How do I set the version information for an existing .exe, .dll?

As part of our build process I need to set the version information for all of our compiled binaries. Some of the binaries already have version information (added at compile time) and some do not.

I want to be able to apply the following information:

• Company Name
• Copyright Notice
• Product Name
• Product Description
• File Version
• Product Version

All of these attributes are specified by the build script and must be applied after compilation. These are standard binaries (not assemblies) compiled with C++ Builder 2007.

How can I do this?

While it's not a batch process, Visual Studio can also add/edit file resources.

Just use File->Open->File on the .EXE or .DLL. This is handy for fixing version information post-build, or adding it to files that don't have these resources to begin with.

Unlike many of the other answers, this solution uses completely free software.

Firstly, create a file called Resources.rc like this:

VS_VERSION_INFO VERSIONINFO
	FILEVERSION    1,0,0,0
	PRODUCTVERSION 1,0,0,0
{
	BLOCK "StringFileInfo"
	{
		BLOCK "040904b0"
		{
			VALUE "CompanyName",		"ACME Inc.\0"
			VALUE "FileDescription",	"MyProg\0"
			VALUE "FileVersion",		"1.0.0.0\0"
			VALUE "LegalCopyright",		"© 2013 ACME Inc. All Rights Reserved\0"
			VALUE "OriginalFilename",	"MyProg.exe\0"
			VALUE "ProductName",		"My Program\0"
			VALUE "ProductVersion",		"1.0.0.0\0"
		}
	}
	BLOCK "VarFileInfo"
	{
		VALUE "Translation", 0x409, 1200
	}
}

Next, use GoRC to compile it to a .res file using:

GoRC /fo Resources.res Resources.rc

^{(see my comment below for a mirror of GoRC.exe)}

Then use Resource Hacker in CLI mode to add it to an existing .exe:

ResHacker -add MyProg.exe, MyProg.exe, Resources.res,,,

That's it!

Or you could check out the freeware StampVer for Win32 exe/dll files.
It will only change the file and product versions though if they have a version resource already. It cannot add a version resource if one doesn’t exist.

rcedit is relative new and works well from the command line: https://github.com/atom/rcedit

$ rcedit "path-to-exe-or-dll" --set-version-string "Comments" "This is an exe"
$ rcedit "path-to-exe-or-dll" --set-file-version "10.7"
$ rcedit "path-to-exe-or-dll" --set-product-version "10.7"

There's also an NPM module which wraps it from JavaScript and a Grunt task in case you're using Grunt.

What about something like this?

verpatch /va foodll.dll %VERSION% %FILEDESCR% %COMPINFO% %PRODINFO% %BUILDINFO%

Available here with full sources.

There are multiple tools, mentioned by many great answers, I'm going to pick one.

#Resource Hacker

I downloaded latest version (5.1.7) from [AngusJ]: Resource Hacker. All the needed information can be found on that page (command line options, scripts, ...). In the following walkthrough I'm going to operate on 2 executables (lab rats) which (for obvious reasons) I've copied in my cwd:

• ResourceHacker.exe: I thought it would be interesting to operate on itself
• cmake.exe: random executable with no Version Info set (part of v3.6.3 installation on my machine)

Before going further, I want to mention that ResourceHacker has a funny terminal output, and the the following copy / paste fragments might generate a bit of confusion.

1. Setup

This is more like a preliminary step, to get acquainted with the environment, to show there's no funky business going on, ...

> e:\Work\Dev\StackOverflow\q000284258> sopr.bat *** Set shorter prompt to better fit when pasted in StackOverflow (or other) pages ***

> [prompt]> dir Volume in drive E is Work Volume Serial Number is 3655-6FED

> Directory of e:\Work\Dev\StackOverflow\q000284258

> 2019-01-28 20:09

1 VERSIONINFO
FILEVERSION 3,1,4,1592
PRODUCTVERSION 2,7,1,8
FILEOS 0x4
FILETYPE 0x1
{
BLOCK "StringFileInfo"
{
    BLOCK "040904E4"
    {
        VALUE "CompanyName", "Cristi Fati\0"
        VALUE "FileDescription", "20190128 - SO q000284258 demo\0"
        VALUE "FileVersion", "3.1.4.1592\0"
        VALUE "ProductName", "Colonel Panic\0"
        VALUE "InternalName", "100\0"
        VALUE "LegalCopyright", "(c) Cristi Fati 1999-2999\0"
        VALUE "OriginalFilename", "ResHack\0"
        VALUE "ProductVersion", "2.7.1.8\0"
    }
}

BLOCK "VarFileInfo"
{
    VALUE "Translation", 0x0409 0x04E4  
}
}

There is this tool ChangeVersion ^[1]

List of features (from the website): > * command line interface > * support for .EXE, .DLL and .RES files > * update FileVersion and ProductVersion based on a version mask > * add/change/remove version key strings > * adjust file flags (debug, special, private etc) > * update project files ( .bdsproj | .bpr | .bpk | .dproj ) > * add/change main application icon > * use ini file with configuration > * Windows Vista support (needs elevation) > * easy to integrate into a continuous build environment

Full Disclosure: I know the guy who wrote this tool, I used to work with him. But this also means that I know he makes quality software ;)

^[1] the link is dead. There seems to be mirrored version at download.cnet.com.

