MSVC Build Error – config-msvc.mak Not Found

[the-resistance]

I'm trying to build libpsl-0.21.5 on Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit) using MSVC 2017 and running into a configuration issue.

System Setup

• MSVC 2017 (cl.exe and nmake confirmed working)
• CMake installed at C:\Program Files\CMake\bin\cmake.exe
• Python 3.7.2 installed
• Building libpsl-0.21.5 from source

Problem

When running nmake in msvc, the build fails with:

Makefile.vc(12) : fatal error U1052: file 'config-msvc.mak' not found

This suggests that config-msvc.mak is either missing or not being generated properly.

What I've Tried

1. Running nmake /f generate-msvc.mak, but it does not create config-msvc.mak.
2. Running replace.py, but it does not seem to replace placeholders in .in files.
3. Manually copying config-msvc.mak.in to config-msvc.mak, but it contains placeholders instead of actual values.

Questions for the Community

• What is the expected method for generating config-msvc.mak?
• Should generate-msvc.mak be working, or does it require specific inputs?
• How should replace.py be used to replace placeholders in .in files?
• Has anyone successfully built libpsl on Windows using MSVC 2017?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

[eli-schwartz]

What is the expected method for generating config-msvc.mak?

On a Unix system or userland, such as mingw, run autoreconf -fi && ./configure

OR

Download the release tarball, not the git checkout nor the github archives autogenerated tarball, which should include this file already.

Has anyone successfully built libpsl on Windows using MSVC 2017?

Dunno, don't use the Makefiles myself, but the Meson wrapdb continuous integration does use meson setup builddir/ && ninja -C builddir/ successfully using a MSVC dev command prompt for MSVC 2022, I believe.

No unix userland required, Meson is a fully native Windows build system running via Windows python. I'm a Linux developer who doesn't know or like Windows :D but I volunteered to help libpsl out by maintaining its portable, cross-platform Meson build system since I'm also an upstream Meson developer.

According to https://github.com/rockdaboot/libpsl/blob/master/README.MSVC.md it is supposed to work, though it isn't tested in CI.