Developer Initial Setup for Windows¶

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On Windows, Project AirSim can be developed with either Visual Studio 2019 or VS Code. VS Code is convenient because it provides a lighter-weight, cross-platform common experience between Windows and Linux.

Setup¶

A) To develop with VS Code:

First, install the VS 2022 C++ build tools with:
- Desktop development with C++ workload
- .NET Framework 4.8 SDK individual component
- (no).NET Core SDK individual component
Second, install VS Code with the following extensions:

Note: If not manually installed, these extensions will be recommended for automatic install on opening the Project AirSim project workspace
- CMake Tools
- C/C++ (includes clang-format functionality, use Alt-Shift-F to auto-format the current code file using the repo’s .clang-format settings)
- CodeLLDB
- C#
- Mono Debug
- C++ TestMate (also automatically installs Test Explorer UI)
- Python
- Pylance
Third, see Optional VS Code User Settings for some example customized user settings that can help with Project AirSim development.

B) To develop with Visual Studio 2019:

Install Visual Studio 2019 with:
- Desktop development with C++ workload
- .NET Framework 4.8 SDK individual component
- .NET Core SDK individual component
Install the Epic Games Launcher and install Unreal Engine 5.2 binary (requires Epic account log-in). While selecting the engine version to install, there is also an Options section where you can enable downloading Editor symbols for debugging (~30 GB) if desired. Note: Installing the engine can take a long time (~1 hour).
Set a Windows environment variable for UE_ROOT to the installed folder, either through the Control Panel section Edit environment variables for your account, or by using the command line:
```
setx UE_ROOT "C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_5.2"

<restart the command prompt to refresh environment variables>
```
Unreal Engine on Windows defaults to using DirectX 11 for rendering, so you may need to install the latest GPU driver and DirectX updates. However, if you want to use Vulkan for rendering instead, you may need to install the Vulkan SDK.
Install Git for Windows (including Git Credential Manager).
Clone the Project AirSim repo (HTTPS authentication is recommended for using Git Credential Manager):

git clone https://github.com/microsoft/ProjectAirSim.git
Do the Project AirSim Client Setup.

Now you’re ready to start Developing Project AirSim Sim Libs