I'm doing it with no additional tool. I have just added the following files to my Win32 app project.

One header file which defines some constants than we can reuse on our resource file and even on the program code. We only need to maintain one file. Thanks to the Qt team that showed me how to do it on a Qt project, it now also works on my Win32 app.

----[version.h]----

#ifndef VERSION_H
#define VERSION_H

#define VER_FILEVERSION             0,3,0,0
#define VER_FILEVERSION_STR         "0.3.0.0\0"

#define VER_PRODUCTVERSION          0,3,0,0
#define VER_PRODUCTVERSION_STR      "0.3.0.0\0"

#define VER_COMPANYNAME_STR         "IPanera"
#define VER_FILEDESCRIPTION_STR     "Localiza archivos duplicados"
#define VER_INTERNALNAME_STR        "MyProject"
#define VER_LEGALCOPYRIGHT_STR      "Copyright 2016 [email protected]"
#define VER_LEGALTRADEMARKS1_STR    "All Rights Reserved"
#define VER_LEGALTRADEMARKS2_STR    VER_LEGALTRADEMARKS1_STR
#define VER_ORIGINALFILENAME_STR    "MyProject.exe"
#define VER_PRODUCTNAME_STR         "My project"

#define VER_COMPANYDOMAIN_STR       "www.myurl.com"

#endif // VERSION_H

----[MyProjectVersion.rc]----

#include <windows.h>
#include "version.h"

VS_VERSION_INFO VERSIONINFO
FILEVERSION     VER_FILEVERSION
PRODUCTVERSION  VER_PRODUCTVERSION
BEGIN
	BLOCK "StringFileInfo"
	BEGIN
		BLOCK "040904E4"
		BEGIN
			VALUE "CompanyName",        VER_COMPANYNAME_STR
			VALUE "FileDescription",    VER_FILEDESCRIPTION_STR
			VALUE "FileVersion",        VER_FILEVERSION_STR
			VALUE "InternalName",       VER_INTERNALNAME_STR
			VALUE "LegalCopyright",     VER_LEGALCOPYRIGHT_STR
			VALUE "LegalTrademarks1",   VER_LEGALTRADEMARKS1_STR
			VALUE "LegalTrademarks2",   VER_LEGALTRADEMARKS2_STR
			VALUE "OriginalFilename",   VER_ORIGINALFILENAME_STR
			VALUE "ProductName",        VER_PRODUCTNAME_STR
			VALUE "ProductVersion",     VER_PRODUCTVERSION_STR
		END
	END

	BLOCK "VarFileInfo"
	BEGIN
		VALUE "Translation", 0x409, 1252
	END
END

verpatch is good, but doesn't handle unicode characters...
try ResourceLib

the above answer from @DannyBeckett helped me a lot,

I put the following in a batch file & I place it in the same folder where ResourceHacker.exe & the EXE I work on is located & it works excellent. [you may edit it to fit your needs]

	@echo off
	:start1
	set /p newVersion=Enter version number [?.?.?.?]:
	if "%newVersion%" == "" goto start1
	:start2
	set /p file=Enter EXE name [for 'program.exe' enter 'program']:
	if "%file%" == "" goto start2
	for /f "tokens=1-4 delims=." %%a in ('echo %newVersion%') do (set ResVersion=%%a,%%b,%%c,%%d)
	(
	echo:VS_VERSION_INFO VERSIONINFO
	echo:    FILEVERSION    %ResVersion%
	echo:    PRODUCTVERSION %ResVersion%
	echo:{
	echo:    BLOCK "StringFileInfo"
	echo:    {
	echo:        BLOCK "040904b0"
	echo:        {
	echo:            VALUE "CompanyName",        "MyCompany\0"
	echo:            VALUE "FileDescription",    "TestFile\0"
	echo:            VALUE "FileVersion",        "%newVersion%\0"
	echo:            VALUE "LegalCopyright",     "COPYRIGHT © 2019 MyCompany\0"
	echo:            VALUE "OriginalFilename",   "%file%.exe\0"
	echo:            VALUE "ProductName",        "Test\0"
	echo:            VALUE "ProductVersion",     "%newVersion%\0"
	echo:        }
	echo:    }
	echo:    BLOCK "VarFileInfo"
	echo:    {
	echo:        VALUE "Translation", 0x409, 1200
	echo:    }
	echo:}
	) >Resources.rc		&&		echo setting Resources.rc
	ResourceHacker.exe -open resources.rc -save resources.res -action compile -log CONSOLE
	ResourceHacker -open "%file%.exe" -save "%file%Res.exe" -action addoverwrite -resource "resources.res"  -log CONSOLE
	ResourceHacker.exe -open "%file%Res.exe" -save "%file%Ico.exe" -action addskip -res "%file%.ico" -mask ICONGROUP,MAINICON, -log CONSOLE
	xCopy /y /f "%file%Ico.exe" "%file%.exe"
	echo.
	echo.
	echo your compiled file %file%.exe is ready
	pause

