# Installing Guard for Windows
<a name="setting-up-windows"></a>

You can install AWS CloudFormation Guard for Windows through Cargo or through Chocolatey.

## Prerequisites
<a name="w2aab8c16b5"></a>

To build Guard from the command line interface, you must install the Build Tools for Visual Studio 2019.

1. Download Microsoft Visual C\$1\$1 build tools from the [Build Tools for Visual Studio 2019](https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/#build-tools-for-visual-studio-2019) website.

1. Run the installer, and select the defaults.

## Install Guard from Cargo
<a name="install-guard-from-cargo"></a>

Cargo is the Rust package manager. Complete the following steps to install Rust, which includes Cargo. Then, install Guard from Cargo.

1. [Download Rust](https://forge.rust-lang.org/infra/other-installation-methods.html#other-ways-to-install-rustup) and then run **rustup-init.exe**.

1. From the command prompt, choose **1**, which is the default option.

   The command returns the following output.

   ```
   Rust is installed now. Great!
       
       To get started you may need to restart your current shell.
       This would reload its PATH environment variable to include
       Cargo's bin directory (%USERPROFILE%\.cargo\bin).
       
       Press the Enter key to continue.
   ```

1. To finish the installation, press the **Enter** key.

1. With Cargo installed, run the following command to install Guard.

   ```
   cargo install cfn-guard
   ```

   *Results*: You have successfully installed Guard.

   1. (Optional) To confirm the installation of Guard, run the following command.

     ```
     cfn-guard --version
     ```

     The command returns the following output.

     ```
     cfn-guard 3.1.2
     ```

## Install Guard from Chocolatey
<a name="install-guard-from-chocolatey"></a>

Chocolatey is a package manager for Windows. Complete the following steps to install Chocolatey. Then, install Guard from Chocolatey.

1. Follow this guide to [install Chocolatey](https://chocolatey.org/install)

1. With Chocolatey installed, run the following command to install Guard.

   ```
   choco install cloudformation-guard
   ```

   *Results*: You have successfully installed Guard.

   1. (Optional) To confirm the installation of Guard, run the following command.

     ```
     cfn-guard --version
     ```

     The command returns the following output.

     ```
     cfn-guard 3.1.2
     ```