CoApp - Installing the CoApp Developer Tools for PowerShell

Documentation Sprint

We're starting a documentation phase right now, since there's so much that people can do, but there's little documentation.

Keep checking back daily to see what's new!

In the twittersphere...

Version:1

Requirements

Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8

You need these or later versions of Windows because the tools require Powershell 3.0
PowerShell 3.0

Windows 8 - Installed by default
Windows 7 or Windows Vista - Install from http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34595
NuGet 2.5 or later

2.5 Release : https://nuget.codeplex.com/releases
Install the Visual Studio Integration component (VSIX)
CoApp PowerShell Tools

Stable 'beta' release : /files/CoApp.Tools.Powershell.msi
Optional:

Installing the package

Installation is simple -- as long as you have PowerShell 3.0 installed, just download and run the CoApp PowerShell tools MSI installer.

First Time Installation Issue
One quick issue: When the installer runs the first time, Windows Installer doesn't always refresh the environment variables like it should. To make sure that the PSMODULEPATH environment variable is correctly set for new PowerShell console Windows, you either have to: reboot,

Or, force Explorer.EXE to reload the environment, (and thereby avoiding a reboot) by opening a PowerShell console and running the following:

# Forces Explorer.exe to realize the environment has changed.
[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("PSMODULEPATH", [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("PSMODULEPATH", "User") , "User")

Then, close that PowerShell Window, and open a new one.
This step is not needed on updates.

Once we switch to using the CoApp package manager to ship the tools, this issue will go away.

Updating the tools to the latest version

Once you have the CoApp PowerShell tools installed, you can update to the latest stable version:

Update-CoAppTools -KillPowershells

Or update to the latest beta version:

Update-CoAppTools -KillPowershells -Beta

Getting Started building C/C++ packages

We have:
- Tutorials and
- online reference pages,
- and even a video tutorial you can watch.

When you need a bit more help...

Tim and I are nearly always hanging out during the day on IRC at irc://irc.freenode.net/#coapp

When stuff breaks, you can even file a bug.

And if you're at you're wit's end you can:
- tweet me @fearthecowboy
- or heck, even just email me directly: garretts@microsoft.com -- (brave, eh?)