Installation

To get started with ntools, you need to install the latest version of 64-bit Git for Windows and the .NET SDK on your machine, then follow these steps:

Open a PowerShell in administrative mode. Assume c:\source as directory %MainDirectory% which will be used through this document.
Clone this repository to your local machine from the %MainDirectory% folder.
```
cd c:\source
git clone https://github.com/naz-hage/ntools
```

Installation Options¶

Option 1: Full Development Environment Setup (Recommended for Contributors)¶

This installs the complete development environment including .NET runtime, NTools, and development tools:

cd ./ntools
# Change PowerShell execution policy (one-time setup)
Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Scope Process

# Run full development setup
.\dev-setup\install.ps1

Or using the ntools-scripts module:

cd ./ntools
Import-Module "./scripts/module-package/ntools-scripts.psm1" -Force
Install-NTools -NtoolsJsonPath "./dev-setup/ntools.json"
Install-DevelopmentApps -JsonPath "./dev-setup/apps.json"

Option 2: NTools + SDO Installation (Cross-Platform)¶

For users who want to install both NTools and SDO with automatic version synchronization:

cd ./ntools
python atools/install-ntools.py --version 1.32.0

Custom installation path:

python atools/install-ntools.py --version 1.32.0 --deploy-path "C:\MyTools\Nbuild"

This will install both NTools and SDO in a single command, with SDO installed in an isolated virtual environment to prevent dependency conflicts.

SDO Installation¶

SDO is now automatically installed alongside NTools when using Option 2 above. The installer creates an isolated virtual environment for SDO to prevent dependency conflicts.

Verify installation:

sdo --version
sdo --help

What Each Option Installs¶

Component	Development Setup	NTools + SDO
.NET SDK	✅	❌
NTools Core	✅	✅
SDO Tool	❌	✅
Development Apps	✅	❌
Cross-Platform	⚠️ (Windows only)	✅
Admin Required	✅	❌ (unless system paths)

Post-Installation¶

After the installation is complete, check out the nbuild.targets for more all the available targets, and navigate to Usage to learn how to execute a build target.

ntools is now installed on your machine, and you can start using it to learn how to build and run additional targets. If you have any questions or encounter any issues during the installation process, please don't hesitate to write an an issue. We're here to help!