The win32-2.1.6.zip doesn't start

[bonbonboi]

The dnscrypt-proxy-win32-2.1.6.zip doesn't start at all.

[lifenjoiner]

I guess:
New versions of go language have dropped support of old versions of OS.

[lifenjoiner]

Try old version (v1.21.4) go to compile it yourself. But no guarantee. Many dependencies may drop the support too!

[bonbonboi]

Try old version (v1.21.4) go to compile it yourself. But no guarantee. Many dependencies may drop the support too!

I'm using dnscrypt-proxy-win32-2.1.5 and it's working fine, so I'm going to stick with it.

[sergeevabc]

We see this error because the developers of Go language betrayed Windows 7 users by removing the compilation option for this OS. For example, C-based apps like xxhash by @Cyan4973 are still built fine here because nobody came up with such stupidity. DNSCrypt 2.1.5 is the version that works.

Microsoft is a commercial company, so its decisions are dictated by profit. If the support does not promise profit, it will be canceled. But the truth is Windows 7 will work fine for the foreseeable future as long as there are suitable hardware and electricity. For example, I installed it back in 2009 and it still delivers everything I need. Just like the tools in the garage that I inherited from my deceased father. A solid hammer continues to hammer regardless of whether the warranty has expired.

Dear @jedisct1, please, add a separate DNSCrypt x64 zipped build that uses an earlier version of the Go compiler hosted on Github, as @schollz easily did with his Go-based Croc.

[jedisct1]

For a compiler, supporting an operating system, or an operating system version means having core developers using it, and extensively test every changes and new features, now and for the years to come.

I think this has nothing to do with the fact that Microsoft is a company. Rather to the fact that probably no one in the Go development team is still using Windows 7.

New versions of Go are released to improve the language and the code generation, but also to fix security issues. Recent versions of dependencies may also not work with earlier versions of Go. Even if they work now, they can break at any time. Even they do, they haven't been tested on Wndows 7. So I can't commit to supporting operating system versions that Go doesn't support any more.

[sergeevabc]

Hey, @jedisct1, it seems someone has removed my recent issue about building DNSCrypt via go install, a modern method which local wiki has no mention of. This way of dealing with issues doesn't help to make the program better or more accessible for people.

In case you misunderstood from the above, Windows 7 users have been cut off from the tool that encrypts DNS traffic (because Go team sucks and so on). Something needs to be done about it, at least if you have a heart as well as a brain, because this security layer is something that should be broadly available, not only if you have Windows 3000 and DirectX12 GPU to drive it. One way to help users is to tell them how to build DNSCrypt using an unofficial version of Go that runs on Windows 7.

Ignoring the problem does not solve the problem.

[lifenjoiner]

I noticed this one, which seems safer: https://github.com/XTLS/go-win7, used by https://github.com/XTLS/Xray-core/blob/main/.github/workflows/release-win7.yml.
Use it at your own risk. I don't use Win7 anymore.

[sergeevabc]

I installed patched Go 1.23.6, it works fine on Windows 7.

My next steps, partly using busybox utility, are

$ busybox wget -qO- https://github.com/DNSCrypt/dnscrypt-proxy/archive/refs/heads/master.zip | busybox unzip - -qd c:\dnsproxy

$ cd c:\dnsproxy\dnscrypt-proxy-master

$ busybox sed -i "3 s/.*/go 1.23.6/" go.mod

$ cd dnscrypt-proxy

$ go build -ldflags="-s -w"

$ busybox mv *.exe *.txt *.toml *.pem c:\dnsproxy

$ cd c:\dnsproxy

$ busybox rm -rf dnscrypt-proxy-master

$ dir /b
dnscrypt-proxy.exe
example-allowed-ips.txt
example-allowed-names.txt
example-blocked-ips.txt
example-blocked-names.txt
example-captive-portals.txt
example-cloaking-rules.txt
example-dnscrypt-proxy.toml
example-forwarding-rules.txt
localhost.pem

$ dnscrypt-proxy --version
2.1.8

This is the same set of files that you will get if you download and unzip some pre-compiled archive for Windows from Releases, say, dnscrypt-proxy-win64-2.1.8.zip. Previously, the developer included some other files such as service-*.bat to manage Windows service, but now you have to get them by youself from dnscrypt-proxy-master folder obtained in the first step (see above).

[sergeevabc]

Another option to work with the latest releases of DNSCrypt on Windows 7 is to patch them via GoFixer by @stunndard. For example, I downloaded dnscrypt-proxy-win64-2.1.8.zip. unpacked it, patched dnscrypt-proxy.exe then ran it as usual. It works as expected.

