Last updated August 21, 2015. Created on October 3, 2009.
Edited by Manjit.SinghSebCorbinpkiffhansfnLog in to edit this page.

Install Drush on Windows - The easy way.

Follow the Windows-specific instructions provided on Github: 
http://docs.drush.org/en/master/install/#windows-zip-package

You should find a link to a Windows installer there. Here is the current link (as of 28 January 2015):
https://github.com/drush-ops/drush/releases/download/6.0.0/Drush-6.0-201...

The Windows installer is compiled and managed separately from the rest of the Drush github repository, and so you should not be surprised if the MSI installer version offered does not quite match the latest version of Drush.

As of September, 2014, the Drush 6 Windows installers works well on Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8. This is the recommended method for installing Drush on Windows. It is is much simpler than the manual processes described below.


You may want to read the either of the following articles if you want to install Drush 6 or 7 on a Windows machine.


How to manually upgrade to Drush 5.x and 6.x on Windows XP and 7

Drush 5.7 Makes does not work in Windows 7 - but drush 6 does!

The Drush Make command does not work in Windows 7 / Vista, when using Drush release 5.5, 5.6, or 5.7. However, the current development version of Drush fixes this issue!

So, if you still cannot find an suitable Drush installer for your Windows version, take a look at this article, How to manually upgrade to Drush 5.x and 6.x on Windows XP and 7, which provides detailed instructions for manually installing the latest development version of Drush in Windows.


Install Drush on Windows - The hard way.

The most recent official Drush readme.txt file contains the basics of installing drush. Some special considerations need to be made when installing on windows. The following Tutorial is for Drush 5 and based on the process outlined at: http://drupal.org/node/330023 

Some people recommend viewing Installing WAMP, Drush & Drupal on Windows 7 which follows the instructions below.

Follow the instructions below to install Drush on Windows the hard way (possibly useful if you had trouble with the installer above).

Step by Step

  1. Open http://drupal.org/project/drush and download and extract "All-versions-5.x-dev" to C:\ so drush.bat can be found at C:\drush\drush.bat.
  2. Install the following external applications.
  3. Use bsdtar for tar. Its more reliable. Copy the file C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin\bsdtar.exe to C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin\tar.exe
  4. Set PATH environment variable to include drush, php, and binaries installed above.
    add something like this line to the end of the current value
    ;C:\php;C:\drush;C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin

    Note : If you have different path of php then change it.
    In my case i have following path
    ;C:\xampp\php;C:\drush;C:\Program Files(x86)\GnuWin32\bin

    The semicolon separates the paths. Paths are those to: php.exe, drush.bat location,and tar/gzip/wget binaries. You will need to reopen your shell/command prompt window to have the path variables refreshed.
    or enter on the command line: setx PATH "%PATH%;C:\ProgramData\Drush\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Drush\GnuWin32\bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\Drush\Php;C:\Program Files (x86)\Drush\cwRsync\bin;"
  5. Open the Command Prompt, type "drush status" and hit enter. You should see the following output:
      PHP configuration      :  C:\php\php.ini
      Drush version             :  5.0-dev
      Drush configuration   :
      Drush alias files         :

    If you did, installation is complete. If not, keep on reading.

  6. This step may no longer be needed. See comments.
    Now you need to locate your drush.bat file which is located in the root directory of your drush module
    "C:\path-to-drush\drush.bat".
    Open this file and append the full path to the drush.php file:
    c:\php\php.exe C:\drush\drush.php %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
    For drush-2.1/3.1:
    You just need to put the full path to php, no need to put the full path to drush:
    c:\php\php.exe "%~dp0drush.php" %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9

Check how to upgrade drush in windows to work with drupal 8
here.


