Create C# executable with mkbundle on windows

Question

Im trying to create an executable from a console application. I have installed mono,cygwin (mingw-gcc, mingw-zlib1, mingw-zlib-devel, pkg-config) and I have added the follow

Answer 1

Howto for mkbundle on cygwin + mingw

Here you can find an updated howto make mkbundle work on Windows

First, check your setup:

• Install Mono/GTK# in a path that doesn't contains spaces (ie not Program Files then)
• Setup a MinGw/Cygwin working compile chain (as the one for compiling mono on windows).
• Define the mandatory environment variables for mkbundle:
  • mingw compiler location should be in the Windows PATH (used by cmd)
  • pkg-config should also be in the Windows PATH
• Use a cygwin script to defined mono and mingw required variables.

Then you can run:

mkbundle --deps --keeptemp my.exe my.dll -o bundled.exe

Notes:

• Copy mono-2.0.dll in the application directory as it should be distributed along the bundled exe

• You must specify all exe and dll that are needed for the bundle.

• --keeptemp will keep temp.c and temp.s which could come in handy if mkbundle fail on gcc invocation.
• If you want to invoke gcc by hand (and it may be needed):

i686-pc-mingw32-gcc -U _WIN32 -g -o output.exe -Wall temp.c $(pkg-config --cflags --libs mono-2)  temp.o

Anyone can improve mkbundle

mkbundle is an open sourced C# console application (on mono github) so it can be easily modified and recompiled depending on your needs. Reading the code could also be helpful to understand how it works underneath.