Commit 45a8663b07 for openssl.org

commit 45a8663b07e6e762218597158a288fe943dc67ee
Author: Wo'O Ideafarm <wo.ideafarm.publication.delayed.4.yrs@ideafarm.com>
Date:   Tue Feb 17 22:45:30 2026 -0800

    document the new build option "enable-static-vcruntime"

    I placed these new notes prominently based upon how important I think that they are for applications developers targeting Windows platforms.  With this new option, contributed (but not documented) by @nhorman in Commit 9431cc2, standalone executable applications can be distributed that do not require an installer and do not require modification of the target computer.

    Reviewed-by: Tomas Mraz <tomas@openssl.org>
    Reviewed-by: Neil Horman <nhorman@openssl.org>
    MergeDate: Fri Mar 6 1:50:49 2026
    (Merged from https://github.com/openssl/openssl/pull/30064)

diff --git a/INSTALL.md b/INSTALL.md
index 15964afe1b..e83ad1015d 100644
--- a/INSTALL.md
+++ b/INSTALL.md
@@ -584,6 +584,15 @@ In the following list, always the non-default variant is documented: if
 feature `xxxx` is disabled by default then `enable-xxxx` is documented and
 if feature `xxxx` is enabled by default then `no-xxxx` is documented.

+### enable-static-vcruntime
+
+Build binaries that do not require that VC runtimes are installed
+
+This option will produce binaries that are "self contained", that do not
+depend upon VC runtime libraries being installed, so can be used on any
+computer running MS Windows.  Without this option, the build will produce
+binaries that rely on the VC runtimes being installed and available.
+
 ### enable-ktls

 Build with Kernel TLS support.
diff --git a/NOTES-WINDOWS.md b/NOTES-WINDOWS.md
index 20748b5365..cf2921ffd7 100644
--- a/NOTES-WINDOWS.md
+++ b/NOTES-WINDOWS.md
@@ -92,6 +92,13 @@ Quick start
        dependency feature can speed up build times by up to 50%:
        `perl Configure no-makedepend`

+    b. If you want the OpenSSL binaries to be "self contained", usable on any
+       computer running MS Windows, use 'perl Configure enable-static-vcruntime'.
+       Otherwise, build will produce binaries that depend on the VC runtime
+       libraries being installed and available, and will not work on computers
+       that do not have them.  (This option adds 1 MB to the total size of the
+       two dll's.)
+
  6. `nmake`

  7. `nmake test`