Other How Tos for Installing Drush on Windows

Gotchas for Windows

Configuration files (i.e. site alias files) locations

If you are using the drush.ws Windows installer and have not modified the installation paths, etc., finding where to set up your Drush alias files is challenging. The information is there, but not readily accessible. Drush will look through a sequence of directories, each less specific to a site than the other as defined in the C:\ProgramData\examples\example.drushrc.php file. In those comment, the references are for Linux based operating system. On Windows the following locations should help:

  • #4, the User's .drush folder, is usually located at C:\Users\user_name\.drush. But that location is determined by the environment variables HOME or HOMEDRIVE/HOMEPATH. Double check by a SET command at the command line.
  • #6, the Drush installation folder, is usually located at C:\ProgramData\Drush. In this case do not use a .drush subdirectory, put the files into the installation folder.

Install Script

Notes below Will be converted into batch install script

# install gzip, tar, wget command line binaries
# download drush.  Using c:\drush as location in this example
# set PATH environment variables
# edit drush.bat

Above Directions Work on...

  • Windows server 2008. R2 Tested by: johnbarclay (11/14/2010)
  • Windows server 2008. Tested by: johnbarclay (10/2/2009)
  • Windows Vista 64-bit Business. Tested by: Gman (10/20/2009)
  • Windows Vista 32-bit Business. Tested by: buckley (2010-01-10)
  • Windows Vista 32-bit Home Premium. Tested by: decibel.places (2010-10-27)
  • Windows XP SP3 32-bit. Tested by: phoenix (10/23/2009)
  • Windows XP SP2 32-bit. Tested by: vmi (01/19/2012)
  • Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit. Tested by: azovsky (06/29/2010)
  • Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit. Tested by: kurkuma (02/07/2011)
  • Windows 8 Professional 64-bit. Tested by: pvasili (10/07/201.)

Looking for support? Visit the Drupal.org forums, or join #drupal-support in IRC.

Comments

Although this is elaborated on the issue resolution - it should be clarified here also. The PATH environment variable should be assigned by going to My Computer > Right-click any blank area inside window > Properties > Advanced tab > Environment Variables > System Variables > select PATH & edit as described.

This instruction is for Windows XP SP3 32-bit.

Thank you,
Ivan

On Windows 8.1, for reasons I don't understand, drush 6.0 installed fine via the windows installer and ran from the DOS command window, but would not run from the git bash window. Only the system path was recognized. I added the PHP path to the system path, and it work. I removed it (leaving it in the user path), and it still worked. Perhaps some odd caching??

On windows XP, %* works and accept all arguments, so I'm not sure you need to put %1 %2..., although setting up this would limit you to 9 arguments...

Works on Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

I tried this
drush dl cck
i get an alert saying libssl32.dll not found
It didnt work even after installin .dll file

A little variation that works for me.

1. Added path

;C:\Program Files (x86)\PHP;C:\inetpub\wwwroot\drush;C:\Program Files (x86)\GnuWin32\bin;C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.1\bin

2. For drush.bat, keep the original. No need to change anything. Although as recommend to put the full path to php.

Drush ruless !

Due to respect to all experienced ppl, how do I copy an .exe to another .exe? I dont understand the following instruction:

Copy the file C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin\bsdtar.exe to C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin\tar.exe

???

Check out the installation video mentioned above, athttp://vimeo.com/15371661 , as it shows the process.

dawehner’s picture

It looks like I also need SSH. Can't find it within gnuwin. Any clues?

dawehner’s picture

Generally speaking, you don't need ssh to install drush on windows on a personal development environment such as your laptop. If you are trying to connect to a remote server, then you may need ssh, in which case you can either use PuTTY or Cygwin. You can see more information here.

If you are trying to follow these instructions on a server, you might run into a few problems because you probably won't have the permissions to install the gnuwin32 programs or alter the path variables. You'll have to talk to your hosting provider.

decibel.places’s picture

$ drush or $drush.bat both work on Windows
I was under the impression that I had to call drush.bat on Windows but drush works fine as an alias

dawehner’s picture

I've not been successful. there are some known issues but was hoping someone had a workaround. I'm at the point of building a virtual linux stack on my windows machine...

dawehner’s picture

I have successfully installed drush on Win7, independently of my WAMP (http://www.wampserver.com/en/) installation (drush in its own directory outside WAMP and with a different version of php).
The layout is like this:
c:\wamp
e:\drush
e:\gnuwin32
e:\php <-- used with drush (zipped, not installed)

thamas’s picture

When using xampp on windows you may get warnings like "PHP Startup: Unable to load dynamic library (...)".