$ ver
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]

$ dnscrypt-proxy.exe --version
2.1.8

$ dnscrypt-proxy.exe
[NOTICE] dnscrypt-proxy 2.1.8
[NOTICE] Network connectivity detected
[NOTICE] Now listening to 127.0.0.1:53 [UDP]
[NOTICE] Now listening to 127.0.0.1:53 [TCP]
[NOTICE] Source [public-resolvers] loaded
[NOTICE] Captive portals handler enabled
[NOTICE] Loading the set of allowed names from [rules/rules-white.txt]
[NOTICE] Firefox workaround initialized
[NOTICE] Loading the set of blocking rules from [rules/rules-black.txt]
[NOTICE] Loading the set of cloaking rules from [rules/rules-cloaking.txt]
[NOTICE] Loading the set of forwarding rules from [rules/rules-forwarding.txt]
...
[NOTICE] Server with the lowest initial latency: ams-dnscrypt-nl (rtt: 45ms)
[NOTICE] dnscrypt-proxy is ready - live servers: 24

[lifenjoiner]

Link them up: #2801.

Hey guys,

Win7 is 14 years old, and lacks modern crypto and network features. That's beyond the capabilities of this project.

Many dependencies had moved forward: miekg/dns, quic-go and etc. We need to follow up.
Even if the standard http/3 is finished, it is not likely to be back-ported to Win7. Quic-go's http/3 is buggy.

It's not that we intentionally don't support Win7 (outdated OSes). Win7 is a special case now. Right?

For me, I don't think I will promise supporting an outdated OS. If anyone managed a hack or workaround, awesome, but it is just a surprise.

You can share your findings. But we can't provide tools or solutions that we never used. Right?

[sergeevabc]

Re: @lifenjoiner

Windows 7 works perfectly fine, it's solid and polished enough. Do you remember that a tool can be polished enough, at least for home and small office use? Look at your father's hammer, it requires no patches and still nails things.

Essentially, you repeat the marketing bs of Microsoft, a commercial giant, that uses a vicious strategy of artificial obsolescence to sell you a new coat when they can no longer profit from the old one. Windows 7 is not a disabled person or a drug addict, it can run without support and weekly dose of patches. And what's so new about Windows 10? Where are innovations like we had earlier, say, with NTFS after FAT32? It's a nightmare, both in terms of interface and telemetry surveillance, which takes you a lot of time to mitigate. And Windows 11 even requires a fancy GPU to run a simple calculator, for f* sake! Microsoft has taken a wrong turn, and we, Windows 7 users, are in no hurry to join them.

Now about the features and their supposed absence. Windows 7 has no internal support of TLS 1.3, indeed, but does it really matter if we have external security libraries which are used by Curl, Chrome, Firefox, etc? I use all these apps daily on Windows 7 and do not feel like an outcast. But I feel coercion when I'm told that TLS 1.2 is allegedly obsolete, because it is not, its stack won't be cracked for a long time, its enough for strong encryption and works reasonably fast.

By the way, I solved that issue you marked as unsolvable, because Cloudflare, Google and Yandex DOH work fine on Windows 7 via DNSCrypt, you just had to dig deeper, like I did.

DNSCrypt provides a layer of additional security. Everything that is required for its operation (disk I/O, encryption, compression and network transmission) is already available in Windows 7. You can fool amateurs by saying otherwise, but I was born before the Internet and know some things for sure. Security should not be a luxury, it should be available as widely as possible, not just to the privileged.

[lifenjoiner]

@sergeevabc
You have your choice. I have mine. No matter what reason it is. I don't use Win7 anymore. It is a simple fact.
You can't force someone to help you and take it for granted. We all have our own business.
No mean-spirited words. You should be polite when asking for help or even when others can't help you, especially in the open source community.
We are not the vendors but volunteers who may help you.
We didn't cause the problem. Don't treat us like emotional trash cans.
Contribute, not destroy.

[sergeevabc]

@lifenjoiner, the open source community is for people who volunteer to put their talents into making life better by making computer-driven solutions for free. People write, review, discuss and test apps together so that the burden of tomorrow is a little lighter and more joyful than yesterday's one. Sometimes someone does something that others don't like. This deserves a different kind of feedback — critique, not praise. If you are not ready for both sides of the coin, if you're here only to be worshiped, it won't be easy. For example, you didn't cause the problem with Go team cutting Windows 7 users off, but you again and again push arguments in favor of that vicious decision. Just stop, because that decision goes against any humanitarian values and ideals — check C(++) space for comparison, where nothing like this happens. Do what you consider to be a higher priority, just don't make things worse. You don't feel the pain of people who are left unprotected, but you dare to lecture me on politeness. The hero who will help defeat the dragon will be found sooner or later.

[jedisct1]

You're the Windows 7 expert, not us who don't have the ability to test the app on that platform. I can't even use old Go versions on MacOS.

So, what we can do is add a message telling people to reach out directly to you for help and support regarding Windows 7.