[as a side note i used resource hacker also to compile the res file, not GoRC]

A little late to the party, but since I was looking for it (and I might need to find it again sometime), here's what I did to include version, company name, etc. into my C++ DLL under VS2013 Express:

1. Created and edited a dllproj.rc file, as indicated previously.
2. Added the line "rc.exe dllproj.rc" as a pre-build step in the DLL project.
3. Added dllproj.res to the resource folder for the project.

Hope this helps!

There is Resource Tuner Console from Heaventools Software.

> Resource Tuner Console is a command-line tool that enables developers to automate editing of different resource types in large numbers of Windows 32- and 64-bit executable files.

See specifically the [Changing Version Variables And Updating The Version Information][2] page for greater details.

[2]: http://www.heaventools.com/rtconsole-sample-script-update-version-info.htm "Edit Version Info"

You can actually try downloading FVIE from Download Link and try editing the information for any .exe file.

(OR)

You can download StampVer – Win32 Version Resource Stamping from Download Link which is really usefull for windows .exe files.

(OR)

You could use a command tool called RCEDIT. Download from Github Source link and then build using Visual Studio 2015 and then you have specific commands to change the version of .exe files. See Docs link for various available commands.

This is the best tool I've seen for the job, allows full control over all file resources, VersionInfo included.

See: ResourceEditor by Anders Melander.

I want to put together a more compact version

• Step 1: create resource
• Step 2: Download ResourceHacker
• Step 3: Compile res into rc files
• Step 4: Run script: modify exe

Step 1: create resource

Prepare the resource file: resource.rc

VS_VERSION_INFO VERSIONINFO
	FILEVERSION    0,0,0,0
	PRODUCTVERSION 0,0,0,0
{
	BLOCK "StringFileInfo"
	{
		BLOCK "040904b0"
		{
			VALUE "CompanyName",        "\0"
			VALUE "FileDescription",    "\0"
			VALUE "FileVersion",        "0.0.0.0\0"
			VALUE "LegalCopyright",     "© 2020 Carson. All rights reserved.\0"
			VALUE "OriginalFilename",   ".exe\0"
			VALUE "ProductName",        "\0"
			VALUE "ProductVersion",     "0.0.0.0\0"
		}
	}
	BLOCK "VarFileInfo"
	{
		VALUE "Translation", 0x0409, 1200
	}
}

• VSVersionInfo Fileds
• VarFileInfo: query langID and charsetID

Step 2: Download ResourceHacker

There have two methods that can get it.

1. Download from Chocolatey:
   • install choco
   • choco install reshack -y
   • After installation, you may need to add environment variables.
2. ResourceHacker Website

Step 3: Compile res into rc files

ResourceHacker.exe -open resources.rc -save resources.res ^
 -action compile -log CONSOLE

Step 4: Run script: modify exe

SET INPUT_EXE=app.exe
SET OUTPUT_EXE=app.exe
ResourceHacker.exe -open %OUTPUT_EXE% -save %OUTPUT_EXE% ^
 -resource resources.res ^
 -action addoverwrite ^
 -mask VersionInf ^
 -log CONSOLE

Summary Script

SET INPUT_EXE=app.exe
SET OUTPUT_EXE=app.exe

ResourceHacker.exe -open resources.rc -save resources.res ^
 -action compile -log CONSOLE

ResourceHacker.exe -open %OUTPUT_EXE% -save %OUTPUT_EXE% ^
 -resource resources.res ^
 -action addoverwrite ^
 -mask VersionInf ^
 -log CONSOLE

Reference

• ⭐resourcehacker Command Line Syntax open and search: Command Line Syntax
  (I strongly recommend that you take a look)
• Split long commands in multiple lines through Windows batch file : ^