In this case look at the php.ini file (since xampp 1.7.1 in the xampp\php folder see:http://www.apachefriends.org/en/faq-xampp-windows.html#phpini).

I had to change the line 'extension_dir = "\xampp\php\ext"' to 'extension_dir = "E:\xampp\php\ext"' and do the same for browscap.

dawehner’s picture

If you download the zip versions of the binary packages, do not forget to download the dependencies as well.

dawehner’s picture

when I open the bat file I just get @echo off
REM See http://drupal.org/node/506448 for more information.
@php.exe "%~dp0drush.php" %*

what am i supposed to do to the bat file?

dawehner’s picture

Can someone clarify Step 2? Copy to the directory? Why is it telling us to copy to the ...exe file?

decibel.places’s picture

it means: Copy AND RENAME the file C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin\bsdtar.exe to C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin\tar.exe

In shell scripting the copy command can also rename a file, so copying to a new filename implies renaming it.

You should learn how to use the Windows command terminal (cmd.exe) which basically uses DOS syntax. You will need to use it for Drush on Windows. There are also replacements for the default teminal, such as Console.

dawehner’s picture

My path to php c:\wamp\bin\php
path to Drush c:\wamp\www\drush

I ran "drush' on cmd and get the following :
'php.exe' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
What may I have done wrong ?

dawehner’s picture

Never mind. I had path to php.exe wrongly declared in drush.bat . It works now !

dawehner’s picture

Hi, I've got problem with dosn't working Drush on Windows 7. I have instaled Apache+PHP+Mysql server.
When I want to start Drush I've got information about absence php_mbstring.dll library despite of it's in c:\Program Files\PHP\ext\ catalog. Although it dosn't found OCI.dll; aspell-15.dll; libcs.dll libraries.
I've got instaled Gzip; Libarchive; Wget; Tar programes. In "Control Panel > System > Advanced System Settings > Environment Variables->Path".
I have path "C:\Program Files\PHP;C:\drush;C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin;C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.1\bin".
In file drush.bat I've code;
"@c:\Program Files\PHP\php.exe "%~dp0drush.php" %*
@c:\Program Files\PHP\php.exe C:\drush\drush.php %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9"

decibel.places’s picture

Try using an integrated WAMP distro - it looks like you installed Apache and PHP and MySQL separately and may have configuration problems.

I use Xampp for Windows

There is also a Dev Desktop by Acquia that includes the *AMP stack and Drupal

I am using Xampp and I can confirm that Drush is working on Windows 7. My command line looks like this with PHP included in xampp. Notice that I am not using the C:/Program Files/ directory at all, it's in the root:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

c:\xampp\htdocs\drupal71>drush status

c:\xampp\htdocs\drupal71>c:\xampp\php\php.exe "C:\drush\drush.php" status

Drupal version                :  7.0
Site URI                      :  http://default
Database driver               :  mysql
Database hostname             :  127.0.0.1
Database username             :  drupal70
Database name                 :  d70
Database                      :  Connected
Drupal bootstrap              :  Successful
Drupal user                   :  Anonymous
Default theme                 :  bartik
Administration theme          :  seven
PHP configuration             :  C:\xampp\php\php.ini
Drush version                 :  4.0-dev
Drush configuration           :
Drupal root                   :  C:/xampp/htdocs/drupal71
Site path                     :  sites/default
File directory path           :  sites/default/files
Private file directory path   :  /backup_migrate

c:\xampp\htdocs\drupal71>

decibel.places’s picture

Step 3

Using Xampp installed at c:\xampp the PATH to PHP is c:\xampp\php

Step 4

In drush.bat I had to change

@php.exe "%~dp0drush.php" %*

to

@php.exe "%~dp0drush.php" %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9

dawehner’s picture

Thanks for your help

dawehner’s picture

thanks for the help
what is Photoshop

dawehner’s picture

I had to create C:\tmp to avoid "Fail to open stream" errors.

