Windows Dev Drive configuration for optimized development performance
The windevdrive geneset configures a Dev Drive (Windows 11) or ReFS development volume (older Windows) for optimized development performance. Dev Drives provide significant performance improvements for development workloads through reduced antivirus scanning and optimized file system operations.
Features
On Windows 11 Build 22621+, it creates a true Dev Drive with:
- Trust settings for improved performance
- Antivirus optimizations and exclusions
- ReFS file system with performance tuning
On older Windows versions, it creates a ReFS volume that still provides better performance than NTFS for development workloads.
Usage
configure
The configure fodder sets up the development drive with optimal settings and directory structure.
Variables:
- devdrive_name (required):
Eryph drive name (e.g., sdb, sdc) - must match the drive defined in your catlet - devdrive_letter (optional, default: "E"):
Windows drive letter to assign - devdrive_label (optional, default: "DevDrive"):
Volume label for the drive
The fodder automatically:
- Initializes and partitions the specified drive
- Formats as Dev Drive (Windows 11) or ReFS (older versions)
- Creates package cache directories for NuGet, npm, pip, Maven, Gradle, Cargo, and vcpkg
- Sets system-wide environment variables for package managers
- Creates a standard developer workspace structure
- Configures Dev Drive trust and antivirus settings (Windows 11 only)
Example usage:
name: dev-workstation
parent: dbosoft/win11-24h2-enterprise/starter
drives:
- name: sda
size: 60
- name: sdb
size: 100 # Additional drive for Dev Drive
fodder:
- source: gene:dbosoft/windevdrive:configure
variables:
- name: devdrive_name
value: sdb
- name: devdrive_letter
value: E
- name: devdrive_label
value: DevDrive
Integration with Visual Studio
The windevdrive gene works seamlessly with the Visual Studio gene. When used together, Visual Studio will automatically detect the Dev Drive and create appropriate project directories:
fodder:
# Configure Dev Drive first
- source: gene:dbosoft/windevdrive:configure
variables:
- name: devdrive_name
value: sdb
# Then install Visual Studio
- source: gene:dbosoft/msvs:vs2022
# VS will auto-detect and use the Dev Drive
Created Directory Structure
The following directory structure is created on the configured drive:
E:\
├── source\
│ ├── repos\ # Git repositories
│ └── projects\ # Other projects
├── tools\ # Development tools
├── temp\ # Build temp files
├── .nuget\ # NuGet cache (NUGET_PACKAGES)
├── npm-cache\ # NPM cache (npm_config_cache)
├── pip-cache\ # Python cache (PIP_CACHE_DIR)
├── maven-cache\ # Maven cache (MAVEN_OPTS)
├── gradle-cache\ # Gradle cache (GRADLE_USER_HOME)
├── cargo-cache\ # Rust cache (CARGO_HOME)
└── vcpkg-cache\ # vcpkg cache (VCPKG_DEFAULT_BINARY_CACHE)
Environment Variables
The following environment variables are set system-wide:
NUGET_PACKAGES: Points to .nuget cache directorynpm_config_cache: Points to npm cache directoryPIP_CACHE_DIR: Points to pip cache directoryMAVEN_OPTS: Includes local repository pathGRADLE_USER_HOME: Points to gradle cache directoryCARGO_HOME: Points to cargo cache directoryVCPKG_DEFAULT_BINARY_CACHE: Points to vcpkg cache directory
Performance Benefits
Dev Drives provide:
- Up to 30% faster build times
- Reduced file system overhead
- Optimized for developer workloads
- Automatic antivirus exclusions
- Copy-on-write capabilities with ReFS
Requirements
- Windows 11 Build 22621+ for full Dev Drive support
- Windows 10 1709+ or Windows Server 2016+ for ReFS support
- An additional drive configured in your catlet
Versioning
This geneset contains only fodder genes and is versioned with a major-minor version scheme.
There is no patch version - when a bug is fixed, a new minor version will be released.
A new major version is released when a gene is removed from the geneset.
The tag latest is updated with each released version. If you want to have a stable reference, don't use the latest tag, use a specific version tag.
Contributing
This geneset is maintained by dbosoft and is open for contributions.
You can find the repository for this geneset on github.com/dbosoft/eryph-genes.
License
All public dbosoft genesets are licensed under the MIT License.