The easy way install and compile Cobol in Windows

Install Msys2

• Download and Install MSYS2: Follow the installer on their site.

This Installation Folder is important, please remember of it

Install Cobol Compiler

Search for it in your Start menu.

Run the update command:

pacman -Syu

Install GnuCOBOL:

pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gnucobol

Add to Path

• Find “Path” and Edit:
  • Add the installation folder and cobol suffix for it, for example if you install in C:\msys64 as default, you can use C:\msys64\ucrt64\bin
• Optional (For run compiler in Window Terminal)
  • Use new… button and add new (Variable Name: Variable Value)
    • COB_CONFIG_DIR: C:\msys64\ucrt64\share\gnucobol\config
    • COB_COPY_DIR: C:\msys64\ucrt64\share\gnucobol\copy
    • COB_LIBRARY_PATH: C:\msys64\ucrt64\lib\gnucobol

Now you can run your cobol program

Goal	Command	Result
Quick Test	cobc -x -j file.cbl	Runs immediately; no permanent .exe kept.
Build App	cobc -x file.cbl	Creates file.exe to run anytime.
Build for Python	cobc -m file.cbl	Creates a .dll library for Python to call.
Check Errors	cobc -f syntax-only file.cbl	Only checks for code errors without building.

Common Error

: fatal error: libcob.h: No such file or directory

   10 | #include <libcob.h>

      |          ^~~~~~~~~~

compilation terminated.

The error fatal error: libcob.h: No such file or directory means the COBOL compiler (cobc) found your code, but the C compiler (which GnuCOBOL uses under the hood) can’t find the necessary “header files” to finish building the program.

Adding these to Environment Variables like previous step

Variable Name	Variable Value
COB_CFLAGS	-I D:\Msys2\ucrt64\include
COB_LDFLAGS	-L D:\Msys2\ucrt64\lib

• -I (Include): Points to the folder containing libcob.h.
• -L (Library): Points to the folder containing the actual library files (.lib or .a).

Or a quick command if you not want add it:

cobc -x -j TEST-PROGRAM.cbl -I D:\Msys2\ucrt64\include -L D:\Msys2\ucrt64\lib

nanosleep64 could not be located

If you got (nanosleep64 could not be located) may indicate: your system is confused between two different versions of the C compiler.

The nanosleep64 error is a classic sign that a program compiled with one Windows runtime (like UCRT) is trying to link with an incompatible version of a library.

You could run this command

where gcc

If the output show more than one directory path, it may appear your computer have 2 installed GCC place

To solve this:

You need to tell Windows that the D: drive tools are the priority.

1. Search for “Edit the system environment variables” in your Start Menu and open it.
2. Click Environment Variables.
3. In the System variables (bottom) list, find the one named Path and click Edit.
4. Find C:\Msys2\ucrt64\bin in the list. (the path you added in installation step)
5. Click the “Move Up” button repeatedly until it is at the very top of the list (above the other bin directory in where gcc command).
6. Click OK on all windows.

Close your current Command Prompt and open a new one for the change to take effect.

Alternative Way:

cobc -x -j TEST-PROGRAM.cbl -conf="D:\Msys2\ucrt64\share\gnucobol\config\default.conf"