askibinski’s picture

Got it working with above instructions and a minor tweak for the batch file:
http://drupal.org/node/506448#comment-4585172

succesfull on Win 7 Professional, 64bit, Acquia stack (6.20)

Albert Skibinski - Merge

dawehner’s picture

If using Git and Drush isn't finding it, add the path to Git/bin to your Path environment variable; e.g. ;c:\Program Files (x86)\Git\bin. Then restart whatever shell you're using (i.e. cygwin).

dawehner’s picture

Works on Windows 7 Professional 32-bit.

Thanks!

mercergirl’s picture

Where are the instructions for applying a patch to drush for windows?

decibel.places’s picture

I use the Eclipse IDE for patches, applying and creating them.

I've tried other Windows patch tools, but Eclipse just does it. In fact, that is about all I use Eclipse for these days.

Eclipse Helios had a distro for PHP developers

The current release Indigo doesn't; maybe they just rolled it into the Classic distro?

I also used the Subclipse plugin to integrate my Eclipse projects with Subversion.

It's also pretty easy to create and apply patches with Git and it's the method to use for Drupal projects

Maung Maung’s picture

This procedure also work on Windows 7 Professionals 64 bit.

My PATH C:\drush\;C:\Program Files (x86)\GnuWin32\bin;C:\xampp\php

Thanks

Life is too short, love it, be happy, don't waste your time with sorrow, anger and upsets. :)
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dawehner’s picture

C:\ProgramData\Propeople\Drush/lib/drush-library-1301704602.tar.gz
using the gzip command failed.

decibel.places’s picture

dawehner’s picture

C:\Users\lwebg>drush
Uncompressing C:\drush/lib/drush-library-230983746.tar.gz using the [error]

gzip command failed.

I get this error and the gzip package is installed.

decibel.places’s picture

You can use another Windows unzip app like 7zip to decompress the archive

but you might want to see what else is wrong with your setup ;)

dawehner’s picture

Thanks you sohbet

nyancat’s picture

I know I am in the minority, but does anyone have any information on Windows 8 and Drush?

Cheers.

alokbhatt’s picture

Please share the information if anyone have idea about how to install Drush on Windows 8 machine.

Thanks

Alok Bhatt
(+91 95030 24643)

dawehner’s picture

Do anybody have some info about installing Drush on Win 8.1 pro?

dawehner’s picture

Although it is mentioned in top line that this tutorial was updated 16th April, the very first line in installating the hard way, Drush download url has not been corrected.
Kindly update that to GITHUB from drupal.org https://github.com/drush-ops/drush

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dawehner’s picture

 

  1. Drush Windows Installer - drush.ws.

 

 

The drush windows installer site is offline and does also not seem to be hosted on the git hub drush ops site.

Is there a URL to download this?

>>>>>> found it >>>>>>>

https://github.com/drush-ops/drush/commit/0988485788c160f1c4c3c485625585...

jumpthattb’s picture

:)

vishal.sirsodiya’s picture

Hi,

I have follow all steps but again show this error blow :-

The drush command 'status' could not be found, Run 'drush cache-clear drush' to clear the commandfile cache if you have installed new extensions. function and the attempt to download this file automatically failed.To continue you will need to download the 1.1.3 package from website

nanabrown’s picture

For my windows 8 I used the exe file to install Drush. Then I set the path like cited above in
control panel>system and security>system>advanced system settings> environment variables
And it was done. Had a few issue with a step by step installation, but the exe did the trick!
Now it's working fine Apart from a migrate thing havent quite figured out yet, but I guess that's just me ;)