Notes.md

All Versions

• Build from a path that doesn't contain spaces. Otherwise, you may get an error 9009 when executing gendef.
• Set PATCHDIR to the location of a release downloaded from https://github.com/nalexandru/api-ms-win-core-path-HACK. This folder should contain x86\api-ms-win-core-path-l1-1-0.dll and x64\api-ms-win-core-path-l1-1-0.dll.

Python 3.9

• If you get an error during documentation build saying that itircl.dll was not registered correctly, go to externals\windows-installer\htmlhelp and run regsvr32 itcc.dll. Or you can install HTML Help Compiler system-wide, which would register this DLL anyway.
• Install Sphinx 3.5.4 to a Python 3.6 venv and set PYTHON to the location of the Python executable.
• Apply add-dll-1.patch to ensure that api-ms-win-core-path-l1-1-0.dll is installed next to the Python executable.
• Apply enable-win7-install-1.patch for 3.9.0-3.9.10 or enable-win7-install-2.patch for 3.9.11 or higher to allow the installer to proceed on Windows 7 and to include debug symbols, debug binaries, and the Universal CRT in the installer.
• Apply fix-libffi-1.patch for 3.9.0, fix-libffi-2.patch for 3.9.1, fix-libffi-3.patch for 3.9.2, fix-libffi-4.patch for 3.9.4, or fix-libffi-5.patch for 3.9.5-3.9.6 to avoid error where libffi-7.lib can't be found.
• Apply fix-guid.patch for 3.9.7 and higher to work around python/cpython#96729.
• Apply fix-htmlhelp.patch for 3.9.0-3.9.10 to fix error in documentation build (python/cpython#90621).
• Apply fix-chm.patch to fix formatting errors in the .chm help file (python/cpython#91207).
• Run buildrelease.bat -x86 -x64.

Python 3.10

• If you get an error during documentation build saying that itircl.dll was not registered correctly, go to externals\windows-installer\htmlhelp and run regsvr32 itcc.dll. Or you can install HTML Help Compiler system-wide, which would register this DLL anyway.
• Install Sphinx 3.5.4 to a Python 3.6 venv and set PYTHON to the location of the Python executable.
• Apply add-dll-1.patch to ensure that api-ms-win-core-path-l1-1-0.dll is installed next to the Python executable.
• Apply enable-win7-install-1.patch for 3.10.0-3.10.2, enable-win7-install-2.patch for 3.10.3-3.10.7, or enable-win7-install-3.patch for 3.10.8 or higher to allow the installer to proceed on Windows 7 and to include debug symbols, debug binaries, and the Universal CRT in the installer.
• Apply fix-guid.patch for 3.10.0-3.10.7 to work around python/cpython#96729.
• Apply fix-htmlhelp.patch for 3.10.0-3.10.2 to fix error in documentation build (python/cpython#90621).
• Apply fix-chm.patch for 3.10.0-3.10.6 to fix formatting errors in the .chm help file (python/cpython#91207).
• Apply fix-pythonba.patch for 3.10.11 to fix error building installer with Visual Studio 2022 (python/cpython#103281).
• Apply fix-vcruntime-threads-1.patch to fix python/cpython#115167.
• Run buildrelease.bat -x86 -x64.

Python 3.11

• For 3.11.0-3.11.7, create a Python 3.9 venv. For 3.11.8 and higher, create a Python 3.10 venv. Set PYTHON to the location of the Python executable.
• Apply fix-sphinx-dependencies.patch for 3.11.0-3.11.7 to fix an error when building the documentation due to incompatible Sphinx dependencies (sphinx-doc/sphinx#11890).
• Apply add-dll-1.patch to ensure that api-ms-win-core-path-l1-1-0.dll is installed next to the Python executable.
• Apply enable-win7-install-4.patch for 3.11.0-3.11.3, enable-win7-install-5.patch for 3.11.4-3.11.8, or enable-win7-install-6.patch for 3.11.9 or higher to allow the installer to proceed on Windows 7 and to include debug symbols, debug binaries, and the Universal CRT in the installer.
• Apply fix-launcher.patch to ensure that api-ms-win-core-path-l1-1-0.dll is installed next to the Python launcher and to work around a bug in RegGetValueW() (https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47096940/reggetvalue-for-value-that-may-be-either-reg-sz-or-reg-expand-sz).
• Apply fix-vcruntime-threads-1.patch for 3.11.0-3.11.6 or fix-vcruntime-threads-2.patch for 3.11.7-3.11.8 to fix python/cpython#115167.
• Run buildrelease.bat.

Python 3.12

• Create a Python 3.11 venv and set PYTHON to the location of the Python executable. If building multiple versions in succession, create a fresh new venv with 3.12.0, 3.12.2, 3.12.4, and 3.12.5. Otherwise, the venv can be reused.
• Apply fix-sphinx-dependencies.patch for 3.12.0-3.12.1 to fix an error when building the documentation due to incompatible Sphinx dependencies (sphinx-doc/sphinx#11890).
• Apply add-dll-1.patch to ensure that api-ms-win-core-path-l1-1-0.dll is installed next to the Python executable.
• Apply enable-win7-install-7.patch for 3.12.0-3.12.2 or enable-win7-install-8.patch for 3.12.3 or higher to allow the installer to proceed on Windows 7 and to include debug symbols, debug binaries, and the Universal CRT in the installer.
• Apply fix-launcher.patch to ensure that api-ms-win-core-path-l1-1-0.dll is installed next to the Python launcher and to work around a bug in RegGetValueW() (https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47096940/reggetvalue-for-value-that-may-be-either-reg-sz-or-reg-expand-sz).
• Apply restore-win7-handling-1.patch to revert or modify changes to the Python source code that are not compatible with Windows 7. This modifies https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/938e36f824c5f834d6b77d47942ad81edd5491d0 and https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/9ae49e3f3bdf585473f03522a1b7dd7c9e4baa6a.
• Apply fix-os-fstat.patch for 3.12.0 to fix python/cpython#111856, which disproportionately affects Windows 7 compared to more recent Windows versions.
• Apply fix-vcruntime-threads-1.patch for 3.12.0 or fix-vcruntime-threads-2.patch for 3.12.1-3.12.2 to fix python/cpython#115167.
• Run buildrelease.bat.

Python 3.13

• Create a Python 3.12 venv and set PYTHON to the location of the Python executable.
• Apply add-dll-2.patch to ensure that api-ms-win-core-path-l1-1-0.dll is installed next to the Python executable.
• Apply enable-win7-install-9.patch to allow the installer to proceed on Windows 7 and to include debug symbols, debug binaries, the Universal CRT, and the experimental free-threaded build in the installer.
• Apply fix-launcher.patch to ensure that api-ms-win-core-path-l1-1-0.dll is installed next to the Python launcher and to work around a bug in RegGetValueW() (https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47096940/reggetvalue-for-value-that-may-be-either-reg-sz-or-reg-expand-sz).
• Apply restore-win7-handling-2.patch to revert or modify changes to the Python source code that are not compatible with Windows 7. This modifies https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/938e36f824c5f834d6b77d47942ad81edd5491d0, modifies https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/9ae49e3f3bdf585473f03522a1b7dd7c9e4baa6a, modifies https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/be1c808fcad201adc4d5d6cca52ddb24aeb5e367, modifies https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/1d95451be1f3080904c00cc4c4a6cc519efdf321, and modifies python/cpython#111201 to avoid displaying a warning prior to Windows 10 TH2.
• Run buildrelease.bat.