# Get the required software for Windows This page explains how to get the software you need to use a a Windows Server 2012 or Windows 8 machine for Docker development. Before you begin contributing you must have: - a GitHub account - Git for Windows (msysGit) - TDM-GCC, a compiler suite for Windows - MinGW (tar and xz) - Go language > **Note**: This installation procedure refers to the `C:\` drive. If you system's main drive is `D:\` you'll need to substitute that in where appropriate in these instructions. ### Get a GitHub account To contribute to the Docker project, you will need a GitHub account. A free account is fine. All the Docker project repositories are public and visible to everyone. You should also have some experience using both the GitHub application and `git` on the command line. ## Install Git for Windows Git for Windows includes several tools including msysGit, which is a build environment. The environment contains the tools you need for development such as Git and a Git Bash shell. 1. Browse to the [Git for Windows](https://msysgit.github.io/) download page. 2. Click **Download**. Windows prompts you to save the file to your machine. 3. Run the saved file. The system displays the **Git Setup** wizard. 4. Click the **Next** button to move through the wizard and accept all the defaults. 5. Click **Finish** when you are done. ## Installing TDM-GCC TDM-GCC is a compiler suite for Windows. You'll use this suite to compile the Docker Go code as you develop. 1. Browse to [tdm-gcc download page](http://tdm-gcc.tdragon.net/download). 2. Click on the latest 64-bit version of the package. Windows prompts you to save the file to your machine 3. Set up the suite by running the downloaded file. The system opens the **TDM-GCC Setup** wizard. 4. Click **Create**. 5. Click the **Next** button to move through the wizard and accept all the defaults. 6. Click **Finish** when you are done. ## Installing MinGW (tar and xz) MinGW is a minimalist port of the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC). In this procedure, you first download and install the MinGW installation manager. Then, you use the manager to install the `tar` and `xz` tools from the collection. 1. Browse to MinGW [SourceForge](http://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw/). 2. Click **Download**. Windows prompts you to save the file to your machine 3. Run the downloaded file. The system opens the **MinGW Installation Manager Setup Tool** 4. Choose **Install** install the MinGW Installation Manager. 5. Press **Continue**. The system installs and then opens the MinGW Installation Manager. 6. Press **Continue** after the install completes to open the manager. 7. Select **All Packages > MSYS Base System** from the left hand menu. The system displays the available packages. 8. Click on the the **msys-tar bin** package and choose **Mark for Installation**. 9. Click on the **msys-xz bin** package and choose **Mark for Installation**. 10. Select **Installation > Apply Changes**, to install the selected packages. The system displays the **Schedule of Pending Actions Dialog**.  11. Press **Apply** MingGW installs the packages for you. 12. Close the dialog and the MinGW Installation Manager. ## Set up your environment variables You'll need to add the compiler to your `Path` environment variable. 1. Open the **Control Panel**. 2. Choose **System and Security > System**. 3. Click the **Advanced system settings** link in the sidebar. The system opens the **System Properties** dialog. 3. Select the **Advanced** tab. 4. Click **Environment Variables**. The system opens the **Environment Variables dialog** dialog. 5. Locate the **System variables** area and scroll to the **Path** variable.  6. Click **Edit** to edit the variable (you can also double-click it). The system opens the **Edit System Variable** dialog. 7. Make sure the `Path` includes `C:\TDM-GCC64\bin`  If you don't see `C:\TDM-GCC64\bin`, add it. 8. Press **OK** to close this dialog. 9. Press **OK** twice to close out of the remaining dialogs. ## Install Go and cross-compile it In this section, you install the Go language. Then, you build the source so that it can cross-compile for `linux/amd64` architectures. 1. Open [Go Language download](http://golang.org/dl/) page in your browser. 2. Locate and click the latest `.msi` installer. The system prompts you to save the file. 3. Run the installer. The system opens the **Go Programming Language Setup** dialog. 4. Select all the defaults to install. 5. Press **Finish** to close the installation dialog. 6. Start a command prompt. 7. Change to the Go `src` directory. cd c:\Go\src 8. Set the following Go variables c:\Go\src> set GOOS=linux c:\Go\src> set GOARCH=amd64 9. Compile the source. c:\Go\src> make.bat Compiling the source also adds a number of variables to your Windows environment. ## Get the Docker repository In this step, you start a Git `bash` terminal and get the Docker source code from GitHub. 1. Locate the **Git Bash** program and start it. Recall that **Git Bash** came with the Git for Windows installation. **Git Bash** just as it sounds allows you to run a Bash terminal on Windows.  2. Change to the root directory. $ cd /c/ 3. Make a `gopath` directory. $ mkdir gopath 4. Go get the `docker/docker` repository. $ go.exe get github.com/docker/docker package github.com/docker/docker imports github.com/docker/docker imports github.com/docker/docker: no buildable Go source files in C:\gopath\src\github.com\docker\docker In the next steps, you create environment variables for you Go paths. 5. Open the **Control Panel** on your system. 6. Choose **System and Security > System**. 7. Click the **Advanced system settings** link in the sidebar. The system opens the **System Properties** dialog. 8. Select the **Advanced** tab. 9. Click **Environment Variables**. The system opens the **Environment Variables dialog** dialog. 10. Locate the **System variables** area and scroll to the **Path** variable. 11. Click **New**. Now you are going to create some new variables. These paths you'll create in the next procedure; but you can set them now. 12. Enter `GOPATH` for the **Variable Name**. 13. For the **Variable Value** enter the following: C:\gopath;C:\gopath\src\github.com\docker\docker\vendor 14. Press **OK** to close this dialog. The system adds `GOPATH` to the list of **System Variables**. 15. Press **OK** twice to close out of the remaining dialogs. ## Where to go next In the next section, you'll [learn how to set up and configure Git for contributing to Docker](/project/set-up-git/).