Building Sai Builder for windows

The overall flow is

• build lws - build libgit2 - build sai-builder piggybacking on pthreads built for lws

Building lws

Refer to the instructions in lws for how to install cmake, git and the toolchain on windows also used in the next steps here.

For windows + sai-builder, the following lws cmake config is suitable

> cmake .. -DLWS_WITH_JOSE=1 -DLWS_HAVE_PTHREAD_H=1 -DLWS_EXT_PTHREAD_INCLUDE_DIR="C:\Program Files (x86)\pthreads\include" -DLWS_EXT_PTHREAD_LIBRARIES="C:\Program Files (x86)\pthreads\lib\x64\libpthreadGC2.a" -DLWS_WITH_MINIMAL_EXAMPLES=1 -DLWS_WITH_THREADPOOL=1 -DLWS_UNIX_SOCK=1 -DLWS_WITH_STRUCT_JSON=1 -DLWS_WITH_SPAWN=1 -DLWS_WITH_SECURE_STREAMS=1 -DLWS_WITH_DIR=1  

Building libgit2

> git clone https://github.com/libgit2/libgit2.git
> cd libgit2 ; mkdir build ; cd build
> cmake .. -DBUILD_CLAR=OFF
> cmake --build . --config DEBUG

I couldn't get runas to do anything useful, I opened an Admin-privileged cmd window and did

> cd \Users\agreen\libgit2\build
> cmake --install . --config DEBUG
> exit

Building Sai-builder

> git clone https://warmcat.com/repo/sai
> cd sai ; mkdir build ; cd build
> cmake .. -DSAI_MASTER=0 -DSAI_LWS_INC_PATH="\Users\agreen\libwebsockets\build\include" -DSAI_LWS_LIB_PATH="\Users\agreen\libwebsockets\build\lib\Debug\websockets_static.lib" -DLWS_OPENSSL_INCLUDE_DIRS="\Program Files\OpenSSL\include" -DSAI_GIT2_INC_PATH="\Program Files (x86)\libgit2\include" -DSAI_GIT2_LIB_PATH="\Program Files (x86)\libgit2\lib\git2.lib" -DSAI_EXT_PTHREAD_INCLUDE_DIR="C:\Program Files (x86)\pthreads\include" -DLWS_OPENSSL_LIBRARIES="\Program Files\OpenSSL\lib\libcrypto.lib;\Program Files\OpenSSL\lib\libssl.lib"  -DSAI_EXT_PTHREAD_LIBRARIES="C:\Program Files (x86)\pthreads\lib\x64\libpthreadGC2.a" 

Configuring Sai-builder

>net user sai /add

As administrator

> mkdir \ProgramData\sai\builder

Then create the config JSON in \ProgramData\sai\builder\conf, using the platform name windows-10.

Running as a service with sai user

Building

Building on Windows follows the standard CMake flow. You can perform the build as a standard user.

cd sai
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
cmake --build . --config Debug

Then in a Command Prompt with Administrator rights

cd "\User\your-build-user\sai\build"
cmake --install . --config Debug

This will collect the needed files into "C:Program Files (x86)saibin"

Setup for Service Execution

To run sai-builder as a Windows Service under a specific unprivileged user (e.g., .\sai), follow these steps.

1. Create the User

If the sai user does not exist, create it. Open a Command Prompt as Administrator.

net user sai <password> /add /passwordchg:no /expires:never

2. Grant Privileges

The sai user needs permission to: 1. Log on as a Service: Windows usually grants this automatically when you register the service with a specific user, but you can check it in secpol.msc. 2. Shut down the system: If you want the builder to handle power management (suspend/shutdown).

To grant rights: 1. Run secpol.msc (Local Security Policy). 2. Go to Local Policies -> User Rights Assignment. 3. Find Shut down the system. 4. Double-click, click Add User or Group, type sai, check Names, and OK. 5. (Optional) Ensure Log on as a service also includes sai.

3. Install the Service

Open a Command Prompt as Administrator (Right-click Start -> Command Prompt (Admin) or PowerShell (Admin)).

Run the following sc create command. Note: The space after the = sign in options like binPath= is mandatory.

Replace the paths and password with your actual values.

sc create SaiBuilder binPath= "c:\Program Files (x86)\sai\bin\sai-builder.exe --service" DisplayName= "Sai Builder" start= auto obj= ".\sai" password="password-for-sai-account" 

4. Manage the Service

You can now start and stop the builder using standard Windows commands (Administrator required):

sc start SaiBuilder
sc stop SaiBuilder

To view logs or status, check the standard sai-builder logs (configured in your JSON config) or the Event Viewer (Application log) if the service fails to start immediately.