Update/Add vcpkg - Please bring vcpkg back to MacOS runner images

[DSMitten]

Tool name

vcpkg

Tool license

n/a

Add or update?

• Add
• Update

Desired version

latest

Approximate size

No response

Brief description of tool

Runner images support C++ development, with all major compilers (AppleClang, GCC, LLVM clang) installed on the machine.

However, C++ development requires the ability to download and use public dependencies. The most popular package managers for C++ today are vcpkg and conan. My team uses vcpkg for our external dependencies, and we are able to build with it on Windows, Linux and MacOS 13, useing the VCPKG_INSTALLATION_ROOT environment variable to locate it.

We are attempting to move to MacOS 15, and our build pipelines don't work because of this missing dependency.

It looks like it was removed a year ago from MacOS 14 images, and so we are going to have to write special code to install it on Mac build machines, which will add time to every build, and another step that can fail.

Not having vcpkg for C++ development is like not having npm for TypeScript development. It is an essential component, and it doesn't make sense to support C++ development on Mac but not support package management on Mac.

URL for tool's homepage

No response

Provide a basic test case to validate the tool's functionality.

Platforms where you need the tool

• Azure DevOps
• GitHub Actions

Runner images where you need the tool

• Ubuntu 20.04
• Ubuntu 22.04
• Ubuntu 24.04
• macOS 13
• macOS 13 Arm64
• macOS 14
• macOS 14 Arm64
• macOS 15
• macOS 15 Arm64
• Windows Server 2019
• Windows Server 2022
• Windows Server 2025

Can this tool be installed during the build?

`git clone -C <directory> https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg`

Tool installation time in runtime

No response

Are you willing to submit a PR?

No response

[archita105]

Hi @DSMitten , We will look into the your feature request and keep you posted with updates.

[archita105]

Hi @DSMitten,
We regret to inform you that we are unable to include vcpkg manager in the macOS images, as we must maintain lightweight operating system images while managing limited available space.
However, we have verified that vcpkg manager can be installed during the build process. Our tests on macOS 14, macOS 14 Arm64, macOS 15, and macOS 15 Arm64 have shown that the installation takes only approximately 10 seconds.
Please refer snapshot.