AppVeyor.
• Update project settings to run builds on your computer.

Manual setup

For better understanding/control of the process or troubleshooting below are the instructions for manual configuration of builds on Windows computer.

Add new build cloud

In AppVeyor web portal:

• Select Self-hosted jobs in the top menu;
• Click Add cloud then choose Add cloud manually;
• Choose Process cloud type.
• Specify Cloud name, for example Mike's computer and generate Host agent authorization token (or provide your own - it’s basically AppVeyor Host Agent identifier and the password it connects to AppVeyor with);
• Click Add to create the cloud.

Add new build worker image

• On BYOC page navigate to Images and click Add image;
• Specify Windows as Name and choose Windows in OS type dropdown;
• Click Add to create the image.

Install AppVeyor Host Agent

AppVeyor Host Agent is a lightweight service running on your Windows machine that connects to AppVeyor and runs your builds.

Download the latest AppVeyor Host Agent and follow the installation wizard.

Alternatively, use this PowerShell script (run in elevated mode) to download and install Host Agent service:

$auth_token = '<your-host-authorization-token-here>'
$appveyor_url = 'https://ci.appveyor.com' # change to your AppVeyor URL if connecting to a self-hosted AppVeyor Server installation

(New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadFile("https://www.appveyor.com/downloads/appveyor/appveyor-host-agent.msi", "$env:temp\appveyor-host-agent.msi")
cmd /c msiexec /i "$env:temp\appveyor-host-agent.msi" /quiet APPVEYOR_URL=$appveyor_url HOST_AUTHORIZATION_TOKEN=$auth_token

Make sure the service is running:

Get-Service Appveyor.HostAgent

Changing Host Agent authorization token

If you need to change Host Agent authorization token to connect the agent to a different cloud you can update Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Appveyor\HostAgent\AuthorizationToken value in Windows Registry.

After changing authorization token stop Host Agent service:

Stop-Service Appveyor.HostAgent

delete Host Agent database file host-agent.db in %ProgramData%\AppVeyor\HostAgent directory and start Host Agent service again:

Start-Service Appveyor.HostAgent