Cross-compile Windows executables from GitHub repositories using Docker

Features • Quick Start • Installation • Usage • Examples • Supported Projects

DockPiler is a powerful Docker-based tool that automatically clones, compiles, and cross-compiles Windows executables from GitHub repositories — all from Linux or macOS. Perfect for security researchers, penetration testers, and developers who need to build Windows tools without a Windows machine.

# Build the Docker image
docker build -t dockpiler .

# Compile any GitHub repository
docker run -v $(pwd)/output:/output dockpiler https://github.com/GhostPack/Rubeus.git

# Your Windows executable is now in ./output/

• Docker installed on Linux or macOS
• Internet connection for cloning repositories

Choose the build variant that fits your needs:

# Standard build (~2GB) - MinGW cross-compiler
docker build -t dockpiler .

# With vcpkg (~2.5GB) - C++ package management
docker build -t dockpiler --build-arg INCLUDE_VCPKG=true .

# With MSVC (~10GB+) - Full Visual Studio compatibility via Wine
docker build -t dockpiler --build-arg INCLUDE_MSVC=true .

# Full build (~12GB) - Everything included
docker build -t dockpiler-full \
    --build-arg INCLUDE_VCPKG=true \
    --build-arg INCLUDE_MSVC=true .

docker run -v $(pwd)/output:/output dockpiler <github_url> [arch] [config] [git_ref] [extra_flags]

# Compile Rubeus (default x64 Release)
docker run -v $(pwd)/output:/output dockpiler \
    https://github.com/GhostPack/Rubeus.git

# Compile Seatbelt for x86
docker run -v $(pwd)/output:/output dockpiler \
    https://github.com/GhostPack/Seatbelt.git x86

# Compile SharpHound with Debug symbols
docker run -v $(pwd)/output:/output dockpiler \
    https://github.com/BloodHoundAD/SharpHound.git x64 Debug

# Compile PPLcontrol
docker run -v $(pwd)/output:/output dockpiler \
    https://github.com/itm4n/PPLcontrol.git

# Compile a specific release tag
docker run -v $(pwd)/output:/output dockpiler \
    https://github.com/example/project.git x64 Release v1.2.0

# With extra compiler flags
docker run -v $(pwd)/output:/output dockpiler \
    https://github.com/example/project.git x64 Release "" "-DEXTRA_DEFINE"

All versions supported with proper reference assemblies:

4.0 • 4.5 • 4.5.1 • 4.5.2 • 4.6 • 4.6.1 • 4.6.2 • 4.7 • 4.7.1 • 4.7.2 • 4.8 • 4.8.1

• Automatic vcxproj Parsing: Extracts preprocessor definitions, include directories, libraries
• MSVC Compatibility: Handles MSVC-specific extensions and variadic macros
• Resource Compilation: Compiles .rc files with windres
• 50+ Library Mappings: Automatic Windows to MinGW library translation

Compiled binaries are saved to your mounted output directory:

./output/
├── ProjectName/
│   ├── ProjectName.exe      # Your Windows executable
│   └── ProjectName.dll      # Any DLL dependencies
└── logs/                    # Build logs (on failure)
    ├── diagnostics.txt
    └── build.log

DockPiler/
├── Dockerfile              # Multi-stage build with optional components
├── scripts/
│   ├── entrypoint.sh       # Main build orchestration
│   ├── vcxproj_parser.py   # Visual Studio project parser
│   ├── sln_parser.py       # Solution file parser
│   ├── cmake_generator.py  # CMakeLists.txt generator
│   └── library_mapper.py   # Windows → MinGW library mapping
├── toolchain/
│   ├── mingw-x64.cmake     # x64 cross-compilation toolchain
│   └── mingw-x86.cmake     # x86 cross-compilation toolchain
└── README.md

DockPiler includes 50+ common Windows libraries. For additional libraries:

1. Check if available in MinGW-w64
2. Add to library_mapper.py
3. Or pass via extra_flags: -lmylibrary

cat ./output/logs/diagnostics.txt
cat ./output/logs/build.log

• Public repositories only - Private repo support not yet implemented
• Some Windows APIs unavailable - MinGW doesn't include all Windows SDK headers
• ATL/MFC not supported - Use MSVC build variant for these
• UWP/WinRT not supported - Desktop applications only
• No runtime testing - Binaries are compiled but not executed

Contributions are welcome! Areas for improvement:

• Private repository authentication
• Additional library mappings
• NuGet package support for C++
• Parallel project building
• Build caching

_{Built for security researchers, penetration testers, and developers who need Windows tools without Windows.}